LIBRARY 

JSIuotogical  JS-rminavy, 


BX  5137   . P2 A  1843 
Page,  James  R. 
Exposition  of  the  Thirty-' 
nine  articles  of  the  Chur< 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2015 


https://archive.org/details/expositionofthir00burn_2 


EXPOSITION 

OF  THE 

THIRTY-NINE  ARTICLES 

or  THE 

CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND: 

BY 

GILBERT,  BISHOP  OF  SARUM. 


WITH 

AN  APPENDIX 

CONTAINING  THE  AUGSBURG  CONFESSION,  CREED  OP  POPE  PIUS  IT.,  &0. 


REVISED  AND  CORRECTED, 

WITH  COPIOUS  NOTES,  AND  ADDITIONAL  REFERENCES, 
BY  THE 

REV.  JAMES  R.  PAGE,  A.M. 

or  queen'*  college,  Cambridge,  minister  op  Carlisle  chapel,  lajujeth. 


NEW  YORK: 
D.  APPLETON  &  COMPANY,  200  BROADWAY. 
PHILADELPHIA: 
GEORGE  S.  APPLETON,  J  48  CHESTNUT  ST. 

MDCCCXLIII. 


TO  THE  MOST  REVEREND  FATHER  IN  GOD, 
WILLIAM  HOWLEY,  D.D., 

LORD  ARCHBISHOP  OF  CANTERBURY, 
&c,  &c,  &c. 


My  Lord, 

I  should  only  transgress  the  bounds  of  propriety, 
and  do  violence  to  your  Grace's  feelings,  were  I  to  trespass 
upon  you  with  a  tedious  or  complimentary  address. 

I  cannot,  however,  but  say,  that,  in  availing  myself  of  your 
Grace's  kind  and  condescending  permission,  it  is  to  me  a 
cause  of  much  thankfulness  and  sincere  gratification  to 
dedicate  this  volume  to  your  Grace,  not  alone  because  of  the 
high  station  in  which  Providence  has  placed  you,  but  also 
because  I  believe  that  the  merits  of  Bishop  Burnet's  e  Expo- 
sition of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles'  are  well  known  to,  and 
duly  appreciated  by,  your  Grace. 

My  earnest  desire,  My  Lord,  has  been  to  make  this  valu- 
able work  still  more  useful  to  the  church  of  England.  Should 
my  efforts  be  even  in  the  least  degree  successful,  I  shall,  I 


DEDICATION. 


am  persuaded,  have  done  something  towards  the  attainment 
of  an  object  near  to  your  Grace's  heart. 

That  '  the  great  Shepherd  and  Bishop  of  souls'  may  abun- 
dantly bless  your  Grace  here,  and  crown  you  with  glory 
hereafter,  is  the  prayer  of 

Your  Grace's 
Most  obedient  and  obliged  humble  Servant, 

JAMES  R.  PAGE 


London,  Dec.  1836. 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 


It  has  been  justly  observed  by  a  great  master  of  nature, 

'  The  evil  that  men  do  lives  after  them : 
'  The  good  is  oft  'Qterred  with  their  bones.' 

But  with  the  man  who  serves  God  in  his  generation  it  is  far 
otherwise;  for,  while  his  manifold  infirmities  vanish  away  like 
the  morning  cloud,  his  fwork  of  faith  and  labour  of  love' 
linger  behind,  and  by  them  '  he,  being  dead,  yet  speaketh.' 
The  marble  and  brass  are  employed — but  employed  in  vain 
— to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  that  man  of  whom  it  may  be 
said,  '  he  did  no  good  among  his  people ;'  while  the  unassum- 
ing work  of  the  other  lives  to  be  valued  by  each  succeeding 
generation.  Thus  it  was,  and  thus  it  has  been,  with  our 
Author.  He  laboured  for  his  Redeemer ;  e  was  a  man  subject 
to  like  passions  as  we  are encountered  no  small  share  of 
reviling  and  calumny  :  but  his  failings  are  gone — the  tongue 
of  insult  has  long  since  been  silent  in  the  grave ;  while  his 
writings  have  erected  for  him  a  monument  which  can  never 
moulder  away,  so  long  as  that  church,  of  which  he  was  so 
bright  an  ornament,  shall  exist.  Indeed,  his  fame  is  not 
bounded  by  the  circle  of  his  own  church,  or  his  own  country. 
But  it  is  not  our  present  business  to  treat  of  these  subjects  ; 
neither  to  enter  into  any  comparison  between  the  several 
writings  of  that  great  man.  The  Editor's  observations  must 
be  confined  to  that  book,  with  which  (however  unworthy) 
he  has  the  honour  of  being  connected.  Of  that  volume  he 
can  safely  say,  that,  although  some  alterations  for  the  better 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 


might  be  made  in  its  style  and  arrangement,  take  it  '  for  all 
in  all,'  it  is  a  splendid  work.  And  were  the  writer  to  add  his 
own  experience  he  would  say,  that  the  more  it  is  explored 
the  more  valuable  instruction  it  will  bestow.  Our  Author 
was  a  man  of  great  mind  and  extensive  learning ;  and,  as  is 
common  to  such  men,  imagined  that  his  readers  were  likely 
to  know  as  much  as  himself :  therefore,  he  did  not  so  fully 
develope  some  subjects  and  arguments  as,  in  condescension 
to  the  weakness  of  others,  he  should  have  done.  Hence  we 
find  some  most  important  points  so  buried  in  his  work,  that 
the  student  must  first  learn  them  by  taking  a  more  extensive 
course  of  reading ;  but  then  he  is  at  once  delighted  and  sur- 
prised to  discover,  on  renewing  his  acquaintance  with  Burnet, 
that  what  has  been  gleaned  in  the  choicest  gardens  of  theo- 
logy, had  merely  escaped  his  observation  when  he  first  read 
the  *  Exposition  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles.' 

Bishop  Burnet  had  long  felt  the  want  of  such  a  volume  as 
that  which  he  has  supplied.  This,  together  with  the  solicita- 
tions of  the  Queen,  archbishop  Tillotson,  and  other  distin- 
guished individuals,  and  the  great  influx  of  popish  priests, 
who  were  actively  engaged  in  calumniating  the  doctrine  of 
our  church,  induced  the  Bishop  to  commence  the  work, 
which  was  carefully  revised  by  Tillotson  and  Stillingfleet ; 
and,  when  complete,  dedicated  to  William  III.  But  we  must 
allow  the  Bishop  to  give  his  own  interesting  account : — 

'  I  published  this  year  (1699)  an  Exposition  of  the  Thirty- 
nine  Articles  of  Religion  :  it  seemed  a  work  much  wanted, 
and  it  was  justly  to  be  wondered  at,  that  none  of  our  divines 
had  attempted  any  such  performance,  in  a  way  suitable  to 
the  dignity  of  the  subject :  for  some  slight  analyses  of  them 
are  not  worth  either  mentioning  or  reading.  It  was  a  work 
that  required  study  and  labour,  and  laid  a  man  open  to  many 
attacks«;  this  made  some  of  my  friends  advise  me  against 
publishing  it ;  in  compliance  with  them,  I  kept  it  five  years 
by  me,  after  I  had  finished  it :  but  I  was  now  prevailed  on 
by  the  Archbishop,  and  many  of  my  own  order,  besides  a 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 


5* 


great  many  others,  to  delay  the  publishing  it  no  longer.  It 
seemed  a  proper  addition  to  the  History  of  the  Reformation, 
to  explain  and  prove  the  doctrine  which  was  then  established. 
I  was  moved  first  by  the  late  Queen,  and  pressed  by  the  late 
Archbishop,  to  write  it:  I  can  appeal  to  the  Searcher  of  all 
hearts,  that  I  wrote  it  with  great  sincerity  and  a  good  inten- 
tion ;  and  with  all  the  application  and  care  I  was  capable  of. 
I  did  then  expect,  what  I  have  since  met  with,  that  malicious 
men  would  employ  both  their  industry  and  ill-nature  to  find 
matter  for  censure  and  cavils ;  but  though  there  have  been 
some  books  writ  on  purpose  against  it,  and  many  in  sermons 
and  other  treatises  have  occasionally  reflected,  with  great 
severity,  upon  several  passages  in  it,  yet  this  has  been  done 
with  so  little  justice  or  reason,  that  I  am  not  yet  convinced, 
that  there  is  one  single  period  or  expression  that  is  justly 
remarked  on,  or  that  can  give  me  any  occasion  either  to 
retract,  or  so  much  as  to  explain  any  one  part  of  that  whole 
work ;  which  I  was  very  ready  to  have  done,  if  I  had  seen 
cause  for  it.  There  was  another  reason  that  seemed  to 
determine  me  to  the  publishing  it  at  this  time.  Upon  the 
peace  of  Ryswick,  a  great  swarm  of  priests  came  over  to 
England ;  not  only  those  whom  the  Revolution  had  frighted 
away,  but  many  more  new  men,  who  appeared  in  many  places 
with  great  insolence ;  and  it  was  said  that  they  boasted  of  the 
favour  and  protection  of  which  they  were  assured.' 

Some  of  those  arguments  which  influenced  the  good  Bishop 
might  now  be  urged,  were  any  apology  required  for  sending 
forth  a  new  edition  of  such  a  work.  There  may  however  be 
some  apology  necessary  for  this  edition :  but  we  trust  that, 
when  the  following  brief  outline  is  examined,  those  who  might 
be  disposed  to  censure  any  interference  with  Bishop  Burnet 
will  be  satisfied ;  and  that,  when  they  have  learned  that  Bumet 
is  still  before  them,  they  will  be  pleased  to  accept  the  humble 
industry  of  the  Editor. 

In  the  first  place,  the  Author's  text  has  been  preserved 
■with  strict  fidelity ;  indeed,  in  some  places,  where  the  Editor 


6* 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 


felt  it  almost  necessary  to  make  some  alteration,  he,  upon 
consulting  the  earlier  editions,  and  observing  the  reading 
similar,  left  the  words  as  he  found  them. 

2d.  The  references  to  the  fathers,  councils,  and  other 
authorities,  have  been  almost  universally  verified  ;  and,  in 
many  instances,  corrected,  and  so  enlarged  as  to  render  them 
easy  of  access  to  the  student. 

3d.  A  large  number  of  scripture  references  have  been 
added.  In  different  parts  of  his  work,  Bishop  Burnet  lays 
down  propositions  without  giving  the  scriptures  by  which 
they  may  be  proved.  Thus,  in  Art.  VI.  p.  92,  our  Author 
states  two  propositions — God's  command  to  put  in  writing 
what  he  had  revealed  ;  and  the  end  contemplated — the  guard- 
ing against  the  uncertainty  of  tradition.  Again,  in  pp.  97?  9S, 
there  are  several  distinct  propositions — that  the  Old  Testa- 
ment was  read  in  the  hearing  of  the  women  and  children — 
that  all  appeals  were  made  to  the  law  and  prophets — that  the 
greatest  questions  were  decided  by  the  written  word.  Burnet 
appears  to  have  assumed  that  all  his  readers  could,  without 
delay,  produce  the  scriptures  in  proof  of  these  positions.  The 
Editor  has,  however,  added  references  in  these  and  all  other 
instances  where  they  might  be  considered  not  merely  addi- 
tions, but  also  improvements. 

4th.  The  canons  and  decrees  of  councils,  and  other  docu- 
ments of  importance,  referred  to,  have  been  given  in  the 
original,  and  from  the  most  authentic  sources — the  places 
where  they  are  to  be  found  being  specified. 

5th.  Copious  notes  have  been  added,  containing,  besides 
other  information,  notices  of  the  principal  heretics  and  per- 
sons of  note,  with  an  accurate  account  of  their  opinions  :  also 
extracts,  chiefly  from  the  works  of  the  most  distinguished 
divines  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries,  opening 
and  illustrating  the  chief  points  in  controversy  between  us 
and  the  church  of  Rome.    In  an  Appendix  has  also  been 


EDITOR'S  PREFACE. 


7* 


given  the  Confession  of  Augsburg,  and  Creed  of  pope  Pius  IV. 
in  the  English  and  original  tongues ;  and,  in  the  original  only, 
the  Canons  and  Rubric  of  the  Mass. 

Indices  of  Texts  of  Scripture,  and  of  the  matter  contained 
in  the  Notes,  have  also  been  given,  together  with  a  list  of 
Authors  quoted  in  the  Editor's  portion  of  the  volume. 

In  fine,  the  Editor's  design  has  been  to  make,  as  far  as  was 
possible  within  such  a  compass,  this  great  work  what  he 
humbly  hopes  it  may  be  found — a  manual  for  the  theological 
student. 

The  Editor  has,  in  conclusion,  but  to  request  the  kind  in- 
dulgence of  the  public ;  and  to  hope  that  his  readers  will  be 
more  anxious  to  discover  some  good,  than  to  seek  out  faults, 
in  his  work.  He  would  now  commit  the  result  of  his  labours 
to  the  great  Head  of  the  church,  with  sincere  prayer  that  He 
would  be  pleased  to  pardon  its  imperfections,  and  to  accept 
and  bless  it  to  the  promotion  of  His  own  glory. 

JAMES  R.  PAGE,  A.  M. 


London,  Dec.  1836. 


V 


TO  THE 

KING. 

SIR, 

The  title  of  Defender  of  the  Faith,  the  noblest  of  all  those 
which  belong  to  this  imperial  crown,  that  has  received  a  new 
lustre  by  Your  Majesty's  carrying  it,  is  that  which  You  hav<* 
so  gloriously  acquired,  that  if  Your  Majesty  had  not  foun> 
it  among  them,  what  You  have  done  must  have  secured  it  t> 
Yourself  by  the  best  of  ail  claims.    We  should  be  as  mud 
ashamed  not  to  give  it  to  Your  Majesty,  as  we  were  to  give  i 
to  those  who  had  been  fatally  led  into  the  design  of  overturn 
ing  that,  which  has  been  beyond  all  the  examples  in  histor 
preserved  and  hitherto  maintained  by  Your  Majesty. 

The  Reformation  had  its  greatest  support  and  strength  fron 
the  crown  of  England  ;  while  two  of  Your  renowned  ancestors 
were  the  chief  defenders  of  it  in  foreign  parts.  The  blood  oi 
England  mixing  so  happily  with  theirs,  in  your  royal  person, 
seemed  to  give  the  world  a  sure  prognostic  of  what  might  be 
looked  for  from  so  great  a  conjunction.  Your  Majesty  has 
outdone  all  expectations ;  and  has  brought  matters  to  a  state 
far  beyond  all  our  hopes. 

But  amidst  the  laurels  that  adorn  You,  and  those  applauses 
that  do  every  where  follow  You,  suffer  me,  Great  Sir,  in 
all  humility  to  tell  You,  that  your  work  is  not  yet  done,  nor 
your  glory  complete,  till  You  have  employed  that  power  which 
God  has  put  in  your  hands,  and  before  which  nothing  has 
been  able  hitherto  to  stand,  in  the  supporting  and  securing 
this  Church,  in  the  bearing  down  Infidelity  and  Impiety,  in 
the  healing  the  wounds  and  breaches  that  are  made  among 
those  who  do  in  common  profess  this  faith,  but  are  unhappily 
disjointed  and  divided  by  some  differences  that  are  of  less 
importance :  and,  above  all  things,  in  the  raising  the  power 
and  efficacy  of  this  religion,  by  a  suitable  reformation  of  our 
lives  and  manners. 


vi 


EPISTLE  DEDICATORY. 


How  much  soever  men's  hearts  are  out  of  the  reach  of 
human  authority,  yet  their  lives,  and  all  outward  appearances, 
are  governed  by  the  example  and  influences  of  their  Sove- 
reigns. 

The  effectual  pursuing  of  these  designs,  as  it  is  the  greatest 
of  all  those  glories  of  which  mortals  are  capable ;  so  it  seems 
to  be  the  only  thing  that  is  now  wanting,  to  finish  the  bright- 
est and  perfectest  character  that  will  be  in  history. 

It  was  in  order  to  the  promoting  these  ends,  that  I  under- 
took this  work ;  which  I  do  now  most  humbly  lay  before  Your 
Majesty,  with  the  profoundest  respect  and  submission. 

May  God  preserve  Your  Majesty,  till  You  have  glo- 
riously finished  what  You  have  so  wonderfully  carried  on. 
All  that  You  have  hitherto  set  about,  how  small  soever  the 
beginnings  and  hopes  were,  has  succeeded  in  your  hands,  to 
the  amazement  of  the  whole  world :  the  most  desperate  face 
of  affairs  has  been  able  to  give  You  no  stop. 

Your  Majesty  seems  born  under  an  ascendant  of  Provi- 
dence ;  and  therefore,  how  low  soever  all  our  hopes  are,  either 
cf  raising  the  power  of  religion,  or  of  uniting  those  who 
profess  it;  yet  we  have  been  taught  to  despair  of  nothing  that 
is  once  undertaken  by  Your  Majesty. 

This  will  secure  to  You  the  blessing  of  the  present  and  of 
all  succeeding  ages,  and  a  full  reward  in  that  glorious  and  im- 
mortal state  that  is  before  You :  to  which,  that  Your  Ma- 
jesty may  have  a  sure,  though  a  late  admittance,  is  the  daily 
and  most  earnest  prayer  of, 

May  it  please  Your  MAJESTY, 
Your  Majesty's  most  loyal, 
most  obedient,  and  most 

devoted  subject  and  servant, 
GI.  SARUM,  C.  G. 


vii 


PREFACE. 


It  has  been  often  reckoned  among  the  things  that  were 
wanting,  that  we  had  not  a  full  and  clear  explanation  of  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles,  which  are  the  sum  of  our  doctrine,  and 
the  confession  of  our  faith.  The  modesty  of  some,  and  the 
caution  of  others,  may  have  obliged  them  to  let  alone  an  un- 
dertaking, that  might  seem  too  assuming  for  any  man  to  ven- 
ture on,  without  a  command  from  those  who  had  authority  to 
give  it.  It  has  been  likewise  often  suggested,  that  those 
Articles  seemed  to  be  so  plain  a  transcript  of  St.  Austin's 
doctrine,  in  those  much  disputed  points,  concerning  the  de- 
crees of  God,  and  the  efficacy  of  grace,  that  they  were  not 
expounded  by  our  divines  for  that  very  reason ;  since  the  far 
greater  number  of  them  is  believed  to  be  now  of  a  different 
opinion. 

I  should  have  kept  within  the  same  bounds,  if  I  had  not  been 
first  moved  to  undertake  this  work  by  that  great  prelate,  who 
then  sat  at  the  helm :  and  after  that,  determined  in  it  by  a 
command  that  was  sacred  to  me  by  respect,  as  well  as  by  duty. 
Our  late  primate  lived  long  enough  to  see  the  design  finished. 
He  read  it  over  with  an  exactness  that  was  peculiar  to  him. 
He  employed  some  weeks  wholly  in  perusing  it,  and  he  cor- 
rected it  with  a  care  that  descended  even  to  the  smallest  mat- 
ters ;  and  was  such  as  he  thought  became  the  importance  of 
this  work.  And  when  that  was  done,  he  returned  it  to  me 
with  a  letter,  that,  as  it  was  the  last  I  ever  had  from  him,  so 
it  gave  tiie  whole  such  a  character,  that  how  much  soever  that 
might  raise  its  value  with  true  judges,  yet  in  decency  it  must 
be  suppressed  by  me,  as  being  far  beyond  what  any  perform- 
ance of  mine  could  deserve.  He  gave  so  favourable  an  account 
of  it  to  our  late  blessed  queen,  that  she  was  pleased  to  tell 
me,  she  would  find  leisure  to  read  it :  and  the  last  time  that 
I  was  admitted  to  the  honour  of  waiting  on  her,  she  com- 
manded me  to  bring  it  to  her.  But  she  was  soon  after  that 
carried  to  the  source,  to  the  fountain  of life,  in  whose  light  she 
now  sees  both  light  and  truth.  So  great  a  breach  as  was  then 
made  upon  all  our  hopes  put  a  stop  upon  this,  as  well  as  upon 
much  greater  designs. 

This  work  has  lain  by  me  ever  since :  but  has  been  often 
not  only  reviewed  by  myself,  but  by  much  better  judges.  The 
late  most  learned  bishop  of  Worcester  read  it  very  carefully. 
He  marked  every  thiwg  in  it  that  he  thought  needed  a  review 


vih 


PREFACE. 


and  his  censure  was  in  all  points  submitted  to.  He  expressed 
himself  so  well  pleased  with  it  to  myself,  and  to  some  others, 
that  I  do  not  think  it  becomes  me  to  repeat  what  he  said  of  it. 
Both  the  most  reverend  archbishops,  with  several  of  the 
bishops,  and  a  great  many  learned  divines,  have  also  read  it. 
I  must,  indeed,  on  many  accounts  own,  that  they  may  be 
inclined  to  favour  me.  too  much,  and  to  be  too  partial  to  me; 
yet  they  looked  upon  this  work  as  a  thing  of  that  importance, 
that  I  have  reason  to  believe  they  read  it  over  severely :  and 
if  some  small  corrections  may  be  taken  for  an  indication  that 
they  saw  no  occasion  for  greater  ones,  I  had  this  likewise  from 
several  of  them. 

Yet  after  all  these  approbations,  and  many  repeated  desires 
to  me  to  publish  it,  I  do  not  pretend  to  impose  this  upon  the 
reader  as  the  work  of  authority.  For  even  our  most  reverend 
metropolitans  read  it  only  as  private  divines,  without  so  severe 
a  canvassing  of  all  particulars  as  must  have  been  expected,  if 
this  had  been  intended  to  pass  for  an  authorized  work  under 
a  public  stamp.  Therefore  my  design  in  giving  this  relation 
of  the  motives  that  led  me  first  to  compose,  and  now  to  pub- 
lish this,  is  only  to  justify  myself,  both  in  the  one  and  in  the 
other,  and  to  shew  that  I  was  not  led  by  any  presumption  of 
my  own,  or  with  any  design  to  dictate  to  others. 

In  the  next  place  I  will  give  an  account  of  the  method  in 
which  I  executed  this  design.  When  I  was  a  professor  of 
divinity  thirty  years  ago,  I  was  then  obliged  to  run  over  a  great 
manv  of  the  systems  and  bodies  of  divinity  that  were  writ  by 
the  chief  men  of  the  several  divisions  of  Christendom.  I  found 
many  things  among  them  that  I  could  not  like :  the  stiffness 
of  method,  the  many  dark  terms,  the  niceties  of  logic,  the 
artificial  definitions,  the  heaviness  as  well  as  the  sharpness 
of  style,  and  the  diffusive  length  of  them,  disgusted  me :  I 
thought  the  whole  might  well  be  brought  into  less  compass, 
and  be  made  shorter  and  more  clear,  less  laboured,  and  more 
simple.  I  thought  many  controversies  might  be  cut  off,  some 
being  only  disputes  about  words,  and  founded  on  mistakes  ; 
and  others  being  about  matters  of  little  consequence,  in  which 
errors  are  less  criminal,  and  so  they  may  be  more  easily  borne 
with.  This  set  me  then  on  composing  a  great  work  in  divinity : 
but  I  stayed  not  long  enough  in  that  station  to  go  through 
above  the  half  of  it.  I  entered  upon  the  same  design  again, 
but  in  another  method,  during  my  stay  at  London,  in  the 
privacy  that  I  then  enjoyed,  after  I  had  finished  the  history  of 
our  Reformation.  These  were  advantages  which  made  this 
performance  much  the  easier  to  me :  and  perhaps  the  late 
archbishop  might,  from  what  he  knew  of  the  progress  I  had 
made  in  them,  judge  me  the  more  proper  for  this  undertaking. 
For  after  I  have  said  so  much  to  justify  my  own  engaging  in 
such  a  work,  I  think  I  ought  to  say  all  I  can  to  justify,  or 
at  least  to  excuse,  his  making  choice  of  me  for  it. 


PREFACE. 


ix 


When  I  had  resolved  to  try  what  I  could  do  in  this  method, 
of  following  the  thread  of  our  Articles,  I  considered,  that  as  I 
was  to  explain  the  Articles  of  this  church,  so  I  ought  to  exa- 
mine the  writings  of  the  chief  divines  that  lived  either  at  the 
time  in  which  they  were  prepared,  or  soon  after  it.  When  I 
was  about  the  history  of  our  Reformation,  I  had  laid  out  for 
all  the  books  that  had  been  writ  within  the  time  comprehended 
in  that  period :  and  I  was  confirmed  in  my  having  succeeded 
well  in  that  collection,  by  a  printed  catalogue,  that  was  put  out 
by  one  Mansel,  in  the  end  of  queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  of  all 
the  books  that  had  been  printed  from  the  time  that  printing- 
presses  were  first  set  up  in  England  to  that  year.  This  I  had 
from  the  present  lord  archbishop  of  York ;  and  I  saw  by  it, 
that  very  few  books  had  escaped  my  search.  Those  that  I  had 
not  fallen  on  were  not  writ  by  men  of  name,  nor  upon  impor- 
tant subjects.  I  resolved,  in  order  to  this  work,  to  bring  my 
inquiry  further  down. 

The  first,  and  indeed  the  much  best  writer  of  queen  Eliza- 
beth's time,  was  bishop  Jewel ;  the  lasting  honour  of  the  see 
in  which  the  providence  of  God  has  put  me,  as  well  as  of  the 
age  in  which  he  lived ;  who  had  so  great  share  in  all  that  was 
done  then,  particularly  in  compiling  the  second  book  of  Homi- 
lies, that  I  had  great  reason  to  look  on  his  works  as  a  very  sure 
commentary  on  our  Articles,  as  far  as  they  led  me.  From  him 
I  carried  down  my  search  through  Reynolds,  Humphreys, 
Whitaker,  and  the  other  great  men  of  that  time. 

Our  divines  were  much  diverted  in  the  end  of  that  reign 
from  better  inquiries,  by  the  disciplinarian  controversies ;  and 
though  what  Whitgift  and  Hooker  writ  on  those  heads  was 
much  better  than  all  that  came  after  them ;  yet  they  neither 
satisfied  those  against  whom  they  writ,  nor  stopped  the  writ- 
ings of  their  own  side.  But  as  waters  gush  in  when  the  banks 
are  once  broken,  so  the  breach  that  these  had  made  proved 
fruitful.  Parties  were  formed,  secular  interests  were  grafted 
upon  them,  and  new  quarrels  followed  those  that  first  began 
the  dispute.  The  contests  in  Holland  concerning  predestina- 
tion drew  on  another  scene  of  contention  among  us  as  well  as 
them,  which  was  managed  with  great  heat.  Here  was  matter 
for  angry  men  to  fight  it  out,  till  they  themselves  and  the 
whole  nation  grew  weary  of  it.  The  question  about  the  mo- 
rality of  the  Fourth  Commandment  was  an  unhappy  incident 
that  raised  a  new  strife.  The  controversies  with  the  church 
of  Rome  were  for  a  long  while  much  laid  down.  The  arch- 
bishop of  Spalata's*  works  had  appeared  with  great  pomp  in 

•  Marcus  Antonius  De  Dominis,  first  a  Jesuit,  afterwards  archbishop  of  Spa- 
lata.  He  v  isited  England  for  the  purpose  of  reconciling  the  Protestanls  and  papists ; 
to  further  this  end  he  wrote  a  book,  entitled  '  De  Republica  Ecclesiastica.'  He 
embraced  the  Protestant  faith,  '  and  afforded,'  says  Hume,  '  great  triumph  to  the  nation, 
by  their  gaining  so  considerable  a  proselyte  from  the  papists.  But  the  mortification 
followed  soon  after :  the  archbishop,  though  advanced  to  some  ecclesiastical  prefer- 
ments, received  not  enough  to  gratitjr  his  ambition.'  tic  retracted  his  protest  against 


s 


PREFACE. 


king  James's  time,  and  they  drew  the  observation  of  the  learned 
world  much  after  them  ;  though  his  unhappy  relapse,  and  fatal 
catastrophe,  made  them  be  less  read  afterwards  than  they  well 
deserved  to  have  been. 

When  the  progress  of  the  house  of  Austria  began  to  give 
their  neighbours  great  apprehensions,  so  that  the  Protestant 
religion  seemed  to  come  under  a  very  thick  cloud,  and  upon 
that  jealousies  began  to  arise  at  home,  in  king  Charles's  reign, 
this  gave  occasion  to  two  of  the  best  books  that  we  yet  have  i 
the  one  set  out  bv  archbishop  Laud,  writ  with  great  learning, 
judgment,  and  exactness  ;  the  other  by  Chillingworth,  writ  with 
so  clear  a  thread  of  reason,  and  in  so  lively  a  style,  that  it  was 
justly  reckoned  the  best  book  that  had  been  writ  in  our  lan- 
guage. It  was  about  the  nicest  point  in  popery,  that  by  which 
they  had  made  the  most  proselytes,  and  that  had  once  imposed 
on  himself,  concerning  the  infallibility  of  the  church,  and  the 
motives  of  credibility. 

Soon  after  that,  we  fell  into  the  confusions  of  civil  war,  in 
which  our  divines  suffered  so  much,  that,  while  they  were 
put  on  their  own  defence  against  those  that  had  broke  the 
peace  of  the  church  and  state,  few  books  were  written,  but 
on  those  subjects  that  were  then  in  debate  among  ourselves, 
concerning  the  government  of  the  church,  and  our  liturgy  and 
ceremonies.  The  disputes  about  the  decrees  of  God  were 
again  managed  with  a  new  heat.  There  were  also  great  ab- 
stractions set  on  foot  in  those  times  concerning  justification 
by  faith,  and  these  were  both  so  subtile,  and  did  seem  to  have 
such  a  tendency  not  only  to  antinomianism,  but  to  a  libertine 
course  of  life,  that  many  books  were  writ  on  those  subjects. 
That  noble  work  of  the  Polvglot  Bible,  together  with  the  col- 
lection of  the  critics,  set  our  divines  much  on  the  study  of 
the  scriptures,  and  the  oriental  tongues,  in  which  Dr.  Pocock 
and  Dr.  Lightfoot  were  singularly  eminent.  In  all  Dr.  Ham- 
mond's writings,  one  sees  great  learning  and  solid  judgment : 
a  just  temper  in  managing  controversies;  and,  above  all,  a 
spirit  of  true  and  primitive  piety,  with  great  application  to  the 
right  understanding  of  the  scriptures,  and  the  directing  of  all 
to  practice.  Bishop  Pearson  on  the  Creed,  as  far  as  it  goes, 
is  the  perfectest  work  we  have.  His  learning  was  profound 
and  exact,  his  method  good,  and  his  style  clear:  he  was 
equally  happy  both  in  the  force  of  his  arguments,  and  in  the 
plainness  of  his  expressions. 

Upon  the  restoration  of  the  royal  family,  and  the  church, 
the  first  scene  of  writing  was  naturally  laid  in  the  late  times. 


popery,  and  returned  to  Rome.  There  it  appears  that  his  opinions  were  changed 
again,  for  he  wrote  letters  to  Englaud  expressive  of  regret  at  the  step  he  had  taken. 
Some  of  these  were  intercepted,  and  led  to  his  imorisonment  by  command  of  Pope 
Urban  VIII.  He  died  in  confinement  in  the  ve™  1625b  Hume  st\les  him,  'the 
famous  Antonio  De  Dominis,  no  despicable  philosopher;'  and  aceorrii;-..:  ;o  Cave,  ce 
waa  toe  author  of  the  first  phi.osDj.iwai  accotu.:  of  ;i.e  rauLosr. — „  En.] 


PREFACE. 


xi 


and  with  relation  to  conformity.  But  we  quickly  saw  that 
popery  was  a  restless  thing,  and  was  the  standing  enemy  of 
our  church :  so  soon  as  that  shewed  itself,  then  our  divines 
returned  to  those  controversies,  in  which  no  man  bare  a 
greater  share,  and  succeeded  in  it  with  more  honour,  than 
bishop  Stillingfleet,  both  in  his  vindication  of  archbishop 
Laud,  and  in  the  long  continued  dispute  concerning  the  idol- 
atry of  the  church  of  Rome.  When  the  dangers  of  popery 
came  nearer  us,  and  became  sensible  to  all  persons,  then  a 
great  number  of  our  divines  engaged  in  those  controversies. 
They  writ  short  and  plain,  and  yet  brought  together,  in  a 
great  variety  of  small  tracts,  the  substance  of  all  that  was 
contained  in  the  large  volumes,  writ  both  by  our  own  divines 
and  by  foreigners.  There  was  in  these  a  solidity  of  argu- 
ment, mixed  with  an  agreeableness  in  the  way  of  writing,  that 
both  pleased  and  edified  the  nation ;  and  did  very  much  con- 
found, and  at  last  silence,  the  few  and  weak  writers  that  were 
of  the  Romish  side.  The  inequality  that  was  in  this  contest 
was  too  visible  to  be  denied ;  and  therefore  they,  who  set  it 
first  on  foot,  let  it  fall:  for  they  had  other  methods  to  which 
they  trusted  more,  than  to  that  unsuccessful  one  of  writing. 
In  those  treatises,  the  substance  of  all  our  former  books  is  so 
fully  contained,  and  so  well  delivered,  that  in  them  the  doc- 
trines of  our  church,  as  to  all  controverted  points,  are  both 
clearly  and  copiously  set  forth. 

The  perusing  of  all  this  was  a  large  field :  and  yet  I  thought 
it  became  me  to  examine  all  with  a  due  measure  of  exactness. 
I  have  taken  what  pains  I  could  to  digest  every  thing  in  the 
clearest  method,  and  in  the  shortest  compass,  into  which  I 
could  possibly  bring  it.  So  that  in  what  I  have  done,  I  am, 
as  to  the  far  greatest  part,  rather  an  historian  and  a  collector 
of  what  others  have  writ,  than  an  author  myself.  This  I 
have  performed  faithfully,  and  I  hope  with  some  measure  of 
diligence  and  exactness ;  yet  if,  in  such  a  variety,  some  im- 
portant matters  are  forgot,  and  if  others  are  mistaken,  I  am 
so  far  from  reckoning  it  an  injury  to  have  those  discovered, 
that  I  will  gladly  receive  any  advices  of  that  kind :  I  will 
consider  them  carefully,  and  make  the  best  use  of  them  I 
can,  for  the  undeceiving  of  others,  as  soon  as  I  am  convinced 
that  I  have  misled  them. 

If  men  seek  for  truth  in  the  meekness  of  Christ,  they  will 
follow  this  method  in  those  private  and  brotherly  practices 
recommended  to  us  by  our  Saviour.  But  for  those  that  are 
contentious,  and  do  not  obey  the  truth,  I  shall  very  little 
regard  any  opposition  that  may  come  from  them.  I  had  no 
other  design  in  this  work,  but  first  to  find  out  the  truth  my- 
self, and  then  to  help  others  to  find  it  out.  If  I  succeed  to 
any  degree  in  this  design,  I  will  bless  God  for  it :  and  if  I  fail 
in  it,  I  will  bear  it  with  the  humility  and  patience  that  be- 
comes me.    But  as  soon  as  I  see  a  better  work  of  this  kind, 

b 


PREFACE. 


I  shall  be  among  the  first  of  those  who  shall  recommend  that, 
and  disparage  this. 

There  is  no  part  of  this  whole  work,  in  which  I  have  la- 
boured with  more  care,  and  have  writ  in  a  nu.re  uncommon 
method,  than  concerning  predestination.  For,  as  my  small 
reading  had  carried  me  further  in  that  controversy  than  in  any 
other  whatsoever,  both  with  relation  to  ancients  and  moderns, 
and  to  the  most  esteemed  books  in  all  the  different  parties ; 
so  I  weighed  the  Article  with  that  impartial  care  that  I 
thought  became  me ;  and  have  taken  a  method,  which  is,  for 
aught  I  know,  new,  of  stating  the  arguments  of  all  sides  with 
so  much  fairness,  that  those,  who  knew  my  own  opinion  in 
this  point,  have  owned  to  me,  that  they  could  not  discover  it 
by  any  thing  that  I  had  written.  They  were  inclined  to  think 
that  I  was  of  another  mind  than  they  took  me  to  be,  when 
they  read  my  arguings  of  that  side.  I  have  not,  in  the  expla- 
nation of  that  Article,  told  what  my  own  opinion  was ;  yet 
here  I  think  it  may  be  fitting  to  own,  that  1  follow  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Greek  church,  from  which  St.  Austin  departed, 
and  formed  a  new  system.  After  this  declaration,  I  may  now 
appeal  both  to  St.  Austin's  disciples,  and  to  the  Calvinists, 
whether  I  have  not  stated  both  their  opinions  and  arguments, 
not  only  with  truth  and  candour,  but  with  all  possible  ad- 
vantages. 

One  reason,  among  others,  that  led  me  to  follow  the  method 
I  have  pursued  in  this  controversy,  is  to  offer  at  the  best 
means  I  can  for  bringing  men  to  a  better  understanding  of  one 
another,  and  to  a  mutual  forbearance  in  these  matters.  This 
is  at  present  the  chief  point  in  difference  between  the  Lu- 
therans and  the  Calvinists.  Expedients  for  bringing  them 
to  an  union  in  these  heads  are  projects  that  can  never  have 
any  good  effect  :  men  whose  opinions  are  so  different,  can 
never  be  brought  to  an  agreement :  and  the  settling  on  some 
equivocal  formularies,  will  never  lay  the  contention  that  has 
arisen  concerning  them :  the  only  possible  way  of  a  sound 
and  lasting  reconciliation  is,  to  possess  both  parties  with  a 
sense  of  the  force  of  the  arguments  that  lie  on  the  other  side; 
that  they  may  see  they  are  no  way  contemptible ;  but  are  such 
as  may  prevail  on  wise  and  good  men.  Here  is  a  foundation 
laid  for  charity :  and  if  to  this,  men  would  add  a  just  sense  of 
the  difficulties  in  their  own  side,  and  consider  that  the  ill  con- 
sequences drawn  from  opinions  are  not  to  be  charged  on  all 
that  hold  them,  unless  they  do  likewise  own  those  conse- 
quences; then  it  would  be  more  easy  to  agree  on  some  gene- 
ral propositions,  by  which  those  ill  consequences  might  be 
condemned,  and  the  doctrine  in  general  settled  ;  leaving  it  free 
to  the  men  of  the  different  systems  to  adhere  to  their  own 
opinions ;  but  withal  obliging  them  to  judge  charitably  and 
favourably  of  others,  and  to  maintain  communion  with  them, 
notwithstanding  that  diversity. 


PREFACE. 


xiii 


It  is  a  good  step  even  to  the  bringing  men  over  to  an 
opinion,  to  persuade  them  to  think  well  of  those  who  hold  it. 
This  goes  as  it  were  half  way ;  and  if  it  is  not  possible  to 
bring  men  quite  to  think  as  we  do,  yet  a  great  deal  is  done 
both  towards  that,  and  towards  the  healing  those  wounds  in 
which  the  church  lies  a  bleeding,  when  they  come  to  join  in 
the  same  communion,  and  in  such  acts  of  worship  as  do  agree 
with  their  different  persuasions.  For  as  in  the  sacrament  of 
the  eucharist,  both  Lutherans  and  Calvinists  agreeing  in  the 
same  devotions  and  acts  of  worship,  a  mere  point  of  specula- 
tion concerning  the  manner  in  which  Christ  is  present,  ought 
not  to  divide  those  who  agree  in  every  thing  else  that  relates 
to  the  sacrament :  every  one  may  in  that  be  left  to  the  free- 
dom of  his  own  thoughts,  since  neither  opinion  has  any  in- 
fluence on  practice,  or  on  any  part  either  of  public  worship 
or  of  secret  devotion. 

Upon  the  same  account  it  may  be  also  suggested,  that  when 
all  parties  acknowledge  that  God  is  the  sovereign  Lord  of  the 
universe ;  that  he  governs  it  by  a  providence,  from  which  no- 
thing is  hid,  and  to  which  notliing  can  resist;  and  thnt  he  is 
likewise  holy  and  just,  true  and  faithful,  merciful  and  gracious, 
in  all  his  ways  ;  those  who  agree  about  all  this,  should  not 
differ,  though  they  cannot  fall  into  the  same  methods  of  re- 
conciling these  together.  And  if  they  do  all  agree  to  bless 
God  for  all  the  good  that  they  either  do  or  receive,  and  to 
accuse  themselves  for  all  the  ill  that  they  either  do  or  suffer : 
if  they  agree  that  they  ought  to  be  humble,  and  to  mistrust 
their  own  strength,  to  pray  earnestly  to  God  for  assistance, 
and  to  depend  on  him,  to  trust  to  him,  and  likewise  to  em- 
ploy their  own  faculties  with  all  possible  care  and  diligence, 
in  the  cleansing  their  hearts,  and  governing  their  words  and 
actions ;  here  the  great  truths  of  both  sides  are  safe ;  every 
thing  that  has  an  influence  on  practice  is  agreed  on ;  though 
neither  side  can  meet  in  the  same  ways  of  joining  all  these 
together. 

In  the  church  of  Rome  the  difference  is  really  the  same 
between  St.  Austin's  disciples  and  the  followers  of  Molina ; 
and  yet,  how  much  soever  they  may  differ  and  dispute  in  the 
schools,  their  worship  being  the  same,  they  do  all  join  in  it. 
We  of  this  church  are  very  happy  in  this  respect ;  we  have 
all  along  been  much  divided,  and  once  almost  broken  to  pieces, 
while  we  disputed  concerning  these  matters :  but  now  we  are 
much  happier;  for  though  we  know  one  another's  opinions, 
we  live  not  only  united  in  the  same  worship,  but  in  great 
friendship  and  love  with  those  of  other  persuasions.  And  the 
boldness  of  some  among  us,  who  have  reflected  in  sermons,  or 
otherwise,  on  those  who  hold  Calvin's  system,  has  been  much 
blamed,  and  often  censured  by  those  who,  though  they  hold 
the  same  opinions  with  them,  yet  are  both  more  charitable  in 
their  thoughts,  and  more  discreet  in  their  expressions. 


PREFACE. 


But  till  the  Lutherans  abate  of  their  rigidity  in  censuring 
the  opinions  of  the  Calvinists,  as  charging  God  with  all  those 
blasphemous  consequences  that  they  think  follow  the  doctrine 
of  absolute  decrees ;  and  till  the  Calvinists,  in  Holland,  Swit- 
zerland, and  Geneva,  abate  also  of  theirs,  in  charging  the 
others  as  enemies  to  the  grace  of  God,  and  as  guilty  of  those 
consequences  that  they  think  follow  the  doctrine  of  conditionate 
decrees,  it  is  not  possible  to  see  that  much  wished  for  agree- 
ment come  to  any  good  effect. 

He  who  believes  that  an  ill  consequence  is  justly  drawn 
from  any  opinion,  is  in  the  right,  when  he  is  by  that  deter- 
mined against  it.  But  because  he  thinks  he  sees  that  the 
consequence  is  clear,  and  cannot  be  avoided;  he  ought  not  for 
that  to  judge  so  ill  of  those  who  hold  the  opinion,  but  declare 
at  the  same  time,  that  they  abhor  the  consequence;  that  they 
prevaricate  in  that  declaration ;  and  that  they  both  see  the 
consequence,  and  own  it ;  though  for  decency's  sake  they  dis- 
claim it.  He  ought  rather  to  think,  that  either  they  do  not 
see  the  consequence,  but  satisfy  themselves  with  some  of  those 
distinctions,  with  which  it  is  avoided ;  or,  that  though  they 
do  see  it,  yet  they  look  on  that  only  as  an  objection,  which 
indeed  they  cannot  well  answer.  They  may  think  that  a  point 
of  doctrine  may  be  proved  by  such  convincing  arguments, 
that  they  may  be  bound  to  believe  it,  though  there  lie  objec- 
tions against  it  which  they  cannot  avoid,  and  consequences 
seem  to  follow  on  it  which  they  abhor,  and  are  sure  cannot  be 
true,  though  they  cannot  clear  the  matter  so  well  as  they  wish 
they  could  do.  In  that  case,  when  a  man  is  inclined  by  strong 
arguments  to  an  opinion,  against  which  he  sees  difficulties 
which  he  cannot  resolve,  he  ought  either  to  suspend  his  assent; 
or,  if  he  sees  a  superiority  of  argument  of  one  side,  he  may 
be  determined  by  that,  though  he  cannot  satisfy  even  himself 
in  the  objections  that  are  against  it :  in  that  case  he  ought  to 
reflect  on  the  weakness  and  defects  of  his  faculties,  which  can- 
not rise  up  to  full  and  comprehensive  ideas  of  things,  especially 
in  that  which  relates  to  the  attributes  of  God,  and  to  his  coun- 
sels or  acts.  If  men  can  be  brought  once  to  apprehend  this 
rightly,  it  may  make  propositions  for  peace  and  union  hopeful 
and  practicable  ;  and  till  they  are  brought  to  this,  all  such 
propositions  may  well  be  laid  aside ;  for  men's  minds  are  not 
yet  prepared  for  that  which  can  only  reconcile  this  difference, 
and  heal  this  breach. 

I  shall  conclude  this  Preface  with  a  reply,  that  a  very  emi- 
nent divine  among  the  Lutherans  in  Germany  made  to  me, 
when  I  was  pressing  this  matter  of  union  with  the  Calvinists 
upon  him,  with  all  the  topics  with  which  I  could  urge  it,  as 
necessary  upon  many  accounts,  and  more  particularly  with 
relation  to  the  present  state  of  affairs.  He  said,  he  wondered 
much  to  see  a  divine  of  the  church  of  England  press  that  so 
much  on  him,  when  we,  notwithstanding  the  danger  we  were 


PREFACE. 


then  in  (it  was  in  the  year  1686),  could  not  agree  our  differ- 
ences. They  differed  ahout  important  matters,  concerning  the 
attributes  of  God,  and  his  providence;  concerning  the  guilt  of 
sin,  whether  it  was  to  be  charged  on  God,  or  on  the  sinner; 
and  whether  men  ought  to  make  good  use  of  their  faculties, 
or  if  they  ought  to  trust  entirely  to  an  irresistible  grace  ? 
These  were  matters  of  great  moment:  but,  he  said,  we  in 
England  differed  only  about  forms  of  government  and  worship, 
and  about  things  that  were  of  their  own  nature  indifferent; 
and  yet  we  had  been  quarrelling  about  these  for  above  an  hun- 
dred years ;  and  we  were  not  yet  grown  wiser  by  all  the  mis- 
chief that  this  had  done  us,  and  by  the  imminent  danger  we 
were  then  in.  He  concluded,  Let  the  church  of  England  heal 
her  own  breaches,  and  then  all  the  rest  of  the  reformed  churches 
will  with  great  respect  admit  of  her  mediation  to  heal  theirs. 
I  will  not  presume  to  tell  how  I  answered  this :  but  I  pray 
God  to  enlighten  and  direct  all  men,  that  they  may  consider 
well  how  it  ought  to  be  answered. 


XV 11 


ARTICULI  RELIGIONIS 

Anno  1562. 

The  Articles  of  our  Church  were  at  the  same  time  prepared 
both  in  Latin  and  English  ;  so  that  both  are  equally  authenti- 
cal :  it  is  therefore  proper  to  give  them  here  in  Latin,  since 
the  English  of  them  is  only  inserted  in  the  following  work. 
This  is  the  more  necessary,  because  many  of  the  collations, 
set  down  at  the  end  of  the  introduction,  relate  to  the  Latin 
text. 

ARTICULI  de  quibus  convenit  infer  Archiepiscopos  et  Episco- 
pos  utriusque  Provincia,  et  Clerum  Universum  in  Sy?iodo, 
Londini,  Anno  1562.  secundum  computationem  Ecclesice  An- 
glicance,  ad  tollendam  opinionum  dissentionem,  et  consensum 
in  vera  Religione  firmandum.  Editi  Authoritate  serenissimce 
Regince.    Londini,  apud  Johannem  Day,  1571. 

I.  De  fide  in  sacro-sanctam  Trinitatem. 

UNUS  est  vivus  et  verus  Deus,  aeternus,  incorporeus,  im- 
partibilis,  impassibilis,  immensae  potentiae,  sapiential  ac  boni- 
tatis,  creator  et  conservator  omnium,  turn  visibilium,  turn 
invisibilium.  Et  in  unitate  hujus  divinae  naturae  tres  sunt 
personam,  ejusdem  essentia;,  potentiae  ac  eeternitatis,  Pater, 
Filius,  et  Spiritus  sanctus. 

II.  De  verbo,  sive  Filio  Dei,  qui  verus  homo  /actus  est. 

FiLIUS,  qui  est  verbum  patris,  ab  aeterno  a  patre  genitus, 
verus  et  seternus  Deus,  ac  patri  consubstantialis,  in  utero 
heatae  virginis,  ex  illius  substantia  naturam  humanam  assump- 
sit :  ita  ut  duae  naturae,  divina  et  humana,  integre  atque  per- 
fecte  in  unitate  personae  fuerint  inseparabiliter  conjunctae,  ex 
quibus  est  unus  Christus,  verus  Deus  et  verus  homo,  qui 
vere  passus  est,  crucifixus,  mortuus,  et  sepultus,  ut  patrem 
nobis  reconciliaret,  essetque  hostia,  non  tantum  pro  culpa 
originis,  verum  etiam  pro  omnibus  actualibus  hominum  pec- 
catis. 

III.  De  descensu  Christi  ad  Inferos. 

QUEMADMODUM  Christus  pro  nobis  mortuus  est,  et 
sepultus,  ita  est  etiam  credendus  ad  Inferos  deseendisse. 


xviii 


ARTICULI 


IV.  De  resurrectione  Christi. 

CHRISTUS  vere  a  mortuis  resurrexit,  suumque  corpus 
cum  carne,  ossibus,  omnibusque  ad  integritatem  humanae 
naturae  pertinentibus,  recepit:  cum  quibus  in  coelum  ascendit, 
ibique  residet,  quoad  extremo  die  ad  judicandos  bomines  rever- 
surus  sit. 


V.  De  Spiritu  sancto. 

SPIRITUS  sanctus,  a  patre  et  filio  procedens,  ejusdem  est 
im  patre 
nus  Deus. 


cum  patre  et  filio  essentiae,  majestatis,  et  glorise,  verus  ac  seter- 


VI.  De  divinis  Scripturis,  quod  sufficiant  ad  salutem. 

SCRIPTURA  sacra  continet  omnia,  quae  ad  salutem  sunt 
necessaria,  ita  ut  quicquid  in  ea  nec  legitur,  neque  inde 
probari  potest,  non  sit  a  quoquam  exigendum,  ut  tanquam 
articulus  fidei  credatur,  a\it  ad  salutis  necessitatem  requiri 
putetur. 

Sacree  Scripturae  nomine,  eos  Canonicos  libros  veteris  et 
novi  Testamenti  intelligimus,  de  quorum  authoritate,  in  eccle- 
sia  nunquam  dubitatum  est. 

De  nominibus  et  numero  librorum  sacra  Canonicce  Scripturae 
veteris  Testamenti. 


Genesis. 

Exodus. 

Leviticus. 

Numeri. 

Deuteron. 

Josuse. 

Judicum. 

Ruth. 

Prior  liber  Samuelis. 
Secundus  liber  Samuelis. 
Prior  liber  Regum. 
Secundus  liber  Regum. 


Prior  liber  Paralipom. 
Secundus  liber  Paralipom. 
Primus  liber  Esdrae. 
Secundus  liber  Esdrse. 
Liber  Hester. 
Liber  Job. 
Psalmi. 
Proverbia. 

Ecclcsiastes  vel  Concionator. 
Cantica  Solomonis. 
IV  Prophetae  Majores. 
XII  Prophetae  Minores. 


Alios  autem  libros  (at  ait  HieronymusJ  legit  quidem  Ecclesia, 
ad  exempla  vitce,  et  formandos  mores :  illos  tamen  ad  dog- 
mata confirmanda  non  adhibct,  ut  sunt 


Tertins  liber  Esdrae. 
Quartus  liber  Esdrae. 
Liber  Tobise. 
Liber  Judith. 
Reliquum  libri  Hester. 
Liber  Sapientiae. 
Liber  Jesu  rilii  Sirach. 


Baruch  propheta. 

Canticum  trium  puerorum. 

Historia  Susannas. 

De  Bel  et  Dracone. 

Oratio  Manassis. 

Prior  liber  Machabeorum. 

Secundus  liber  Machabeorum. 


Novi  Testamenti  omnes  libros  (ut  vulgo  recepti  sunt^  re- 
cipimus,  et  babemus  pro  Canonicis. 


RELIGIONIS. 


xix 


VII.  De  veteri  Testamento. 

TESTAMENTUM  vetus  novo  contrarium  non  est,  quan- 
doquidem  tam  in  veteri,  quam  in  novo,  per  Christum,  qui 
unicus  est  Mediator  Dei  et  hominum,  Deus  et  homo,  aeterna 
vita  humano  generi  est  proposita.  Quare  male  sentiunt,  qui 
veteres  tantum  in  promissiones  temporarias  sperasse  confin- 
gunt.  Quanquam  lex  a  Deo  data  per  Mosen  (quoad  caere- 
monias  et  ritus)  Christianos  non  astringat,  neque  civilia  ejus 
praecepta  in  aliqua  republica  necessario  recipi  debeant,  nihil- 
ominus  tamen  ab  obedientia  mandatorum  (quee  moralia  vocan- 
tur)  nullus  (quantumvis  Christianus)  est  solutus. 

VIII.  De  tribus  Symbolis. 

SYMBOLA  tria,  Nicrenum,  Athanasii,  et  quod  vulgo 
Apostolorum  appellatur,  omnino  recipienda  sunt,  et  credenda, 
nam  firmissimis  Scripturarum  testimoniis  probari  possunt. 

IX.  De  peccato  originali. 

PECCATUM  originis  non  est  (ut  fabulantur  Pelagiani) 
in  imitatione  Adami  situm,  sed  est  vitium,  et  depravatio  na- 
ture, cujuslibet  hominis  ex  Adamo  naturaliter  propagati :  qua 
fit,  ut  ab  originali  justitia  quam  longissime  distet,  ad  malum 
sua  natura  propendeat,  et  caro  semper  adversus  spiritum 
concupiscat,  unde  in  unoquoque  nascentium,  iram  Dei  atque 
damnationem  meretur.  Manet  etiam  in  renatis  haec  naturae 
depravatio.  Qua  fit,  ut  affectus  carnis,  Graece  <f>p6rrifia  aapKoe, 
(quod  alii  sapientiam,  alii  sensum,  alii  affectum,  alii  studium 
carnis  interpretantur,)  legi  Dei  non  subjiciatur.  Et  quan- 
quam renatis  et  credentibus  nulla  propter  Christum  est  con- 
demnatio,  peccati  tamen  in  sese  rationem  habere  concupis- 
centiam,  fatetur  Apostolus. 

X.  De  libero  arbitrio. 

EA  est  hominis  post  lapsum  Ada?  conditio,  ut  sese  natu- 
ralibus  suis  viribus,  et  bonis  operibus,  ad  fidem  et  invoca- 
tionem  Dei  convertere  ac  praeparare  non  possit.  Quare 
absque  gratia  Dei  (quae  per  Christum  est)  nos  praeveniente, 
ut  velimus,  et  cooperante,  dum  volumus,  ad  pietatis  opera 
facienda,  quae  Deo  grata  sunt  et  accepta,  nihil  valemus. 

XI.  De  hominis  justificatione. 

TANTUM  propter  meritum  Domini  ac  Servatoris  nostri 
Jesu  Christi,  per  fidem,  non  propter  opera,  et  merita  nostra, 
justi  coram  Deo  reputamur.  Quare  sola  fide  nos  justificari 
doctrina  est  saluberrima,  ac  consolationis  plenissima,  ut  in 
homilia  de  justificatione  hominis  fusius  explicatur. 

XII.  De  bonis  operibus. 
BONA  opera,  quee  sunt  fructus  fidei,  et  justificatos  se- 


ARTICULI 


quuntur,  quanquam  peccata  nostra  expiare,  et  divini  judicii 
severitatem  ferre  non  possunt;  Deo  tanien  grata  sunt,  et 
accepta  in  Christo,  atque  ex  vera  et  viva  ride  necessario  pro- 
fluunt,  ut  plane  ex  illis,  aeque  fides  viva  cognosci  possit,  atque 
arbor  ex  fructu  judicari. 

XIII.  De  operibus  ante  justificationem. 

OPERA  quae  fiunt  ante  gratiam  Christi,  et  spiritus  ejus 
afflatum,  cum  ex  fide  Jesu  Christi  non  prodeant,  minime  Deo 
grata  sunt,  neque  gratiam  (ut  multi  vocant)  de  congruo  me- 
rentur.  Immo  cum  non  sunt  facta  ut  Deus  ilia  fieri  voluit 
et  praecepit,  peccati  rationem  habere  non  dubitamus. 

XIV.  De  operibus  supererogationis. 

OPERA  quae  supererogationis  appellant,  non  possunt  sine 
arrogantia  et  impietate  praedicari.  Nam  illis  declarant  ho- 
mines, non  tantum  se  Deo  reddere,  quae  tenentur,  sed  plus 
in  ejus  gratiam  facere,  quam  deberent,  cum  aperte  Christus 
dicat;  Cum  feceritis  omnia  quaecunque  preecepta  sunt  vobis, 
dicite,  Servi  inutiles  sumus. 

XV.  De  Christo,  qui  solus  est  sine  peccato. 

CHRISTUS  in  nostrae  naturae  veritate,  per  omnia  similis 
factus  est  nobis,  excepto  peccato,  a  quo  prorsus  erat  irarau- 
nis,  turn  in  carne,  turn  in  spiritu.  Venit  ut  agnus,  absque 
macula,  qui  mundi  peccata  per  immolationem  sui  semel  factam 
tolleret,  et  peccatum  (ut  inquit  Johannes)  in  eo  non  erat :  sed 
nos  reliqui  etiam  baptizati,  et  in  Christo  regenerati,  in  multis 
tamen  offendimus  omnes.  Et  si  dixerimus,  quod  peccatum 
non  habemus,  nos  ipsos  seducimus,  et  Veritas  in  nobis  non 
est. 

XVI.  De  peccato  post  Baptismum. 

NON  omne  peccatum  mortale  post  Baptismum  voluntarie 
erpetratum,  est  peccatum  in  Spiritum  sanctum,  et  irremissi- 
ile.  Proinde  lapsis  a  Baptismo  in  peccata,  locus  pcenitentiae 
non  est  negandus.  Post  acceptum  Spiritum  sanctum  possu- 
mus  a  gratia  data  recedere,  atque  peccare,  denuoque  per  gra- 
tiam Dei  resurgere,  ac  resipiscere;  ideoque  illi  damnandi  sunt, 
qui  se,  quamdiu  hie  vivant,  amplius  non  posse  peccare  affir- 
mant, aut  vere  resipiscentibus  veniae  locum  denegant. 

XVII.  De  prcedestinatione  et  electione. 
PR^EDESTINATIO  ad  vitam,  est  aeternum  Dei  proposi- 
tum,  quo  ante  jacta  mundi  fundamenta,  suo  consilio,  nobis 
quidem  occulto,  constanter  decrevit,  eos  quos  in  Christo  elegit 
ex  hominum  genere,  a  maledicto  et  exitio  liberare,  atque  (ut 
vasa  in  honorem  efficta)  per  Christum,  ad  eeternam  salutem 
adducere.  Unde  qui  tam  praeclaro  Dei  beneficio  sunt  donati, 
illi  spiritu  ejus,  opportuno  tempore  operante,  secundum  pro- 


RELIGIONIS. 


xxi 


positum  ejus  vocantur,  vocationi  per  gratiam  parent,  justifi- 
cantur  gratis,  adoptantur  in  filios  Dei,  unigeniti  ejus  Jesu 
Christi  imagini  efticiuntur  conformes,  in  bonis  operibus  sancte 
ambulant,  et  demum  ex  Dei  misericordia  pertingunt  ad  sem- 
piternam  felicitatem. 

Quemadmodum  praedestinationis  et  electionis  nostrae  in 
Christo  pia  consideratio,  dulcis,  suavis,  et  ineftabilis  consola- 
tionis  plena  est  vere  piis,  et  his  qui  sentiunt  in  se  vim  spiritus 
Christi,  facta  carnis,  et  membra,  quae  adhuc  sunt  super  terram, 
mortificantem,  animumque  ad  coelestia  et  superna  rapientem  ; 
turn  quia  fidem  nostram  de  aeterna  salute  consequenda  per 
Christum  plurimum  stabilit  atque  confirmat,  turn  quia  amorem 
nostrum  in  Deum  vehementer  accendit:  ita  hominibus  curiosis, 
carnalibus,  et  Spiritu  Christi  destitutis,  ob  oculos  perpetuo 
versari  praedestinationis  Dei  sententiam,  perniciosissimum  est 
praecipitium,  unde  illos  diabolus  protrudit,  vel  in  desperatio- 
nem,  vel  in  seque  perniciosam  impurissimae  vitae  securitatem ; 
deinde  promissiones  divinas  sic  amplecti  oportet,  ut  nobis  in 
sacris  literis  generaliter  propositae  sunt,  et  Dei  voluntas  in 
nostris  actionibus  ea  sequenda  est,  quam  in  verbo  Dei  habe- 
mus,  diserte  revelatam. 

XVIII.  De  speranda  (sterna  salute  tantum  in  nomine  Christi. 

SUNT  et  illi  anathematizandi,  qui  dicere  audent  unumquem- 
que  in  lege  aut  secta  quam  profitetur  esse  servandum,  modo 
juxta  illam  et  lumen  naturae  accurate  vixerit,  cum  sacree  literae 
tantum  Jesu  Christi  nomen  praedicent,  in  quo  salvos  fieri 
homines  oporteat. 

XIX.  De  Ecclesia. 

ECCLESIA  Christi  visibilis  est  ccetus  fidelium,  in  quo 
verbum  Dei  purum  praedicatur,  et  sacramenta,  quoad  ea  quae 
necessario  exigantur,  juxta  Christi  institutum  recte  adminis- 
trantur.  Sicut  erravit  ecclesia  Hierosolymitana,  Alexandrina, 
et  Antiochena;  ita  et  erravit  Ecclesia  Romana,  non  solum 
quoad  agenda,  et  caeremoniarum  ritus,  verum  in  his  etiam  quae 
credenda  sunt. 

XX.  De  Ecclesice  authoritate. 

HABET  Ecclesia  ritus  sive  cseremonias  statuendi  jus,  et  in 
fidei  controversiis  authoritatem ;  quamvis  ecclesiae  non  licet 
quicquam  instituere,  quod  verbo  Dei  scripto  adversetur,  nec 
unum  scripturae  locum  sic  exponere  potest,  ut  alteri  contra- 
dicat.  Quare  licet  Ecclesia  sit  divinorum  librorum  testis  et 
conservatrix,  attamen  ut  adversus  eos  nihil  decernere,  ita 
prester  illos  nihil  credendum  de  necessitate  salutis  debet  ob- 
trudere. 


XXI.  De  authoritate  Conciliorum  generalium. 
GENERAL  1 A  Concilia  sine  jussu  et  voluntate  Principum 


xxii 


ARTICULI 


congregari  non  possunt ;  et  ubi  convenerint,  quia  ex  homini- 
bus  constant,  qui  non  omnes  spiritu  et  verbo  Dei  reguntur, 
et  errare  possunt.  et  interdum  errarunt  etiam  in  his  quae  ad 
Deum  pertinent ;  ideoque  quae  ab  illis  constituuntur,  ut  ad 
salutem  necessaria,  neque  robur  habent,  neque  authoritatem, 
nisi  ostendi  possint  e  sacris  Uteris  esse  desumpta. 

XXI T.  De  Purgatorio. 

DOCTRIXA  Roraanensium  de  purgatorio,  de  indulgentiis, 
de  veneratione,  et  adoratione,  turn  imaginum,  turn  rebquiarum, 
nec  non  de  invocatione  sanctorum,  res  est  futilis,  inaniter 
conficta,  et  nullis  Scripturarum  testimoniis  innititur:  immo 
verbo  Dei  contradicit. 

XXIII.  De  ministrando  in  Ecclesia. 

NON  beet  cuiquam  sumere  sibi  munus  publice  prasdicand], 
aut  administrandi  Sacramenta  in  Ecclesia,  nisi  prius  fuerit 
ad  haec  obeunda  legitime  vocatus  et  missus.  Atque  illos  le- 
gitime vocatos  et  missos  existimare  debemus,  qui  per  homines, 
quibus  potestas  vocandi  ministros,  atque  mittendi  in  vineam 
Domini,  publice  concessa  est  in  Ecclesia,  cooptati  fuerint,  et 
adsciti  in  hoc  opus. 

XXIV.  De  loquendo  hi  Ecclesia  lingua  quam  populus  intelligit. 

LINGUA  populo  non  intellecta,  pubbcas  in  Ecclesia  preces 
peragere,  aut  Sacramenta  administrare,  verbo  Dei,  et  primitivae 
Ecclesiae  consuetudini  plane  repugnat. 

XXV.  De  Sacramentis. 

SACRAMENTA  a  Christo  instituta,  non  tantum  sunt 
notae  professionis  Christianorum,  sed  certa  quaedam  potius 
testimonia,  et  efficacia  signa  gratiae  atque  bonae  in  nos  volun- 
tatis Dei,  per  quae  invisibibter  ipse  in  nos  operatur,  nostram- 
que  fidem  in  se  non  solum  excitat,  verum  etiam  confirmat. 

Duo  a  Christo  Domino  nostro  in  Evangebo  instituta  sunt 
Sacramenta :  scilicet,  Baptismus,  et  Ccena  Domini. 

Quinque  ilia  vulgo  nominata  Sacramenta,  scilicet,  confir- 
matio,  pcenitentia,  ordo,  matrimonium,  et  extrema  unctio,  pro 
Sacramentis  Evangebcis  habenda  non  sunt,  ut  quae,  partim  a 
prava  Apostolorum  imitatione  profluxerunt,  partim  vitae  sta- 
tus sunt  in  Scripturis  quidem  probati:  sed  sacramentorum 
eandem  cum  Baptismo  et  Ccena  Domini  rationem  non  haben- 
tes,  ut  quae  signum  aliquod  A*isibile,  seu  ceeremoniam,  a  Deo 
institutam,  non  habeant. 

Sacramenta  non  in  hoc  instituta  sunt  a  Christo  ut  specta- 
rentur,  aut  circumferrentur,  sed  ut  rite  illis  uteremur,  et  in  his 
duntaxat  qui  digne  percipiunt  salutarem  habent  effectum : 
Qui  vero  mdigne  percipiunt,  damnationem  (ut  inquit  Paulus) 
sibi  ipsis  acquirunt. 


RELIGIONIS. 


xxiii 


XXVI.  De  vi  institutionum  divinarum,  quod  earn  non  tollat 
maUtia  Ministrorum. 

QUAMVIS  in  Ecclesia  visibili,  bonis  mali  semper  sunt 
admixti,  atque  interdum  ministerio  verbi  et  Sacramentorum 
administration!  praesint;  tamen  cum  non  suo,  sed  Christi 
nomine  agant,  ejusque  mandato  et  authoritate  ministrent, 
illorum  ministerio  uti  licet,  cum  in  verbo  Dei  audiendo,  turn 
in  Sacramentis  percipiendis.  Neque  per  illorum  malitiam 
effectus  institutorum  Christi  tollitur,  aut  gratia  donorum  Dei 
minuitur,  quoad  eos  qui  fide  et  rite  sibi  oblata  percipiunt,  quee 
propter  institutionem  Christi  et  promissionem  efricacia  sunt, 
licet  per  malos  administrentur. 

Ad  Ecclesifs  tamen  disciplinam  pertinet,  ut  in  malos  minis- 
tros  inquiratur,  accusenturque  ab  his,  qui  eorum  flagitia  nove- 
rint,  atque  tandem  justo  convicti  judicio  deponantur. 

XXVII.  De  Baptismo. 

BAPTISM  US  non  est  tantum  professions  signum,  ac 
discriminis  nota,  qua  Christiani  a  non  Christianis  discer- 
nantur,  sed  etiam  est  signum  regenerationis  per  quod,  tan- 
quam  per  instrumentum,  recte  baptismum  suscipientes,  Ec- 
clesiee  inseruntur,  promissiones  de  remissione  peccatorum, 
atque  adoptione  nostra  in  filios  Dei  per  Spiritum  sanctum 
visibiliter  obsignantur,  fides  confirmatur,  et  vi  divinse  invoca- 
tions gratia  augetur. 

Baptismus  parvulorum  omnino  in  Ecclesia  retinendus  est, 
ut  qui  cum  Christi  institutione  optime  congruat. 

XXVIII.  De  Ccena  Domini. 

CCENA  Domini  non  est  tantum  signum  mutuae  benevolen- 
tiee  Christianorum  inter  sese,  verum  potius  est  Sacramentum 
nostree  per  mortem  Christi  redemptionis. 

Atque  adeo,  rite,  digne,  et  cum  fide  sumentibus,  panis  quem 
frangimus  est  communicatio  corporis  Christi :  similiter  pocu- 
lum  benedictionis  est  communicatio  sanguinis  Christi. 

Panis  et  vini  transubstantiatio  in  Eucharistia  ex  sacris 
Uteris  probari  non  potest.  Sed  apertis  Scripturee  verbis  ad- 
versatur,  Sacramenti  naturam  evertit,  et  multarum  supersti- 
tionum  dedit  occasionem. 

Corpus  Christi  datur,  accipitur,  et  manducatur  in  Ccena, 
tantum  ccelesti  et  spirituali  ratione.  Medium  autem,  quo 
corpus  Christi  accipitur  et  manducatur  in  Ccena,  fides  est. 

Sacramentum  Eucharistiee  ex  institutione  Christi  non  ser- 
vabatur,  circumferebatur,  elevabatur,  nec  adorabatur. 

XXIX.  De  manducatione  corporis  Christi,  et  impios  Mud  non 
manducare. 

IMPII,  et  fide  viva  destituti,  licet  carnaliter  et  visibiliter 


XXIV 


ARTICULI 


(ut  Augustinus  loquitur)  corporis  et  sanguinis  Christi  Sacra- 
mentum  dentibus  premant,  nullo  tamen  modo  Christi  parti- 
cipes  efficiuntur.  Sed  potius  tantac  rei  Sacramentem,  seu 
Symbolum,  ad  judicium  sibi  manducant  et  bibunt. 

XXX.  De  utraque  specie. 

CALIX  Domini  laicis  non  est  denegandus,  utraque  enim 
pars  Dominici  Sacramenti,  ex  Christi  institutione  et  prae- 
cepto,  omnibus  Christianis  ex  sequo  administrari  debet. 

XXXI.  De  tinica  Christi  oblatione  in  cruce  perfecta. 

OBLATIO  Christi  semel  facta,  perfecta  est  redemptio,  pro- 
pitiatio  et  satisfactio  pro  omnibus  peccatis  totius  mundi, 
tarn  originalibus,  quam  actualibus ;  neque  preeter  illam  uni- 
cam  est  ulla  alia  pro  peccatis  expiatio  :  unde  missarum  sa- 
crificia,  quibus  vulgo  dicebatur,  sacerdotem  offerre  Christum 
in  remissionem  poense,  aut  culpae,  pro  vivis  et  defunctis,  blas- 
phema  figmenta  sunt,  et  perniciosas  imposturae. 

XXXII.  De  conjugio  Sacerdotum. 

EPISCOPIS,  presbyteris,  et  diaconis  nullo  mandato  divino 
preeceptum  est,  ut  aut  ccehbatum  voveant,  aut  a  matrimonio 
abstineant.  Licet  igitur  etiam  illis,  ut  cseteris  omnibus  Chris- 
tianis, ubi  hoc  ad  pietatem  magis  facere  judicaverint,  pro  suo 
arbitratu  matrimonium  contrahere. 

XXXIII.  De  excommunicatis  vitandis. 

QUI  per  publicam  Ecclesiec  denunciationem  rite  ab  unitate 
Ecclesiae  praecisus  est,  et  excommunicatus,  is  ab  universa  fide- 
hum  multitudine  (donee  per  pcenitentiam  publice  reconciliatus 
fuerit  arbitrio  judicis  competentis)  habendus  est  tanquam 
ethnicus  et  publicanus. 

XXXIV.  De  traditionibus  Ecclesiasticis. 
TRADITIONES  atque  caeremonias  easdem,  non  omnino 
necessarium  est  esse  ubique,  aut  prorsus  consimiles.  Nam  ut 
variae  semper  fuerunt,  et  mutari  possunt,  pro  regionum,  tem- 
porum,  et  morum  diversitate.  modo  nihil  contra  verbum  Dei 
instituatur. 

Traditiones,  et  caeremonias  ecclesiasticas,  quae  cum  verbo 
Dei  non  pugnant,  et  sunt  authoritate  publica  institutae  atque 
probatae,  quisquis  private  consilio  volens,  et  data  opera,  pub- 
lice  violaverit,  is  ut  qui  peccat  in  publicum  ordinem  Ecclesiae, 
quique  laedit  authoritatem  Magistrates,  et  qui  infirmorum 
fratrum  conscientias  vulnerat,  publice,  ut  ceeteri  timeant,  argu- 
endus  est. 

Quaehl)et  Ecclesia  particularis,  sive  nationalis,  authoritatem 
habet  instituendi,  mutandi,  aut  abrogandi  caeremonias,  aut  rites 
ecclesiasticos,  humana  tantum  authoritate  institutos,  modo 
omr.ia  ad  aedificationem  fiant. 


RELIGIONIS. 


XXT 


XXXV.  De  Homiliis. 

TOMUS  secundus  Homiliarum,  quarum  singulos  titulos 
huic  articulo  subjunximus,  continet  piam  et  salutarem  doctri- 
nam,  et  his  temporibus  necessariam,  non  minus  quam  prior 
tomus  Homiliarum,  quae  editse  sunt  tempore  Edwardi  sexti : 
Itaque  eas  in  Ecclesiis  per  ministros  diligenter,  et  clare,  ut  a 
populo  intelligi  possint,  recitandas  esse  judicavimus. 

De  nominibus  Homiliarum. 

Of  the  right  Use  of  the  Church.  |  God's  Word. 
Against  peril  of  Idolatry.  Of  Alms-doing. 

Of  repairing  and  keeping  clean  of  Of  the  Nativity  of  Christ. 

Churches.  I  Of  the  Passion  of  Christ. 

Of  good  Works.  j  Of  the  Resurrection  of  Christ. 

First,  of  Fusing.  Of  the  ivorthy  receiving  of  the 

Against  Gluttony  and  Drunken-      Sacrament  of  the  Body  and 

ncss.  I     Blood  of  Christ. 

Against  Excess  in  Apparel.         :  Of  the  Gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost. 
Of  Prayer.  !  Of  the  Rogation- Days. 

Of  the  place  and  time  of  Prayer.  '  Of  the  state  of  Matrimony. 
That  common  Prayers  and  Sa-  Of  Repentance. 

cr anient s  ought  to  be  minister-  Against  Idleness. 

ed  in  a  known  Tongue.  |  Against  Rebellion. 

Of  the  reverent   Estimation  of 

XXXVI.  De  Episcoporum  et  Ministrorum  consecratione. 

LIBELLUS  de  consecratione  Archiepiscoporum,  et  Epi- 
scoporum, et  de  ordinatione  Presbyterorum  et  Diaconorum, 
editus  nuper  temporibus  Edwardi  VI.  et  authoritate  Parlia- 
menti  illis  ipsis  temporibus  confirmatus,  omnia  ad  ejusmodi 
consecrationem  et  ordinationem  necessaria  continet,  et  nihil 
habet,  quod  ex  se  sit,  aut  superstitiosum,  aut  impium :  itaque 
quicunque  juxta  ritus  illius  libri  consecrati  aut  ordinati  sunt, 
ab  anno  secundo  praedicti  regis  Edwardi,  usque  ad  hoc  tempus, 
aut  in  posterum  juxta  eosdem  ritus  consecrabuntur,  aut  ordina- 
buntur,  rite  atque  ordine,  atque  legitime  statuimus  esse,  et  fore 
consecratos  et  ordinatos. 

XXXVII.  De  civilibus  Mayistratibus. 

REGIA  Majestas  in  hoc  Angliae  regno,  ac  cseteris  ejus 
dominiis,  summam  habet  potestatem,  ad  quam  omnium  sta- 
tuum  hujus  regni,  sive  illi  eccle^iastici  sint,  sive  civiles,  in 
omnibus  causis,  suprema  gubernatio  pertinet,  et  nulli  externse 
jurisdiction!  est  subjecta,  nec  esse  debet. 

Cum  Regue  Majestati  summam  gubernationem  tribuimus, 
quibus  titulis  intelligimus  animos,  quorundam  calumniatorum 
ofFonJi,  non  damns  Regibus  nostris,  aut  verbi  Dei,  aut  Sacra- 
mentorum  administrationem.  quod  etiam  Injunctiones  ab  Eliza- 
betha  Retina  nostra,  nuper  editce.  apertissime  testantur :  sea 
earn  tantum  prcErogativam,  qiidm  in  sacris  Scripturis  a  Deo 


ARTICULI  RELIGIONIS. 


ipso,  omnibus  piis  Principibus,  videmus  semper  fuisse  attri- 
butam :  hoc  est,  ut  omnes  status  atque  ordines  fidei  suae  a 
Deo  commissos,  sive  illi  ecclesiastici  sint,  sive  civiles,  in 
officio  contineant,  et  contumaces  ac  delinquentes  gladio  civili 
coerceant. 

Romanus1  pontifex  nullam  habet  jurisdictionem  in  hoc 
regno  Angliae. 

Leges  regni  possunt  Christianos,  propter  capitaha  et  gra- 
via  crimina,  morte  punire. 

Christianis  licet,  ex  mandato  magistratus,  arma  portare,  et 
justa  bella  administrare. 

XXXVIII.  De  illicit  a  bonorum  communications 

FACULTATES  et  bona  Christianorum  non  sunt  com- 
munia,  quoad  jus  et  possessionem,  (ut  quidam  Anabaptistae 
falso  jactant,)  debet  tamen  quisque  de  his  quae  possidet,  pro 
facultatum  ratione,  pauperibus  eleemosynas  benigne  distri- 
buere. 

XXXIX.  Dejurejurando. 

QUEMADMODUM  juramentum  vanum  et  temerarium 
a  Domino  nostro  Jesu  Christo,  et  Apostolo  ejus  Jacobo, 
Christianis  hominibus  interdictum  esse  fatemur:  ita  Chris- 
tianorum religionem  minime  prohibere  censemus,  quin  ju- 
bente  magistratu  in  causa  fidei  et  charitatis  jurare  liceat, 
modo  id  fiat  juxta  Prophetae  doctrinam,  in  justitia,  in  judi- 
cio,  et  veritate. 

Confirmatio  Articulorum. 

HIC  liber  antedictorum  Articulorum  jam  denuo  approba- 
tus  est,  per  assensum  et  consensum  Serenissimae  Reginae  Eli- 
zabethae  Dominee  nostree,  Dei  gratia  Angliae,  Franciae,  et  Hi- 
berniee  Reginae,  defensoris  fidei,  &c.  retinendus,  et  per  totum 
regnum  Angliae  exequendus.  Qui  Articuli  et  lecti  sunt,  et 
denuo  confirmati  subscriptione  D.  Archiepiscopi  et  Episco- 
porum  superioris  domus,  et  totius  Cleri  inferioris  domus,  in 
Convocatione,  Anno  Domini  1571. 


xxvil 


CONTENTS. 


Introduction,  page  1. 

Heresies  gave  the  rise  to  larger 
Articles,  ib. 

A  form  of  doctrine  settled  by  the 
apostles,  2. 

Bishops  sent  round  them  a  decla- 
ration of  their  faith,  ib. 

The-.e  were  afterwards  enlarged, 
3. 

This  done  at  the  council  of  Nice, 
ib. 

JIany  wild  sects  at  the  beginning 

of  the  Reformation,  4. 
And  many  complying  papists  put 

them  on  framing  this  collection, 

5. 

The  Articles  set  out  at  first  by 
the  king's  authority,  7- 

A  question  whether  they  are  only 
Articles  of  peace  or  doctrine, 
ib. 

TJiey  bind  the  consciences  of  the 

clergy,  ib. 
The  laity  only  bound  to  peace  by 

them,  ib. 
Thj  subscription  to  them  imports 

an  assent  to  them,    and  not 

only  an  acquiescing  in  them, 

9.  ' 

But  the  Articles  may  have  dif- 
ferent sense;;  and  if  the  words 
will  bear  them,  there  is  no  pre- 
varication in  subscribing  tl.em 
so,  10. 

This  illustrated  in  the  third  Ar- 
ticle, ib. 

The  various  readings  of  the  Arti- 
cles collated  with  the  MSS., 
11. 

An  account  of  those  various  read- 
ings, 17. 


ARTICLE  1. 
That  there  is  a  God,  proved  hj 

the  consent  of  mankind,  19. 
Obj.  1.  Some  nations  do  not  be- 
lieve a  Deity.    This  is  answer- 
ed. 20. 

Obj.  2.  It  is  not  the  same  belief 
among  them  all.  This  is  an- 
swered, 21. 

The  visible  world  proves  a  Deity, 
ib. 

Time  nor  number  cannot  be  eter- 
nal nor  infinite,  22. 

Moral  arguments  to  prove  that  the 
world  had  a  beginning,  23. 

Such  a  regular  frame  could  not  be 
fortuitous,  24. 

Objection  from  the  production  of 
insects  answered,  ib. 

Argument  from  miracles  well  at- 
tested. 25. 

Argument  from  the  idea  of  God 
examined,  ib. 

God  is  eternal,  and  necessarily 
exists,  26. 

The  unity  of  ihe  Deity,  27. 

God  is  without  body,  28. 

Outward  manifestations  only  to 
declare  his  presence  and  autho- 
rity, 29. 

No  successive  acts  in  God,  30. 

Question  concerning  God's  im- 
manent acts,  ib. 

God  has  no  passions,  31. 

Phrases  in  scripture  of  these  ex- 
plained, ib. 

Some  thoughts  concerning  the 
power  and  wisdom  of  God,  32. 

True  ideas  of  the  goodness  of  God, 
33. 

Of  creation  and  annihilation,  3j. 


xxviii 


CONTEXTS. 


Of  the  providence  of  God,  36. 
Objections  against  it  answered,  ib. 
Whether  God  does  immediately 

produce  all  things,  38. 
Thought  and  liberty  not  proper 

to  matter,  39. 
Whether  beasts  think,  or  are  only 

machines,  40. 
How  bodies  and  spirits  are  united, 

ib. 

The  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  42. 

Whether  revealed  in  the  Oid  Tes- 
tament, or  not.  43. 

The  doctrine  stated,  ib. 

Argument  from  the  form  of  Bap- 
tism, 44. 

Other  arguments  for  it,  45. 

This  was  received  in  the  first  ages 
of  Christianity,  47- 

Some  attempt  to  the  stating  true 
ideas  of  God,  48. 

ART.  II. 

Christ,  how  the  Son  of  God,  51. 

Argument  from  the  beginning  of 
St.  John's  Gospel,  52. 

Reflections  on  the  state  of  the 
world  at  that  time,  53. 

Arguments  from  the  Epistle  to 
the  Philippians,  54. 

Other  arguments  complicated,  50. 

Aijiument  from  adoration  due  to 
him  57- 

The  silence  of  the  Jews  proves 
this  was  n  it  then  thought  to 
be  idolatry  by  them.  58. 

Argument  from  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,  59. 

God  and  man  in  Christ  made  one 
person,  61. 

An  account  of  Nestorius's  doc- 
trine, 6  (. 

Christ  was  to  us  an  expiatory  sa- 
crifice, 65. 

An  account  of  expiatorv  sacrifices, 
ib. 

The  agonies  of  Christ  explained, 
67- 

ART.  III. 

Riiffin  first  published  this  in  the 
Creed,  69. 

Several  senses  put  on  this  Arti- 
cle, 70. 

A  local  descent  into  hell,  ib. 
What  may  be  the  true  sense  of 
the  Article,  7-. 


ART.  IV. 

The  proof  of  Christ's  resarrer- 
tion,  73. 

The  Jews  in  that  time  did  not 

disprove  it,  75. 
Several  proof's  of  the  incredibility 

of  a  forgery  in  this  matter, 

ib. 

The  nature  and  proof  of  a  mira- 
cle, 77. 

What  must  be  ascribed  to  good  or 
evil  spirits,  ib 

The  apostles  could  not  be  im- 
posed on,  78. 

Nor  could  they  have  imposed  on 
the  world,  79. 

Of  Christ's  ascension,  80. 

Curiosity  in  these  matters  taxed, 
ib. 

The  authority  with  which  Christ 
is  now  vested.  82. 

ART.  V. 

The  senses  of  the  word,  Holu 
Ghost,  84. 

It  stands  oft  for  a  person,  ib. 

Curiosities  to  be  avoided  about 
procession  85. 

The  Holv  Ghost  is  truly  God,  87. 
ART  VI. ' 

The  controversy  about  oral  tra- 
dition, 92. 

That  was  soon  corrupted,  93. 

Guarded  against  by  revelation, 
94 

Tradition  corrupted  among  the 
Jews,  ib. 

The  scripture  appealed  to  by 
Christ  and  the  apostles,  95 

WJiat  is  well  proved  from  scrip- 
ture, 97. 

Objections  from  the  darkness  of 
scripture  answered,  ib. 

No  sure  guard  against  error,  nor 
against  sin,  99. 

The  proof  of  the  canon  of  the 
scripture,  100. 

Particularly  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, 101. 

These  books  were  early  received, 
105. 

The  canon  of  the  Old  Testament 
proved,  ib. 

Concerning  the  Pentateuch,  107. 

Objections  against  the  Old  Tes- 
tament answered, 


CONTENTS. 


xxix 


Concerning  the  various  readings, 
109. 

The  nature  and  degrees  of  in- 
spiration, 1 10. 

Concerning  the  historical  parts  of 
s  ripture,  1 1 1. 

Concerning  the  reasonings  in 
scripture.  1 1 2. 

Of  the  Apocrvphal  books,  113. 
ART.  VII. 

No  difference  between  the  Old 
and  New  Testament,  116. 

Proofs  in  the  Old  Testament  of 
the  Messias,  11 7. 

In  the  prophets;  chiefly  in  Da- 
niel, 121. 

The  proofs  all  summed  up,  ib. 

Objections  of  the  Jews  answered, 

iss. 

The  hopes  of  another  life  in  the 
Old  Testament,  124. 

Our  Saviour  proved  the  resurrec- 
tion from  the  words  to  Moses, 
125. 

Expiation  of  sin  in  the  old  dis- 
pensation. 126. 

Sins  then  expiated  by  the  blood  of 
Christ,  127. 

Of  the  rites  and  ceremonies  among 
the  Jews,  128. 

Of  their  judiciarv  laws.  129. 

Of  the  moral  law,  130. 

The  principle j  of  morality,  131. 

Of  idolatry,  ib. 

Concerning  the  Sabbath,  132. 

Of  the  second  table,  133. 

Of  not  coveting  what  is  our  neigh- 
bour's, 134. 

AHT.  VIII. 

Concerning  the  Creed  of  Athana- 
sius,  135. 

And  the  condemning  clauses  in  it, 
130. 

Of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  137. 
ART.  IX. 

Different  opinions  concerning  ori- 
ginal sin,  140. 

All  men  liable  to  death  by  it,  ib. 

A  corruption  spread  through  the 
whole  race  of  Adam,  141. 

Of  the  state  of  innocence,  143. 

Of  the  effects  of  Adam's  fall  144. 

God's  justice  vindicated.  145. 

Of  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin, 
ib. 


St.  Austin's  doctrine  in  this  point, 
146 

This  is  opposed  by  many  others, 
148. 

Both  sides  pretend  their  doctrines 

agree  with  the  Article,  150. 
ART.  X. 
The  true  notion  of  liberty,  152. 
The   feebleness  of  our  present 

state.  154. 
Inward  assistances  promised  in  the 

new  covenant,  155. 
The  effect  that  these  have  on 

men,  156. 
Concerning     preventing  -  grace, 

157. 

Of  its  being  efficacious  or  univer- 
sal, 158. 

ART.  XI. 

Concerning  justification,  160. 

Concerning  faith,  162 

The  difference  between  the  church 
of  England  and  the  church  of 
Rome  in  this  point,  164. 

The  conditions  upon  which  men 
are  justified,  168. 

The  use  to  be  made  of  this  doc- 
trine, 169. 

ART.  XII. 

The  necessity  of  holiness,  170. 

Concerning  merit,  172. 

Of  the  defects  of  good  works, 
ib. 

ART.  XIII. 

Actions  in  themselves  good,  yet 
may  be  sins  in  him  who  does 
them,  174 

Of  the  seventh  chapter  to  the  Ro- 
mans, 175. 

This  is  not  a  total  incapacity, 
176. 

ART.  XIV. 
Of  the  great  extent  of  our  duty, 
*  1 77* 

No  counsels  of  perfection,  178. 
Many  duties  which  do  not  bind 

at  all  times,  179. 
It  is  not  possible  for  man  to  su- 

pererogate,  180. 
Objections  against  this  answered 

ib. 

The  steps  by  which  that  doctrine 
prevailed,  182. 

ART  XV. 
Christ's  spotless  holiness,  184. 


XXX 


CONTENTS 


Of  the  irapprfections  of  the  best 

of  men,  185. 

ART.  XVI. 
Concerning  mortal  and  venial  sin, 

187- 

Of  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost, 
188. 

Of  the  pardon  of  sin  after  baptism, 
189. 

That  as  God  forgives,  the  church 
ought  also  to  forgive,  ib. 

Concerning  apostacy,  and  sin  unto 
death,  191. 

ART.  XVII. 

The  state  of  the  question.  193. 

The  doctrine  of  thesupralapsarians 
and  sublapsarians,  194. 

The  doctrine  of  the  remonstrants 
and  the  Socinians,  195. 

This  is  a  controversy  that  arises 
out  of  natural  religion,  ib. 

The  history  of  this  controversy 
both  in  ancient  and  modern 
times,  196. 

The  arguments  of  the  supralap- 
sarians,  204. 

The  arguments  of  the  sublapsa- 
rians, 212. 

The  arguments  of  the  remon- 
strants, 213. 

They  affirm  a  certain  prescience, 

217. 

The  Socinians'  plea,  221. 
General  reflections  on  the  whole 

matter,  ib. 
The  advantages  and  disadvantages 

of  both  sides,  and  the  faults  of 

both,  223. 
In  what  both  do  agree,  224. 
The  sense  of  the  Article,  225. 
The  cautions  added  to  it,  226. 
Passages  in  the  Liturgy  explained, 

227. 

ART.  XVIII. 
Philosophers  thought  men  might 

be  saved  in  all  religions,  228. 
So  do  the  .Mahometans,  ib. 
None  are  saved  but  by  Christ, 

229. 

Whether  some  may  not  be  saved 

by  him,  who  never  heard  of 

him,  230. 
None  are  in  covenant  with  God, 

but  through  the  knowledge  of 

Christ,  23L 


But  for  others,  we  cannot  judge 
of  the  extent  of  the  mercies  of 
God,  231. 

Curiosity  is  to  be  restrained,  ib. 
ART.  XIX. 

We  ought  not  to  believe  that  any 
are  infallible,  without  good  au- 
thority. 234. 

Just  prejudices  against  some  who 
pretend  to  it,  235. 

No  miracles  brought  to  prove  this, 
236. 

Proofs  brought  from  scripture, 
238. 

Things  to  be  supposed  previous 

to  these,  ib 
A  circle  is  not  to  be  admitted, 

239. 

The  notes  given  of  the  true  church, 
ib. 

These  are  examined,  240. 

And  whether  they  do  agree  to  the 

church  of  Rome,  241. 
The  truth  of  doctrine  must  be  first 

settled,  ib. 
A  society  that  has  a  true  baptism, 

is  a  true  church,  242. 
Sacraments  are  not  annulled  by 

every  corruption,  244. 
We  own  the  baptism  and  orders 

given  in  the  church  of  Rome, 

ib. 

And  yet  justify  our  separating 

from  them,  245. 
Objections  against  private  judging, 

ib. 

Our  reasons  are  given  us  for  that 

end,  246. 
Our  minds  are  free  as  our  wills 

are.  247. 
The  church  is  still  visible,  but  not 

infallible,  248. 
Of  the  pope's  infallibility,  250. 
That  was  not  pretended  to  in  the 

first  ages,  251. 
The  dignity  of  sees  rose  from  the 

cities,  ib. 
Popes  have  fallen  into  heresy,  ib. 
Their  ambition  and  forgeries,  252. 
Their  cruelty,  ib. 
The  power  of  deposing  princes 

claimed  by  them  as  given  them 

by  God,  254. 
This  was  not  a  corruption  only  of 

discipline,  but  of  doctrine,  255 


CONTENTS. 


xxxi 


Arguments  for  the  pope's  infal- 
libility, 256. 

No  foundation  for  it  in  the  New 
Testament',  257- 

St.  Peter  never  claimed  it.  258. 

Christ's  words  to  him  explained, 
259. 

Of  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of 

heaven,  ib. 
Of  binding  and  loosing,  2G0. 

ART.  XX. 

Of  ehurch-power  in  rituals,  2(33. 
The  practice  of  the  Jewish  chureh, 
264. 

Changes  in  these  sometimes  ne- 

ces.ary,  265. 
The  practice  of  the  Apostles,  266. 
Subjects   must   obey  in  lawful 

things.  267- 
Rut  superiors  must  not  impose 

too  much,  ib. 
The  church  has  authoritv,  though 

not  infallible,  268. 
Great  respect  due  to  her  decisions, 

209. 

But  no  absolute  submission,  ib. 
The  church  is  the  depository  of 

the  scriptures,  270. 
The  church  of  Rome  run  in  a 

circle,  ib. 

ART.  XXI. 

Councils  cannot  be  called,  but  by 
the  consent  of  princes,  272. 

The  first  were  called  by  the  Ro- 
man emperors,  ib. 

Afterwards  the  popes  called  them, 
273. 

Then  some  councils  thought  on 
methods  to  fix  their  meeting, 
274. 

What  makes  a  council  to  be  ge- 
neral 275 

What  numbers  are  necessary,  ib. 

How  must  they  be  cited,  ib 

No  rules  given  in  scripture  con- 
cerning their  constitution,  275. 

Nazianzen's  complaints  of  coun- 
cils, 276. 

Councils  have  been  contrary  to 
one  another,  ib. 

Disorders  and  intrigues  in  coun- 
cils, ib. 

They  judge  not  by  inspiration, 


The  churches  may  examine  their 
proceedings,  and  judge  of  them, 
277.  _ 

Concerning  the  pope's  bull  con- 
firming them,  ib. 

They  have  an  authority,  but  not 
absolute,  ib. 

Nor  do  they  need  the  pope's  bulls, 
ib. 

The  several  churches  know  their 

traditions  best,  278. 
The  fathers  do  argue  for  the  truth 

of  the  decisions,  but  not  from 

their  authority,  279. 
No  prospect  of  another  general 

council,  ib. 
Popes  are  jealous  of  them,  ib. 
And  the  world  expects  little  from 

them,  ib. 
Concerning  the  words,  'Tell  the 

church.'  280s, 
How  the  church  is  the  pillar  and 

ground  of  truth,  ib. 
Christ's  promise,  '  I  am  with  you 

alwav,  even  to  the  end  of  the 

world,'  281. 
Of  that,  '  It  seemed  good  to  the 

Holy  Ghost,  and  to  us,'  ib. 
Some  general  councils  have  erred, 

282. 

ART.  XXII. 
The  doctrine  of  purgatory,  285. 
Sins  once  pardoned  are  not  punish- 
ed, 286. 

Unless  with  chastisements  in  this 

life,  287. 
No  state  of  satisfaction  after  death, 

283. 

No  mention  made  of  that  in  scrip- 
ture, 289. 

But  it  is  plain  to  the  contrary, 
ib. 

Different  opinions  among  the  an- 
cients, ib. 

The  original  of  purgatory,  291. 

A  passage  in  Maccabees  consider- 
ed, ib. 

A  passage  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Corinthians  considered,  293. 

The  progress  of  the  belief  of  pur- 
gatory, 294. 

Prayers  for  the  dead  among  the 
ancients,  ib. 

Endowments  for  redeeming  out  of 
purgatory,  296. 


xxxii 


CONTENTS. 


Whether  these  ought  to  be  sacred, 
or  not,  297. 

The  doctrine  of  pardons  and  in- 
dulgences, 293. 

It  is  only  the  excusing  from  pe- 
nance, 300. 

No  foundation  for  it  in  scripture, 
ib. 

General  rules  concerning  idolatry, 
301. 

Of  the  idolatry  of  heathens,  302. 
Laws  given  to  the  Jews  against 
it,  ib. 

The  expostulations  of  the  pro- 
phets, 3U3. 

Concerning  the  golden  calf,  304. 

And  the  calves  at  Dan  and  Bethel, 
ib. 

The  apostles  opposed  all  idolatry, 
305. 

St.  Paul  at  Athens,  and  to  the 
Romans,  3i)6. 

The  sense  of  the  primitive  fathers 
upon  it,  307. 

The  first  use  of  images  among 
Christians,  ib. 

Pictures  in  churches  for  instruc- 
tion, 309. 

Were  afterwards  worshipped,  ib. 

Contests  about  that,  ib. 

Images  of  the  Deitv  and  Trinity, 
310. 

On  what  the  worship  of  images 

terminates,  31 1. 
The  due  worship  settled  by  the 

council  at  Trent,  312. 
Images    consecrated,   and  how, 

313. 

Arguments  for  worshipping  them 

answered,  314. 
Arguments  against   the  use  or 

worship  of  images,  ib. 
The  worship  of  relics,  315. 
The  progress  of  superstition,  31 6. 
A  due  regard  to  the  bodies  of 

martyrs,  ib. 
No  warrant  for  this  in  scripture, 

317. 

Hezekiah  broke  the  brazen  ser- 
pent, ib. 

The  memorable  passage  concern- 
ing the  bodv  of  St.  Polycarp, 
ib. 

Fables  and  forgeries  prevailed, 
318. 


The  souls  of  the  martyrs  believed 
to  hover  about  their  tombs, 
319. 

Nothing  of  this  kind  objected  to 

the  first  Christians,  320. 
Disputes  between  Vigilantius  and 

St.  Jerome,  ib. 
No  invocation  of  saints  in  the 

Old  Testament,  322. 
The  invocating  angels  condemned 

in  the  New  Testament,  323. 
No  saints  invocated,  Christ  only, 

ib. 

No  mention  of  this  in  the  three 
first  ages,  ?24 

In  the  fourth,  martyrs  were  invo- 
cated, 325. 

The  progress  that  this  made,  326. 

Scandalous  offices  in  the  church 
of  l?ome,  ib. 

Arguments  against  this  invoca- 
tion, 327. 

An  !ipol.)gy  for  those  who  began 
it,  ib. 

The  scandal  given  by  it,  329. 

Arguments  for  it  answered,  330. 

Whether  the  saints  see  all  things 
in  God,  ib. 

This  no  part  of  the  communion 
of  saints,  331. 

Prayers  ought  to  be  directed  only 
to  God,  ib. 

Revealed  religion  designed  to  de- 
liver the  world  from  idolatry, 
332. 

ART.  XXIII. 
A  succession  of  pastors  ought  to 

be  in  the  church,  333. 
This  was  settled  by  the  Apostles, 

334. 

And  must  continue  to  the  end  of 
the  world,  ib. 

It  was  settled  in  the  first  age  of 
the  church,  335. 

The  danger  of  men's  taking  to 
themselves  this  authority  with- 
out a  due  vocation.  330. 

The  difference  between  means  of 
salvation,  and  precepts  for  or- 
der's sake.  ib. 

What  is  lawful  authority,  337- 

What  may  be  done  upon  extra- 
ordinary occasions,  338. 

Necessity  is  above  rules  of  order, 
ib. 


CONTENTS. 


xxxm 


The  high  priests  in  our  Saviour's 

time,  339. 
Baptism  by  women,  340. 

ART.  XXIV. 

The  chief  end  of  worshipping 
God,  341. 

The  practice  of  the  Jews,  342. 

Rules  given  by  the  Apostle-,  ib. 

The  practice  of  the  church.  343. 

Arguments  for  worship  in  an  un- 
known tongue  answered.  344. 

ART.  XXV. 

Difference  between  sacraments 
and  rites,  34/. 

Sacraments  do  not  imprint  a  cha- 
racter, ib. 

But  are  not  mere  ceremonies, 
349. 

What  is  necessary  la  constitute  a 

sacrament,  ib. 
That  applied  to  baptism,  350. 
And  to  the  euehari-t,  351. 
No  mention  of  seven  sacraments 

before  Peter  L  'in bard,  ib. 
Confirmation,  no  sacrament,  ib. 
How  practised  among  us,  352. 
The  use  of  chrism  in  it  is  new, 

353. 

Oil  early  used  in  Christian  rituals, 
ib. 

Bishops    only   consecrated  the 

chrism,  354. 
In  the  Creek  church  presbyters 

applied  it,  ib. 
This  used  in  the  western  church, 

but  condemned  by  the  popes, 

ib. 

Disputes  concerning  confirmation, 
355. 

Concerning  penance,  ib. 

The  true  notion  of  repentance, 

:m. 

Confession  not  the  matter  of  a 

sacrament,  357- 
The  use  of  confession,  ib. 
The  priest's  pardon  ministerial, 

358. 

And  restrained  within  bounds, 
360. 

Auricular  confession  not  neces- 
sary, 361. 

Not  commanded  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament, ib. 


The  beginnings  of  it  in  the 
church,  362. 

Many  canons  about  penance,  363. 

Confession  forbid  at  Constanti- 
nople. 

The  ancient  discipline  slackened, 
364. 

Confession  may  be  advised,  but 
not  commanded,  365. 

The  good  and  bad  effects  it  may 
have,  ib. 

Of  contrition  and  attrition,  366. 

The  ill  effects  of  the  doctrine  of 
attrition,  !i67. 

Of  doing  the  penance  or  satisfac- 
tion, 368. 

Concerning  sorrow  for  sin,  ib. 

Of  the  ill  effects  of  hasty  absolu- 
tion, 369. 

Of  fasting  and  prayer,  ib. 

Of  the  form, '  I  absolve  thee,'  370. 

Of  holy  orders,  371. 

Of  the  ancient  form  of  ordina- 
tions, 372. 

Of  delivering  the  vessel,  373. 

Orders  no  sacrament,  ib. 

Whether  bishop-  and  priests  are 
of  the  same  order,  374. 

Of  marriage,  ib. 

It  can  be  no  sacrament,  375. 

Intention  not  necessary,  ib. 

How  marriage  is  called  a  mystery 
or  sacrament.  376. 

Marriage  dissolved  by  adultery, 
377- 

The  practice  of  the  church  in  this 

matter,  378. 
Of  extreme  unction,  ib. 
St.  James's  words  explained,  379. 
Oil  much  used  in  ancient  rituals, 

381. 

Pope  Innocent's  Epistle  consi- 
dered, ib. 

Anointing  used  in  order  to  reco- 
very, 383. 

Afterwards  as  the  sacrament  of 
the  dying,  ib. 

The  sacraments  are  to  be  used, 
384. 

And  to  be  received  worthily,  ib. 

ART.  XXVI. 
Sacraments  are  not  effectual  as 

prayers  are,  386. 
Of  the  doctrine  of  intention,  388. 


7 


xxxiv 


CONTENTS. 


The  ill  consequences  of  it,  388. 
Of  h  just  severity  in  discipline, 
389. 

Particularly  towards  the  clergy, 
390. 

ART.  XXVII. 
Concerning  St.  John's  Baptism, 
391. 

The  Jews  used  baptism,  ib. 
The  Christian  baptism,  392. 
The  difference  between  it  and 

St.  John's,  393. 
The  necessity  of  baptism,  394. 
It  is  a  precept  but  not  a  mean  of 

salvation,  ib. 
Baptism  unites  us  to  the  church, 

395. 

It  al-o  saves  us,  ib. 
St.  Peter's  words  explained,  396. 
St.  Austin's  doctrine  of  baptism, 
ib. 

Baptism  is  a  federal  stipulation, 
397- 

In  what  sense  it  was  of  more  va- 
lue to  preach  than  to  baptize, 
398. 

Of  infant  baptism,  ib. 

It  is  grounded  on  the  law  of  na- 
ture, 399. 

And  the  law  of  Moses,  and  war- 
ranted in  the  New  Testament, 
ib. 

In  what  sense  children  can  be 

holy,  400. 
It  is  also  very  expedient,  401. 

ART.  XXVIII. 
The  change  made  in  this  Article 

in  queen  Elizabeth's  time,  402. 
The  explanation  of  our  doctrine, 

403. 

Of  the  rituals  in  the  passover,  ib. 
Of  the  words,  '  This  is  my  body/ 
404. 

And,  '  This  cup  is  the  new  testa- 
ment in  my  blood.'  405. 

Of  the  horror  the  Jews  had  at 
blood,  ib. 

In  what  sense  only  the  disciples 
could  understand  our  Saviour's 
words,  406. 

The  discourse  (John  vi.)  explain- 
ed, 407- 

It  can  onlv  be  understood  spiri- 
tually, 403. 


Bold  figures  much  understood  in 

the  East,  409. 
A  plain  thisg  needs  no  great 

proof,  410. 
Of  unworthy  receivers,  and  the 

effect  of  that  sin,  411. 
Of  the  effects  of  worthy  receiving, 

412. 

Of  federal  symbols,  ib. 

Of  the  communion  of  the  bodv 

and  blood  of  Christ,  413. 
Of  the  like  phrases  in  scripture, 

414. 

Of  our  sense  of  the  phrase  real 
presence,  ib. 

Transubstantiation  explained, 415. 

Of  the  words  of  consecration,  416. 

Of  the  consequences  of  transub- 
stantiation, 418. 

The  grounds  upon  which  it  was 
believed,  419. 

This  is  contrary  to  the  testimony 
of  all  our  faculties,  both  sense 
and  reason,  ib. 

We  can  be  sure  of  nothing,  if  our 
senses  do  deceive  us,  420 

The  objection  from  believing 
mysteries,  answered,  421. 

The  end  of  all  miracles  consider- 
ed, 422. 

Our  doctrine  of  a  mystical  pre- 
sence is  confessed  by  those  of 
the  church  of  Rome,  423 

St.  Austin's  rule  about  figures,  ib. 

Presumptions  concerning  the  be- 
lief of  the  ancients  in  this  mat- 
ter, 424. 

They  had  not  that  philosophy 
which  this  doctrine  has  forced 
on  the  church  of  Rome,  ib. 

This  was  not  objected  by  hea- 
thens, 427. 

No  heresies  or  disputes  arose  upon 
this,  as  they  did  on  all  oLher 
points,  ib. 

Many  new  rituals  unknown  to 
them,  have  sprung  out  of  this 
doctrine,  428. 

In  particular,  the  adoring  the  sa- 
crament, 429. 

Prayers  in  the  masses  of  the 
saints  inconsistent  with  it,  ib. 

They  believed  the  elements  were 
bread  and  wine  after  consecra- 
tion, ib. 


CONTENTS. 


XXXV 


Many  authorities  brought  for 
this.  430. 

Eutychians  said,  Christ's  humani- 
ty was  swallowed  of  his  divi- 
nity, 431. 

The  fathers  argue  against  this 
from  the  doctrine  of  the  eu- 
charist,  ib. 

The  force  of  that  argument  ex- 
plained,  432. 

The  fathers  say  our  bodies  are 
nourished  by  the  sacrament, 
433. 

They  call  it  the  type,  sign,  and 
figure,  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  434. 

The  praver  of  consecration  calls 
it  so,  436. 

That  compared  with  the  prayer 
in  the  Missal,  ib. 

The  progress  of  the  doctrine  of 
the  corporal  presence,  437. 

Reflection  on  the  ages  in  which 
it  g  ev.\  ib. 

The  occ:v='op.  on  which  it  was  ad- 
vanced in  the  eastern  church, 
439. 

Paschase  Radbert  taught  it  first, 
440. 

But  many  wrote  against  him,  ib. 
Afterwards  Berengarius  opposed 
it,  442. 

The  schoolmen  descanted  on  it, 
443. 

Philosophy  was  corrupted  to  sup- 
port it,  ib. 

Concerning  consubstantiation, 
444. 

It  is  an  opinion  that  may  be  borne 

with,  ib. 
The  adoration  of  the  eucharist  is 

idolatry  445. 
The  plea  against  that  considered, 

ib. 

Christ  is  not  to  be  worshipped, 
though  present,  447. 

Concerning  reserving  the  sacra- 
ment, ib. 

Concerning  the  elevation  of  it, 
443v 

ART.  XXIX. 
The  wicked  do  not  receive  Christ, 
450. 


The  doctrine  of  the  fathers  in 

this  point,  451. 
More  particularly  St.  Austin's, 

ib. 

ART.  XXX. 
The  chalice  was  given  to  all, 
452. 

Not  to  the  disciples  as  priests, 
453. 

The  breaking  of  bread  explained, 
ib. 

Sacraments  must  be  given  accord- 
ing to  the  institution,  ib. 

No  arguments  from  ill  conse- 
quences to  be  admitted,  unless 
in  cases  of  necessity,  454. 

Concomitance  a  new  notion,  ib. 

Universal  practice  for  giving  the 
chalice,  455. 

The  case  of  the  Aquarii,  ib. 

The  first  beginning  of  taking 
away  the  cup,  456. 

The  decree  of  the  council  of  Con- 
stance, 457. 

ART.  XXXI. 

The  term  sacrifice  of  a  large  sig- 
nification, 459. 

The  primitive  Christians  denied 
that  they  had  any  sacrifices,  ib. 

The  eucharist  has  no  virtue,  but 
as  it  is  a  communion,  460. 

Strictly  speaking  there  is  only 
one  Priest  and  one  Sacrifice  in 
the  Christian  religion,  461. 

The  fathers  did  not  think  the 
eucharist  was  a  propitiatory  sa- 
crifice, 463. 

But  call  it  a  sacrifice  in  a  larger 
sense,  ib. 

Masse.!  without  a  communion  not 
known  then,  464. 

None  might  be  at  mass,  who  did 
not  communicate,  ib. 

The  importance  of  the  contro- 
versies concerning  the  eucha- 
rist, 465. 

ART.  XXII. 

No  divine  law  against  a  married 
clergy,  46 J. 

Neither  in  the  Old  or  New  Tes- 
tament, but  the  contrary,  463. 


XXXVI 


CONTENTS. 


The  church  has  not  power  to 
make  a  perpetual  law  against 
it,  470. 

The  ill  consequences  of  such  a 
law,  ib. 

No  such  law  in  the  first  ages, 
471. 

When  the  laws  for  the  celibate 

began,  472. 
The  practice  of  the  church  not 

uniform  in  it,  ib. 
The  progress  of  these  laws  in 

England,  ib. 
The  good  and  the  bad  of  celibate 

balanced,  4J3. 
It  is  not  lawful  to  make  vows  in 

this  matter,  474. 
Nor  do  they  bind  when  made, 

475. 

Oaths  ill  made  are  worse  to  be 
kept,  ib. 

ART.  XXXIII. 

A   temper   to  be   observed  in 

church-discipline,  477- 
The  necessity  of  keeping  it  up, 

ib. 

Extremes  in  this  to  be  avoided, 
478 

Concerning  the  delivering  any  to 

Satan,  479. 
The  importance  of  an  anathema, 

480. 

Of  the  effect  of  church-censures, 
ib. 

What  it  is  when  they  are  wrong 
applied,  431. 

The  causeless  jealousy  of  church- 
power,  ib. 

How  the  laity  was  once  taken 
into  the  exercise  of  it,  482. 

The  pastors  of  the  church  have 
authority,  ib. 

Defects  in  this  no  just  cause  of 
separation,  484. 

All  these  brought  in  hy  poperv, 
ib. 

A  correction  of  them  intended  at 
the  Reformation,  ib. 

ART.  XXXIV. 

The  obligation  to  obey  canons 
and  laws,  485. 


The  great  sin  of  schism  and  dis- 
obedience. 486. 

The  true  notion  of  scandal,  487- 

The  fear  of  giving  scandal  no 
warrant  to  break  established 
laws,  488. 

Human  laws  are  not  unalterable, 
ib. 

The  respect  due  to  ancient  ca- 
nons, ib. 

The  corruptions  of  the  canon 

law,  489. 
Great  varieties  in  rituals,  490. 
Everv  church  is  a  complete  body, 

ib.' 

ART.  XXXV. 

The  occasion  of  compiling  the 

Homilies,  491. 
We  are  not  hound  to  every  thing 

in  them,  492. 
But  only  to  the  doctrine,  ib. 
This  illustrated  in  the  charge  of 

idolatry,  ib. 
What  is  meant  by  their  being 

necessary  for  those  times,  ib. 

ART.  XXXVI. 

The  occasion  of  this  Article  494. 
An   explanation  of  the  words 

1  Receive  ve  the  Holv  Ghost/ 

495. 

ART.  XXXVII. 

Queen  Elizabeth's  injunction 
concerning  the  supremacy.  4.17- 

The  pope  s  universal  jurisdic- 
tion not  warranted  by  any  of 
the  laws  of  Christ,  498. 

Nor  acknowledged  in  the  first 
ages,  499. 

Begun  on  the  occasion  of  the 
Arian  controversy,  500. 

Contested  in  many  places,  ib. 

The  progress  that  it  made,  501. 

The  patriarchal  authority  found- 
ed on  the  division  of  the  Ro- 
man empire,  sunk  with  it,  5l)2. 

The  power  exercised  by  the  kings 
of  Judah  in  religious  matters, 
ib. 

That  is  founded  on  scriptures, 
503. 


CONTENTS. 


xxxvii 


Practised  in  all  ages,  503. 
And   particularly   in  England, 
504. 

Methods  used  by  popish  princes 
to  keep  the  ecclesiastical  au- 
thority under  the  civil,  505. 

The  temporal  power  is  over  all 
persons,  ib. 

And  in  all  causes,  ib. 

The  importance  of  the  term  head, 

507. 

The  necessity  of  capital  punish- 
ments, ib. 

The  measure  of  these,  508. 

The  lawfulness  of  war,  509. 

Our  Saviour's  words  explained, 
510. 

In  what  cases  war  is  just,  511. 
Warranted  by  the  laws  of  God, 
ib. 


How  a  subject  may  serve  in  an 
unlawful  war,  511. 

ART.  XXXVIII. 
Concerning  property  and  charity, 
513. 

The  proportion  of  charity  to  the 
poor,  414. 

ART.  XXXIX. 
The  lawfulness  of  oaths  proved, 
515. 

From  natural  religion  and  the 

scriptures,  ib. 
The  form  of  swearing  among  the 

Jews,  516. 
Our   Saviour's  words  and  St. 

James's  against  all  swearing 

explained,  517- 
When  oaths  may  be  lawfully 

taken,  518. 


AN 

EXPOSITION 


OF  THE 

ARTICLES 

OF 

THE  CHURCH  OF  ENGLAND. 


&rttclejf  thereupon  it  bias  agreed  bp  the  8rcbbtetj°pS  anb"  33t£ibop:S 
of  boti)  probttuesi  anb  the  foijolt  Cleargte,  tn  tije  Conbocatt'on 
bolben  at  London  tn  tije  ©fare  of  our  JCortfe  45<©B  1562,  ac* 
(orlftng;  to  tbe  Computation  of  tbc  Cburrb  of  Englande,  for  tije 
abotbtng  of  tije  MibcxSititS  of  <0ptm'onS,  anb  for  ttjc  sitabltsf)* 
ing  of  Consent  toucijtng  true  Religion.  $ut  forth,  bp  the 
(Qufen'jJ  &uthorttt'e. 

The  title  of  these  articles  leads  me  to  consider,  1st,  The 
time,  the  occasion,  and  the  design  of  compiling  them.  2dly, 
the  authority  that  is  stamped  upon  them  both  by  church 
and  state,  and  the  obligation  that  lies  upon  all  of  our  com- 
munion to  assent  to  them,  and  more  particularly  the  im- 
portance of  the  subscription  to  which  the  clergy  are  obliged. 
As  to  the  first,  it  may  seem  somewhat  strange  to  see  such  a 
collection  of  tenets  made  the  standard  of  the  doctrine  of  a 
church  that  if  deservedly  valued  by  reason  of  her  moderation : 
this  seems  to  be  a  departing  from  the  simplicity  of  the  first 
ages,  which  yet  we  pretend  to  set  up  for  a  pattern.  Among 
them,  the  owning  the  belief  of  the  creeds  then  received  was 
thought  sufficient :  and,  when  some  heresies  had  occasioned 
a  great  enlargement  to  be  made  in  the  creeds,  the  third  gene- 
ral council  thought  fit  to  set  a  bar  against  all  farther  ad- 
ditions ;  and  yet  all  those  creeds,  one  of  which  goes  far 
beyond  the  Ephesine  standard,  make  but  one  article  of  the 
thirty-nine  of  which  this  book  consists.  Many  of  these  do 
also  relate  to  subtile  and  abstruse  points,  in  which  it  is  not 
easy  to  form  a  clear  judgment ;  and  much  less  can  it  be  con- 
venient to  impose  so  great  a  collection  of  tenets  upon  a 
whole  church,  to  excommunicate  such  as  affirm  any  of  them 
to  be  erroneous,  and  to  reject  those  from  the  service  of 
the  church  who  cannot  assent  to  every  one  of  these.  The 
negative  Articles  of  No  infallibility,  No  supremacy  in  the 
pope,  No  transubstantiation,  No  purgatory,  and  the  like,  give 

B 


2 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


yet  a  farther  colour  to  exceptions ;  since  it  may  seem  that  it 
was  enough  not  to  have  mentioned  these,  which  implies  a 
tacit  rejecting  of  them.  It  may,  therefore,  appear  to  be  too 
rigorous  to  require  a  positive  condemning  of  those  poinio  : 
for,  a  very  high  degree  of  certainty  is  required,  to  arhrm  a 
negative  proposition. 

In  order  to  the  explaining  this  matter,  it  is  to  he  con- 
fessed, that,  in  the  beginnings  of  Christianity,  the  declaration 
that  was  required  even  of  a  bishop's  faith  was  conceived 
in  very  general  terms.    There  was  a  form  settled  very  early 
Rom.vL    in  most  churches:  this  St.  Paul,  in  one  place,  calls  'the 
]7',         form  of  doctrine  that  was  delivered;'  in  another  place,  'the 

1  J  im.  IV.  riii 

6.  vi.  3.     form  of  sound  words,  which  those,  who  were  hxed  by  the 

2  Tim.  i.   apostles  in  particular  churches,  had  received  from  them. 

13'  These  words  of  his  do  import  a  standard,  or  fixed  formu- 
lary, by  which  all  doctrines  were  to  be  examined.  Some 
have  inferred  from  them,  that  the  apostles  delivered  that 
creed,  which  goes  under  their  name,  every  where  in  the  same 
form  of  words.  But  there  is  great  reason  to  doubt  of  this, 
since  the  first  apologists  for  Christianity,  when  they  deliver 
a  short  abstract  of  the  Christian  faith,  do  all  vary  from  one 
another,  both  as  to  the  order  and  as  to  the  words  them- 
selves; which  they  would  not  have  done,  if  the  churches 
had  all  received  one  settled  form  from  the  apostles.  They 
would  all  have  used  the  same  words,  and  neither  more  nor 
less.  It  is  more  probable,  that  in  every  church  there  was 
a  form  settled,  which  was  delivered  to  it  by  some  apostle,  or 
companion  of  the  apostles,  with  some  variation  :  of  which  at 
this  distance  of  time,  considering  how  defective  the  history 
of  the  first  ages  of  Christianity  is,  it  is  not  possible,  nor  very- 
necessary  for  us  to  be  able  to  give  a  clear  account.  For 
instance ;  in  the  whole  extent  or  neighbourhood  of  the 
Roman  empire,  it  was  at  first  of  great  use  to  have  this  in 
every  Christian's  mouth,  that  our  Saviour  suffered  under 
Pontius  Pilate ;  because  this  fixed  the  time,  and  carried  in 
it  an  appeal  to  records  and  evidences,  that  might  then  have 
been  searched  for.  But  if  this  religion  went  at  first  far  to 
the  eastward,  beyond  all  commerce  with  the  Romans,  there 
is  not  that  reason  to  think  that  this  should  have  been  a  part 
of  the  shortest  form  of  this  doctrine;  it  being  enough  that  it 
was  related  in  the  gospel.  These  forms  of  the  several 
churches  were  preserved  with  that  sacred  respect  that  was 
due  to  them:  this  was  esteemed  the  depositum  or  trust  of  a 
church,  which  was  chiefly  committed  to  the  keeping  of  the 
bishop.  In  the  first  ages,  in  which  the  bishops  or  clergy  of 
the  several  churches  could  not  meet  together  in  synods  to 
examine  the  doctrine  of  every  new  bishop,  the  method,  upon 
which  the  circumstances  of  those  ages  put  them,  was  this : 
the  new  bishop  sent  round  him,  and  chiefly  to  the  bishops  of 
the  more  eminent  sees,  the  profession  of  his  faith,  according 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


3 


to  the  form  that  was  fixed  in  his  church :  and  when  the 
neighbouring  bishops  were  satisfied  in  this,  they  held  com- 
munion with  him,  and  not  only  owned  him  for  a  bishop,  but 
maintained  such  a  commerce  with  him  as  the  state  of  that 
time  did  admit  of. 

But  as  some  heresies  sprung  up,  there  were  enlargements 
made  in  several  churches,  for  the  condemning  those,  and  for 
excluding  such  as  held  them,  from  their  communion.  The 
council  of  Nice  examined  many  of  those  creeds,  and  out  of 
them  they  put  their  creed  in  a  fuller  form.  The  addition 
made  by  the  council  of  Constantinople  was  put  into  the 
creeds  of  some  particular  churches,  several  years  before  that 
council  met.  So  that  though  it  received  its  authority  from 
that  council,  yet  they  rather  confirmed  an  article  which  they 
found  in  the  creeds  of  some  churches,  than  made  a  new  one. 
It  had  been  an  invaluable  blessing,  if  the  Christian  religion 
had  been  kept  in  its  first  simplicity.  The  council  of  Ephe- 
sus  took  care  that  the  creed,  by  which  men  profess  their 
Christianity,  should  receive  no  new  additions,  but  be  fixed 
according  to  the  Constantinopolitan  standard ;  yet  they  made 
decrees  in  points  of  faith,  and  the  following  councils  went  on 
in  their  steps,  adding  still  new  decrees,  with  anathematisms 
against  the  contrary  doctrines;  and  declaring  the  assertors  of 
them  to  be  under  an  anathema,  that  is,  under  a  very  heavy 
curse  of  being  totally  excluded  from  their  communion,  and 
even  from  the  communion  of  Jesus  Christ.  And  whereas 
the  new  bishops  had  formerly  only  declared  their  faith,  they 
were  then  required,  besides  that,  to  declare,  that  they  re- 
ceived such  councils,  and  rejected  such  doctrines,  together 
with  such  as  favoured  them ;  who  were  sometimes  mentioned 
by  name.  This  increased  daily.  We  have  a  full  account  of 
the  special  declaration  that  a  bishop  was  obliged  to  make,  in 
the  first  canon  of  that  which  passed  for  the  fourth  council  of 
Carthage.  But  while,  by  reason  of  new  emergencies,  this 
was  swelling  to  a  vast  bulk,  general  and  more  implicit  formu- 
laries came  to  be  used,  the  bishops  declaring  that  they 
received  and  would  observe  all  the  decrees  and  traditions 
of  holy  councils  and  fathers.  And  the  papacy  coming  after- 
wards to  carry  every  thing  before  it,  a  formal  oath,  that  had 
many  loose  and  indefinite  words  in  it,  which  were  very  large 
and  comprehensive,  was  added  to  all  the  declarations  that 
had  been  formerly  established.  The  enlargements  of  creeds 
were  at  first  occasioned  by  the  prevarications  of  heretics; 
who  having  put  senses  favouring  their  opinions,  to  the 
simpler  terms  in  which  the  first  creeds  were  proposed,  there- 
fore it  was  thought  necessary  to  add  more  express  words. 
And  this  was  absolutely  necessary  as  to  some  points;  for  it 
being  necessary  to  shew  that  the  Christian  religion  did  not 
bring  in  that  idolatry  which  it  condemned  in  heathens,  it  was 
also  necessary  co  state  this  matter  so,  that  it  should  appear 

b  2 


4 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


that  they  worshipped  no  creature ;  but  that  the  Person  to 
whom  all  agreed  to  pay  divine  adoration  was  truly  God  :  and. 
it  being  found  that  an  equivocation  was  used  in  all  other 
words  except  that  of  the  same  substance,  they  judged  it 
necessary  to  fix  on  it,  besides  some  other  words  that  they  aL 
first  brought  in,  but  which  were  afterwards  corrupted  by  the 
glosses  that  were  put  on  them.  At  all  times  it  is  very  neces- 
sary to  free  the  Christian  religion  from  the  imputations  of 
idolatry;  but  this  was  never  so  necessary,  as  when  Chris- 
tianity was  engaged  in  such  a  struggle  with  paganism :  and 
since  the  main  article  then  in  dispute  with  the  heathens  was 
idolatry,  and  the  lawfulness  of  worshipping  any  besides  the 
great  and  eternal  God,  it  was  of  the  last  importance  to  the 
Christian  cause,  to  take  care  that  the  heathens  might  have 
no  reason  to  believe  that  they  worshipped  a  creature.  There 
was  therefore  just  reason  given  to  secure  this  main  point,  and 
to  put  an  end  to  equivocation,  by  establishing  a  term,  which, 
by  the  confession  of  all  parties,  did  not  admit  of  any.  It  had 
been  a  great  blessing  to  the  church,  if  a  stop  had  been  put 
here;  and  that  those  nice  descantings,  that  were  afterwards 
so  much  pursued,  had  been  more  effectually  discouraged  than 
they  were.  But  men  ever  were  and  ever  will  be  men.  Fac- 
tions were  formed  and  interests  were  set  up.  Heretics  had 
shewed  so  much  dissimulation  when  they  were  low,  and  so 
much  cruelty  when  they  prevailed,  that  it  was  thought  neces- 
sary to  secure  the  church  from  the  disturbances  that  they 
might  give  them:  and  thus  it  grew  to  be  a  rule  to  enlarge 
the  doctrines  and  decisions  of  the  church.  So  that  in  stating 
the  doctrines  of  this  church  so  copiously,  our  reformers 
followed  a  method  that  had  been  used  in  a  course  of  many 
ages. 

There  were,  besides  this  common  practice,  two  particular 
circumstances  in  that  time,  that  made  this  seem  to  be  the 
more  necessary.  One  was,  that  at  the  breaking  out  of  that 
light,  there  sprang  up  with  it  many  impious  and  extravagant 
sects,  which  broke  out  into  most  violent  excesses.  This  was 
no  extraordinary  thing,  for  we  find  the  like  happened  upon 
the  first  spreading  of  the  gospel;  many  detestable  sects 
grew  up  with  it,  which  tended  not  a  little  to  the  defaming 
of  Christianity,  and  the  obstructing  its  progress.  I  shall  not 
examine  what  influence  evil  spirits  might  have  both  in  the 
one  and  the  other :  but  one  visible  occasion  of  it  was,  that  by 
the  first  preaching  of  the  gospel,  as  also  upon  the  opening  the 
reformation,  an  inquiry  into  the  matters  of  religion  being  then 
the  subject  of  men's  studies  and  discourses,  many  men  of 
warm  and  ill-governed  imaginations,  presuming  on  their  own 
talents,  and  being  desirous  to  signalize  themselves,  and  to 
have  a  name  in  the  world,  went  beyond  their  depth  in  study, 
without  the  necessary  degrees  of  knowledge,  and  the  yet  more 
necessary  dispositions  of  mind  for  arriving  at  a  right  under- 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


5 


standing  of  divine  matters.  This  happening  soon  after  the 
reformation  was  first  set  on  foot,  those,  whose  corruptions 
were  struck  at  by  it,  and  who  botli  hated  and  persecuted  it 
on  that  account,  did  not  fail  to  lay  hold  of  and  to  improve 
the  advantage  which  these  sects  gave  them.  They  said,  that 
the  sectaries  had  only  spoke  out  what  the  rest  thought ;  and 
at  last  they  held  to  this,  that  all  sects  were  the  natural  con- 
sequences of  the  reformation,  and  of  shaking  off  the  doctrine 
of  the  infallibility  of  the  church.  To  stop  those  calumnies,  the 
Protestants  of  Germany  prepared  that  confession  of  their 
faith  which  they  offered  to  the  diet  at  Augsburg,*  and  which 
carries  its  name.  And,  after  their  example,  all  the  other 
churches,  which  separated  from  the  Roman  communion, 
published  the  confessions  of  their  faith,  both  to  declare  their 
doctrine  for  the  instruction  of  their  own  members,  and  for 
covering  them  from  the  slanders  of  their  adversaries. 

Another  reason  that  the  first  reformers  had  for  their  de- 
scending into  so  many  particulars,  and  for  all  these  nega- 
tives that  are  in  their  confessions,  was  this :  they  had 
smarted  long  under  the  tyranny  of  popery,  and  so  they  had 
reason  to  secure  themselves  from  it,  and  from  all  those  who 
were  leavened  with  it.  They  here  in  England  had  seen 
how  many  had  complied  with  every  alteration  both  in  king 
Henry  and  king  Edward's  reign,  who  not  only  declared 
themselves  to  have  been  all  the  while  papists,  but  became 
bloody  persecutors  in  queen  Mary's  reign :  therefore  it  was 
necessary  to  keep  all  such  out  of  their  body,  that  they 
might  not  secretly  undermine  and  betray  it.  Now  since 
the  church  of  Rome  owns  all  that  is  positive  in  our  doctrine, 
there  could  be  no  discrimination  made,  but  by  condemning 
the  most  important  of  those  additions,  that  they  have 

*  This  celebrated  confession  was  dictated  by  Luther,  and  drawn  up  by  Melanc- 
thon.  It  contains  twenty-eight  chapters.  Twenty-one  of  which  set  forth  the 
opinions  of  the  Protestants ;  the  other  seven  the  errors  and  superstitions  of  the 
church  of  Rome.  Dr.  Mosheim  gives  the  following  most  interesting  account  of 
the  presentation  of  this  confession,  and  of  its  effect  upon  the  diet : — 

'Charles  V.  arrived  at  Augsburg  the  15th  of  June,  1530,  and  on  the  twentieth 
day  of  the  same  month  the  diet  was  opened.  As  it  was  unanimously  agreed, 
that  the  atfairs  of  religion  should  be  brought  upon  the  carpet  before  the  delibera- 
tions relating  to  the  intended  war  with  the  Turks,  the  Protestant  members  of 
this  great  assembly  received  from  the  emperor  a  formal  permission  to  present  to 
the  diet,  on  the  25th  of  June,  an  account  of  their  religious  principles  and  tenets. 
In  consequence  of  this  Christian  Bayer,  chancellor  of  Saxony,  read,  in  the  Ger- 
man language,  in  presence  of  the  emperor  and  the  assembled  princes,  the  famous 
confession  which  has  been  since  distinguished  by  the  denomination  of  the  I  onfes- 
sion  of  Augsburg.  The  princes  heard  it  with  the  deepest  attention  and  recollection 
of  mind  ;  it  confirmed  some  in  the  principles  they  had  embraced,  surprised  others, 
and  many,  who,  before  this  time,  had  little  or  no  idea  of  the  religious  sentiments  of 
Luther,  were  now  not  only  convinced  of  their  innocence,  but  were,  moreover,  de- 
lighted with  their  purity  and  simplicity.  The  copies  of  this  confession,  which  after 
being  read,  were  delivered  to  the  emperor,  were  signed  and  subscribed  by  John, 
elerfor  of  Saxony,  by  four  princes  of  the  empire,  George,  marquis  of  Brandenburg, 
Fr.iest,  duke  of  Lunenburg,  Philip,  landgTave  of  Hesse,  Wolfgang,  prince  of  An- 
Isalr,  una  Dy  trie  imperial  cities  of  Nuremberg  and  Reutlingen,  who  all  tnereuy  so- 
lemnly declaied  their  assent  to  the  doctrines  contained  in  it.' — See  the  confession 
of  Augsburg,  in  Appendix  A. — [Ed.] 


6 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


brought  into  the  Christian  religion,  in  express  words :  and 
though  in  matters  of  fact,  or  in  theories  of  nature,  it  is  not 
safe  to  affirm  a  negative,  because  it  is  seldom  possible  to 
prove  it ;  yet  the  fundamental  article,  upon  which  the  whole 
reformation  and  this  our  church  depends,  is  this,  that  the 
whole  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion  are  contained  in 
the  Scripture,  and  that  therefore  we  are  to  admit  no  article 
as  a  part  of  it  till  it  is  proved  from  scripture.  This  being 
laid  clown,  and  well  made  out,  it  is  not  at  all  unreasonable 
to  affirm  a  negative  upon  an  examination  of  all  those  places 
of  scripture  that  are  brought  for  any  doctrine,  and  that 
seem  to  favour  it,  if  they  are  found  not  at  all  to  support  it, 
but  to  bear  a  different,  and  sometimes  a  contrary  sense,  to 
that  which  is  offered  to  be  proved  by  them.  So  there  is  no 
weight  in  this  cavil,  which  looks  plausible  to  such  as  cannot 
distinguish  common  matters  from  points  of  faith.  This 
may  serve  in  general  to  justify  the  largeness  and  the  parti- 
cularities of  this  confession  of  our  faith.  There  were  some 
steps  made  to  it  in  king  Henry's  time,  in  a  large  book  that 
was  then  published  under  the  title  of  The  Necessary  Eru- 
dition, that  was  a  treatise  set  forth  to  instruct  the  nation. 
Many  of  the  errors  of  popery  were  laid  open  and  con- 
demned in  it :  but  none  were  obliged  to  assent  to  it,  or  to 
subscribe  it.  After  that,  the  worship  was  reformed,  as 
being  that  which  pressed  most;  and  in  that  a  foundation 
was  laid  for  the  articles  that  came  quickly  after  it.  How 
or  by  whom  they  were  prepared,  we  do  not  certainly  know  ; 
by  the  remains  of  that  time  it  appears,  that,  in  the  alterations 
that  were  made,  there  was  great  precaution  used,  such  as  mat- 
ters of  that  nature  required,  questions  were  framed  relating  to 
them,  these  were  given  about  to  many  bishops  and  divines, 
who  gave  in  their  several  answers  that  were  collated  and 
examined  very  maturely :  all  sides  had  a  free  and  fair  hearing 
before  conclusions  were  made. 

In  the  fermentation,  that  was  working  over  the  whole  na- 
tion at  that  time,  it  was  not  possible  that  a  thing  of  that 
nature  could  have  passed  by  the  methods  that  are  more 
necessary  in  regular  times :  and  therefore  they  could  not  be 
offered  at  first  to  synods  or  convocations.  The  corruptions 
complained  of  were  so  beneficial  to  the  whole  body  of  the 
clergy,  that  it  is  justly  to  be  wondered  at  that  so  great  a 
number  was  prevailed  with  to  concur  in  reforming  them  : 
but,  without  a  miracle,  they  coidd  not  haTe  been  agreed  to 
by  the  major  part.  They  were  prepared,  as  is  most  pro- 
bable, by  Cranmer  and  Ridley,  and  published  by  the  regal 
authority.  Not  as  if  our  kings  had  pretended  to  an  authority 
to  judge  in  points  of  faith,  or  to  decide  controversies :  hut 
as  every  private  man  must  choose  for  himself,  and  beli- 
according  to  the  convictions  of  his  reason  and  conscience 
(whirh  is  to  be  examined  and  proved  in  its  proper  place), 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


7 


so  every  prince  or  legislative  power  must  give  the  public 
sanction  and  authority  according  to  his  own  persuasion ;  this 
makes  indeed  such  a  sanction  to  become  a  law,  but  does  not 
aher  the  nature  of  things,  nor  oblige  the  consciences  of  the 
subjects,  unless  they  come  under  the  same  persuasions. 
Such  laws  have  indeed  the  operation  of  all  other  laws  ;  but 
the  doctrines  authorized  by  them  have  no  more  truth  than 
they  had  before  without  any  such  publication.  Thus  the 
part  that  our  princes  had  in  the  reformation  was  only  this, 
that  they,  being  satisfied  with  the  grounds  on  which  it  went, 
received  it  themselves,  and  enacted  it  for  their  people. 
And  this  is  so  plain  and  just  a  consequence  of  that  liberty 
which  every  man  has  of  believing  and  acting  according  to 
his  own  convictions,  that  when  this  is  well  made  out,  there 
can  be  no  colour  to  question  the  other.  It  was  also  remark- 
able, that  the  law,  which  stood  first  in  Justinian's  code,  was 
an  edict  of  Theodosius's ;  who,  finding  the  Roman  empire 
under  great  distractions  by  the  diversity  of  opinions  in  mat- 
ter of  religion,  did  appoint  that  doctrine  to  be  held  which  was 
received  by  Damasus  bishop  of  Rome,  and  Peter  bishop  of 
Alexandria;  such  an  edict  as  that,  being  put  in  so  con- 
spicuous a  part  of  the  law,  was  a  full  and  soon  observed  pre- 
cedent for  our  princes  to  act  according  to  it. 

The  next  thing  to  be  examined  is  the  use  of  the  Articles, 
and  the  importance  of  the  subscriptions  of  the  clergv  to 
them.  Some  have  thought  that  they  are  only  Articles  of  Union 
and  Peace;  that  they  are  a  standard  of  doctrine  not  to  be 
contradicted,  or  disputed ;  that  the  sons  of  the  church  are 
only  bound  to  acquiesce  silently  to  them  ;  and  that  the  sub- 
scription binds  only  to  a  general  compromise  upon  those 
Articles,  that  so  there  may  be  no  disputing  nor  wrangling 
about  them.  By  this  means  they  reckon,  that,  though  a 
man  should  differ  in  his  opinion  from  that  which  appears  to 
be  the  clear  sense  of  any  of  the  Articles ;  yet  he  may  with  a 
good  conscience  subscribe  them,  if  the  Article  appears  to  him 
*o  be  of  such  a  nature,  that,  though  he  thinks  it  wrong,  yet 
it  seems  not  to  be  of  that  consequence,  but  that  it  may  be 
borne  with,  and  not  contradicted.  I  shall  not  now  examine 
whether  it  were  more  fit  for  leaving  men  to  the  due  freedom 
of  their  thoughts,  that  the  subscription  did  run  no  higher,  it 
being  in  many  cases  a  great  hardship  to  exclude  some  very 
deserving  persons  from  the  service  of  the  church,  by  re- 
quiring a  subscription  to  so  many  particulars,  concerning 
some  of  which  they  are  not  fully  satisfied.  I  am  only  now  to 
consider  what  is  the  importance  of  the  subscriptions  now  re- 
quired among  us,  and  not  what  might  be  reasonably  wished 
that  it  should  be. 

As  to  the  laity,  and  the  whole  body  of  the  people,  cer- 
tainly to  them  these  are  only  the  articles  of  church-commu- 
nion ;  so  that  every  person  who  does  not  think  that  there  is 


8 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


some  proposition  in  them  that  is  erroneous  to  so  high  a 
degree,  that  he  cannot  hold  communion  with  such  as  hold  it, 
may  and  is  obliged  to  continue  in  our  communion :  for  cer- 
tainly there  may  be  many  opinions  held  in  matters  of  religion, 
which  a  man  may  believe  to  be  false,  and  yet  may  esteem 
them  to  be  of  so  little  importance  to  the  chief  design  of 
religion,  that  he  may  well  hold  communion  with  those  whom 
he  thinks  to  be  so  mistaken.  Here  a  necessary  distinction  is 
to  be  remembered  between  articles  of  faith  and  articles  of 
doctrine  :  the  one  are  held  necessary  to  salvation,  the  other 
are  only  believed  to  be  true ;  that  is,  to  be  revealed  in  the 
scriptures,  which  is  a  sufficient  ground  for  esteeming  them 
true.  Articles  of faith  are  doctrines  that  are  so  necessary  to 
salvation,  that  without  believing  them  there  is  not  a  foederal 
right  to  the  covenant  of  grace  :  these  are  not  many,  and  in 
the  establishment  of  any  doctrine  for  such,  it  is  necessary 
both  to  prove  it  from  scripture,  and  to  prove  its  being  neces- 
sary to  salvation,  as  a  mean  settled  by  the  covenant  of  grace 
in  order  to  it.  We  ought  not  indeed  to  hold  communion 
with  such  as  make  doctrines,  that  we  believe  not  to  be  true, 
to  pass  for  articles  of  faith ;  though  we  may  hold  communion 
with  such  as  do  think  them  true,  without  stamping  so  high  an 
authority  upon  them.  To  give  one  instance  of  this  in  an 
undeniable  particular.  In  the  days  of  the  apostles  there 
were  Judaizers  of  two  sorts :  some  thought  the  Jewish  nation 
was  still  obliged  to  observe  the  Mosaical  law ;  but  others 
went  farther,  and  thought  that  such  an  observation  was 
indispensably  necessary  to  salvation.  Both  these  opinions 
were  wrong,  but  the  one  was  tolerable,  and  the  other  was 
intolerable,  because  it  pretended  to  make  that,  a  necessary 
condition  of  salvation,  which  God  had  not  commanded.  The 
apostles  complied  with  the  Judaizers  of  the  first  sort,  as 
1  Cor.  is.  '  they  became  all  things  to  all  men,  that  so  they  might  gain 
19_23.  some'  0f  every  sort  of  men :  yet  they  declared  openly  against 
the  other,  and  said,  that  if  men  were  circumcised,  or  were 
willing  to  come  under  such  a  yoke,  Christ  profited  them 
nothing ;  and  upon  that  supposition  he  had  died  in  vain. 
From  this  plain  precedent  we  see  what  a  difference  we  ought 
to  make  between  errors  in  doctrinal  matters,  and  the  imposing 
them  as  articles  of  faith.  We  may  live  in  communion  with 
those  who  hold  errors  of  the  one  sort,  but  must  not  with 
those  of  the  other.  This  also  shews  the  tyranny  of  that 
church,  which  has  imposed  the  belief  of  every  one  of  her 
doctrines  on  the  consciences  of  her  votaries,  under  the 
highest  pains  of  anathemas,  and  as  articles  of  faith.  But 
whatever  those  at  Trent  did,  this  church  very  carefully 
avoided  the  laying  that  weight  upon  even  those  doctrines 
which  she  receives  as  true ;  and  therefore  though  she  drew 
tip  a  large  form  of  doctrine,  yet  to  all  her  lay-sons  this  is  only 
a  standard  of  what  she  teaches,  and  they  are  no  more  to  them 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


9 


than  articles  of  church-communion.  The  citations  that  are 
brought  from  those  two  great  primates,  Laud  and  Bramhall, 
go  no  farther  than  this :  they  do  not  seem  to  relate  to  the 
clergy  that  subscribe  them,  but  to  the  laity  and  body  of  the 
people.  The  people,  who  do  only  join  in  communion  with 
us,  may  well  continue  to  do  so,  though  they  may  not  be  fully 
satisfied  with  every  proposition  in  them  :  unless  they  should 
think  that  they  struck  against  any  of  the  articles,  or  founda- 
tions of  faith ;  and,  as  they  truly  observe,  there  is  a  great 
difference  to  be  observed  in  this  particular  between  the 
imperious  spirit  of  the  church  of  Rome,  and  the  modest  free- 
dom which  ours  allows. 

But  I  come,  in  the  next  place,  to  consider  what  the  clergy 
is  bound  to  by  their  subscriptions.  The  meaning  of  every 
subscription  is  to  be  taken  from  the  design  of  the  imposer, 
and  from  the  words  of  the  subscription  itself.  The  title  of 
the  Articles  bears,  that  they  were  agreed  upon  in  convoca- 
tion, for  the  avoiding  of  diversities  of  Opinions,  and  for  the 
stablishing  consent  touching  true  Religion.  Where  it  is 
evident,  that  a  consent  in  opinion  is  designed.  If  we  in  the 
next  place  consider  the  declaration  that  the  church  has  made 
in  the  canons,  we  shall  find,  that  though  by  the  5  th  canon, 
which  relates  to  the  whole  body  of  the  people,  sixch  are 
only  declared  to  be  excommunicated  ipso  facto,  who  shall 
affirm  any  of  the  Articles  to  be  erroneous,  or  such  as  he  may 
not  with  a  good  conscience  subscribe  to  ;  yet  the  36th  canon 
is  express  for  the  clergy,  requiring  them  to  subscribe  willingly, 
and  ex  animo ;  and  acknowledge  all  and  every  article  to  be 
agreeable  to  the  word  of  God:  upon  which  canon  it  is  that 
the  form  of  the  subscription  runs  in  these  words,  which  seem 
expressly  to  declare  a  man's  own  opinion,  and  not  a  bare  con- 
sent to  an  article  of  peace,  or  an  engagement  to  silence  and 
submission.  The  statute  of  the  13th  of  queen  Elizabeth, 
cap.  12,  which  gives  the  legal  authority  to  our  requiring  sub- 
scriptions, in  order  to  a  man's  being  capable  of  a  benefice, 
requires  that  every  clergyman  should  read  the  Articles  in  the 
church,  with  a  declaration  of  his  unfeigned  assent  to  them. 
These  things  make  it  appear  very  plain,  that  the  subscriptions 
of  the  clergy  must  be  considered  as  a  declaration  of  their  own 
opinion,  and  not  as  a  bare  obligation  to  silence.  There  arose 
in  king  James  the  First's  reign  great  and  warm  disputes  con- 
cerning the  decrees  of  God,  and  those  other  points  that  were 
settled  in  Holland  by  the  synod  of  Dort  against  the  Remon- 
strants ;  divines  of  both  sides  among  us  appealed  to  the 
Articles,  and  pretended  they  were  favourable  to  them :  for 
though  the  first  appearance  of  them  seems  to  favour  the 
doctrine  of  absolute  decrees,  and  the  irresistibility  of  grace; 
yet  there  are  many  expressions  that  have  another  face,  and  so 
those  of  the  other  persuasion  pleaded  for  themselves  from 
these.    Upon  this  a  royal  declaration  was  set  forth,  in  which, 


10 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


after  mention  is  made  of  those  disputes,  and  that  the  men  of  all 
sides  did  take  the  Articles  to  be  for  them,  order  is  gicen  for  stop- 
ping those  disputes  for  the  future;  and  for  shutting  them  in 
God's  promises  as  they  be  generally  set  forth  in  the  holy  scrip- 
tures, and  the  general  meaning  of  the  Articles  of  the  Church  of 
England,  according  to  them;  and  that  no  man  thereafter  should 
put  his  own  sense  or  comment  to  be  the  meaning  of  the  Article, 
but  should  take  it  in  the  literal  and  grammatical  sense.  In 
this  there  has  been  such  a  general  acquiescing,  that  the 
fierceness  of  these  disputes  has  gone  off,  while  men  have  been 
left  to  subscribe  the  Articles  according  to  their  literal  and 
grammatical  sense.  From  which  two  things  are  to  be  in- 
ferred :  the  one  is,  that  the  subscription  does  import  an 
assent  to  the  Article ;  and  the  other  is,  that  an  Article  being 
conceived  in  such  general  words,  that  it  can  admit  of  different 
literal  and  grammatical  senses,  even  when  the  senses  given 
are  plainly  contrary  one  to  another,  yet  both  may  subscribe 
the  Article  with  a  good  conscience,  and  without  any  equivo- 
cation. To  make  this  more  sensible,  I  shall  give  an  instance 
of  it  in  an  Article  concerning  which  there  is  no  dispute  at 
present. 

The  third  Article  concerning  Christ's  descent  into  hell  is 
capable  of  three  different  senses,  and  all  three  are  both 
literal  and  grammatical.  The  first  is,  that  Christ  descended 
locallv  into  hell,  and  preached  to  the  spirits  there  in  prison ; 
and  this  has  one  great  advantage  on  its  side,  that  those 
who  first  prepared  the  Articles  in  king  Edward's  time  were 
of  this  opinion ;  for  they  made  it  a  part  of  it,  by  adding  in 
the  Article  those  words  of  St.  Peter  as  the  proof  or  expla- 
nation of  it.  Now,  though  that  period  was  left  out  in  queen 
Elizabeth's  time,  yet,  no  declaration  was  made  against  it , 
so  that  this  sense  was  once  in  possession,  and  was  never  ex- 
pressly rejected :  besides  that,  it  has  great  support  from  the 
vithority  of  many  fathers,  who  understood  the  descent  into 
h-°ll  according  to  this  explanation.  A  second  sense,  of  which 
vhat  Article  is  capable,  is,  that  by  hell  is  meant  the  grave, 
according  to  the  signification  of  the  original  word  in  the 
Hebrew;  and  this  is  supported  by  the  words  of  Christ's 
descending  into  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth ;  as  also  bv 
this,  that  several  creeds,  that  have  this  Article,  have  not 
that  of  Christ's  being  buried ;  and  some,  that  mention  his 
burial,  have  not  this  of  his  descent  into  hell.  A  third  sen^;; 
is,  that  by  hell,  according  to  the  signification  of  the  Greek 
word,  is  to  be  meant  the  place  or  region  of  spirits  separated 
from  their  bodies :  so  that  by  Christ's  descent  into  hell  is 
only  to  be  meant,  that  his  soul  was  really  and  entirely  dis- 
united from  his  body,  not  lying  dead  in  it  as  in  an  apoplec- 
tical  fit,  not  hovering  about  it,  but  that  it  was  translated 
into  the  seats  of  departed  souls.  All  these  three  senses 
differ  very  much  from  one  another,  and  yet  thev  are  all 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


11 


senses  that  are  literal  and  grammatical ;  so  that  in  which  of 
these  soever  a  man  conceives  the  Article,  he  may  subscribe 
it,  and  he  does  no  way  prevaricate  in  so  doing.  If  men 
would  therefore  understand  all  the  other  Articles  in  the 
same  largeness,  and  with  the  same  equity,  there  wouM  not 
be  that  occasion  given  for  unjust  censure  that  there  has 
been.  Where  then  the  Articles  are  conceived  in  large  and 
general  words,  and  have  not  more  special  and  restrained 
terms  in  them,  we  ought  to  take  that  for  a  sure  indication, 
that  the  church  does  not  intend  to  tie  men  up  too  severely 
to  particular  opinions,  but  that  she  leaves  all  to  such  a  liberty 
as  is  agreeable  with  the  purity  of  the  faith. 

And  this  seems  sufficient  to  explain  the  title  of  the  Ar- 
ticles, and  the  subscriptions  that  are  required  of  the  clergy  to 
them. 

The  last  thing  to  be  settled  is  the  true  reading  of  the 
Articles ;  for,  there  being  some  small  diversity  between  the 
printed  editions  and  the  manuscripts  that  were  signed  by 
both  houses  of  convocation,  I  have  desired  the  assistance 
both  of  Dr.  Green,  the  present  worthy  Master  of  Corpus 
Christi  college  in  Cambridge,  and  of  some  of  the  learned 
Fellows  of  that  body;  that  they  would  give  themselves  the 
trouble  to  collate  the  printed  editions,  and  their  manuscripts, 
with  such  a  scrupulous  exactness  as  becomes  a  matter  of 
this  importance  :  which  they  were  pleased  to  do  very  mi- 
nutely. I  will  set  down  both  the  collations  as  they  were 
transmitted  to  me ;  beginning  with  that  which  I  had  from 
the  Fellows  four  years  ago. 


These  words,  said  to  be  left 
out,  are  found  in  the  original 
Articles,  signed  by  the  chief 
clergy  of  both  provinces,  now 
extant  in  the  manuscript  li- 
braries of  C.  C.  C.  C.  in  the 
book  called  Synodalia  :  but  dis- 
tinguished from  the  rest  with 
lines  of  minium :  which  lines 
plainly  appear  to  have  been 
done  afterwards,  because  the 
leaves  and  lines  of  the  original 
are  exactly  numbered  at  the 
end;  which  number  without 
these  lines  were  manifestly 
false. 


ARTICLE  III. 

Of  the  going  down  of  Christ 

into  hell. 
%i  CljrtSt  tftetr  for  us,  antJ  foas 
burteto ;  So  also  it  ts  to  bebelt'ebeiJ, 
that  bt  toent  iioum  into  ijell. 
["  for  IjtS  bofcp  law  m  tlje  grabe 
"  till  IjtS  resurrection ;  but  Ijt's 
"  Soul,  being  separate  from  jus 
"  bobp,  remained  luttlj  tlje  Spirit* 
"  toi)tct)  luerc  ttetametJ  tit  prison ; 
"  tfjat  ts  to  Sap,  in  bell,  anl 
"  tijere  prearijefc  unto  tftetn."] 


12 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


In  the  original  these  words 
only  are  found,  Testamentum 
vetus  novo  contrarium  non  est, 
quandoquidem,  §c. 

The  Latin  of  the  original  is, 
Et  quanquam  renatis  et  cre- 
dentibus  nulla  propter  Chris- 
tum est  condemnatio. 


This  article  is  not  found  in 
the  original. 


This  is  not  found. 


This  is  not  found. 


This  Article  agrees  with  the 
original;  but  these  words,  Che 
church  harft  polucr  to  fcecree  rites 
atrtJ  ceremonies,  antt  authoritt)  in 
controbcrSicS  of  faith,  supposed 
to  begin  the  Article,  are  not 
found  in  any  part  thereof. 


In  the  fourteenth  line  of  this 
Article,  immediately  after  these 
words,  (Sut  get  habe  not  like 
nature  toith  EaptiSm  nno  the 
iLortTS  Supper)  follows,  quo- 
modo  nec  poenitentia,  which, 
being  marked  underneath  with 
minium,  is  left  out  in  the 
translation. 


ARTICLE  VI. 
Che  ®\H  CcStamcnt  is  not  to 
be  rejected  as  if  it  lucre  contrary 
to  the  f2cuj,  but  to  be  retatneo. 
dforaSmuch  as!,  &c. 

ARTICLE  IX. 
'B.xxa  although  there  is  no  con? 
tfemuation  to  them  tljat  beltebe, 
ano  are  bapti^ei,  &c. 

ARTICLE  X. 
Of  Grace. 
Che  grace  of  Christ,  or  the 
?§o!p  ©host,  which  is  gtben  bv 
him,  Both,  &c. 

ARTICLE  XVI. 

Blasphemy  against  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

Che  blasphemy  against  the 
Soli)  ©host  is  then  committed, 
fohen,  &c 

ARTICLE  XIX. 

SOrt  men  are  bountJ  to  feeep  the 
precepts  of  the  moral  law,  aU 
though  the  law  gtben  from  ©ofc, 
&c. 

ARTICLE  XX. 
Of  the  authority  of  the  church. 

it  is  not  lawful  for  the  church 
to  or&atn  am>  thing  that  is  con* 
trarn  to  ©ott'S  woros  written, 
&c." 

ARTICLE  XXVI. 
Of  the  sacraments. 
Sacraments  orfcatneB  of  Christ 
&c. 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


13 


Tins  Article  agrees  with  the         ARTICLE  XXIX. 
original,  as  far  as  these  words,         Of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
(ant.  hath   gibm  evasion    to      ^   ^  f  ^   M  ^ 

lows,  Chnstus  in  coelum  ascen-  -        a  ' 

dens,  corpori  suo  immortalitatem  dedit,  naturam  non  abstulit, 
humanae  enim  naturae  veritatem  (juxta  scripturas)  perpetuo 
retinet,  quam  uno  et  definito  loco  esse,  et  non  in  multa  vel 
omnia  simul  loca  diffundi  oportet;  quum  igitur  Christus  in 
coslum  sublatus,  ibi  usque  ad  finem  Sceculi  sit  permansurus, 
atque  inde,  non  aliunde  (ut  loquitur  Augustinus)  venturus 
sit,  ad  judicandum  vivos  et  mortuos,  non  debet  quisquam 
fidelium,  carnis  et  ejus  et  sanguinis  realem,  et  corporalem 
(ut  loquuntur)  presentiam  in  Eucharistia  vel  credere  vel 
profited.  These  words  are  marked  and  scrawled  over  with 
minium,  and  the  ivords  immediately  following  (corpus  tamen 
Christi  datur,  accipitur,  et  manducatur  in  ccena,  tantum 
ccelesti  et  spirituali  rati  one)  are  inserted  in  a  different  hand 
just  before  them,  in  a  line  and  a  half  left  void;  which  plainly 
appears  to  be  done  afterwards,  by  reason  the  same  hand  has 
altered  the  first  number  of  lines,  and,  for  viginti  quatuor,  made 
quatuordecim. 

The  three  last  Articles,  viz.  the  39th,  Of  the  Resurrection 
of  the  Dead ;  the  40th,  that  the  Souls  of  men  do  neither  perish 
with  their  bodies  (neque  otiosi  dormiant  is  added  in  the  origi- 
nal];  and  the  42d,  that  all  shall  not  be  saved  at  last,  are  found 
in  the  original,  distinguished  only  with  a  marginal  line  of 
minium:  but  the  4\st,  Of  the  Millenarians, is  wholly  left  out. 

Tlie  number  of  Articles  does  not  exactly  agree,  by  reason 
some  are  inserted,  which  are  found  only  in  king  Edward's 
Articles,  but  none  are  wanting  that  are  found  in  the  original. 

Corpus  Christi  Col.  Feb.  4th,  1695-6. 

'"JPON  examination  we  judge  these  to  be  all  the  material 
differences,  that  are  unobserved,  between  the  original  manu- 
scripts and  the  B.  of  Salisbury's  printed  copy.  Witness  our 
hands, 

Jo.  laggard,  } 

Rob.  Mosse,  >  Fellows  of  the  said  college. 
Will.  Lunn,} 

After  I  had  procured  this,  I  was  desirous  likewise  to  have 
the  printed  editions  collated  with  the  second  publication  of 
the  articles  in  the  year  1571 ;  in  which  the  convocation 
reviewed  those  of  1562,  and  made  some  small  alterations: 
and  these  were  very  lately  procured  for  me  by  my  reverend 
friend,  Dr.  Green,  which  I  will  set  down  as  he  was  pleased 
to  communicate  them  to  me. 


14 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


[Note,  MS.  stands  for  Manuscript,  and  Pr.for  Print.] 

Art.  1.  MS.  and  true  God,  and  he  is  everlasting,  without 
body. 

Pr.    and  true  God,  everlasting,  without  body. 
Art.  2.  MS.  but  also  for  all  actual  sins  of  men. 

Pr.    but  also  for  actual  sins  of  men. 
Art.  3.  MS.  so  also  it  is  to  be  believed. 

Pr.    so  also  is  it  to  be  believed. 
Art.  4.  MS.  Christ  did  truly  arise  again. 

Pr.    Christ  did  truly  rise  again. 

MS.  until  he  return  to  judge  all  men  at  the  last  day. 

Pr.    until  he  return  to  judge  men  at  the  last  day. 
Art.  6.  MS.  to  be  believed  as  an  article  of  the  faith. 

Pr.    to  be  believed  as  an  article  of  faith. 

MS.  requisite  as  necessary  to  salvation. 

Pr.'  requisite  or  necessary  to  salvation. 

MS.  in  the  name  of  holy  scripture. 

Pr.    in  the  name  of  the  holy  scripture. 

MS.  but  yet  doth  it  not  apply. 

Pr.    but  yet  doth  not  apply. 

MS.  Baruch. 

Pr.    Baruch  the  prophet. 

MS.  and  account  them  for  canonical. 

Pr.    and  account  them  canonical. 
Art.  8.  MS.  by  most  certain  warranties  of  holy  scripture. 

Pr.    by  most  certain  warrant  of  holy  scripture. 
Art.  9.  MS.  but  it  is  the  fault. 

Pr.    but  is  the  fault. 

MS.  whereby  man  is  very  far  gone  from  his  original 
righteousness. 

Pr.  whereby  man  is  far  gone  from  original  righteous- 
ness. 

MS.  in  them  that  be  regenerated. 
Pr.    in  them  that  are  regenerated. 

Art.  De  Gratia,  non  habetur  in  MS. 

Art.  10.  MS.  a  good  will  and  working  in  us. 

Pr.    a  good  will  and  working  with  us. 
Art.  14.  MS.  cannot  be  taught  without  arrogancy  and  im- 
piety. 

Pr.  cannot  be  taught  without  arrogancy  and  iniquity. 
MS.  we  be  unprofitable  servants. 
Pr.  we  are  unprofitable  servants. 
Art.  15.  MS.  sin  only  except. 

Pr.  sin  only  excepted. 

MS.  to  be  the  Lamb  without  spot. 

Pr.  to  be  a  Lamb  without  spot. 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


].r> 


MS.  but  we  the  rest,  although  baptized,  and  born 
again  in  Christ,  yet  we  all  offend. 

Pr.  but  all  we  the  rest,  although  baptized,  and  if 
born  in  Christ,  yet  offend. 


Art.  De  Blasphemia  in  Sp.  Sand,  non  est  in  MS. 

Art.  16.  MS.  wherefore  the  place  for  penitence. 

Pr.  wherefore  the  grant  of  repentance. 
Art.  17.  MS.  so  excellent  a  benefit  of  God  given  unto  their- 
be  called  according. 
Pr.  so  excellent  a  benefit  of  God,  be  called  accord- 
ing. 

MS  as  because  it  doth  fervently  kindle  their  love. 
Pr.  as  because  it  doth  frequently  kindle  their  love. 


Art.  Omnes  obligantur,  fye.  non  est  in  MS. 

Art.  18.  MS.  to  frame  his  life  according  to  the  law  and  the 
light  of  nature. 
Pr.  to  frame  his  life  according  to  that  law,  and  the 
light  of  nature. 

Art.  19.  MS.  congregation  of  faithful  men  in  the  which  the 
pure  Word. 

Pr.  congregation  of  faithful  men  in  which  the  pure 
Word. 

Art.  20.  MS.  the  church  hath  power  to  decree  rites  or  ce- 
remonies, and  authority  in  controversies  of 
faith.    And  yet. 
These  words  are  not  in  the  original  3IS. 
MS.  ought  it  not  to  enforce  any  thing. 
Pr.  it  ought  not  to  enforce  any  thing. 
A  .21.  MS.  and  when  they  be  gathered  together  (foras- 
much. 

Pr.  and  when  they  be  gathered  (forasmuch. 
A   .  !  - .  MS.  is  a  fond  thing  vainly  invented. 

Pr.  is  a  fond  thing  vainly  feigned. 
At.     .  MS.  in  a  tongue  not  understanded  of  the  people. 

Pr.  in  a  tongue  not  understood  of  the  people. 
Art.  25.  MS.  and  effectual  signs  of  grace  and  God's  good- 
will towards  us. 
Pr.  and  effectual  signs  of  grace  and  God's  will  to- 

wards  us. 
MS.  and  extream  annoyling. 
Pr.   and  txtream  unction. 
Art.  26.  MS.  in  their  own  name,  but  do  minister  by  Christ's 
commission  and  authority. 
Pr.  in  their  own  name,  but  in  Christ's,  and  do 
minister  by  his  commission  and  authority. 


16 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


MS.  and  in  the  receiving  of  the  Sacraments. 
Pr.  and  in  the  receiving  the  Sacraments. 
MS.  and  rightly  receive  the  Sacraments. 
Pr.  and  rightly  do  receive  the  Sacraments. 
Art.  27.  MS.  from  others  that  be  not  christned,  but  is  also  a 
sign. 

Pr.  from  others  that  be  not  christned,  but  it  is  also 
a  sign. 

MS.  forgiveness  of  sin,  and  of  our  adoption. 

Pr.  forgiveness  of  sin,  of  our  adoption. 
Art.  28.  MS.  to  have  amongst  themselves. 

Pr.  to  have  among  themselves.  partaking 

MS.  the  bread  which  we  break  is  a  communion  of 
the  body  of  Christ. 

Pr.  the  bread  which  we  break  is  a  partaking  of  the 
body  of  Christ.  partaking 

MS.  and  likewise  the  cup  of  blessing  is  a  commu- 
nion of  the  blood  of  Christ. 

Pr.  and  likewise  the  cup  of  blessing  is  a  partaking  of 
the  blood  of  Christ. 

MS.  or  the  change  of  the  substance  of  bread  and 
wine  into  the  substance  of  Christ's  body  and 
blood  cannot  be  proved  by  holy  writ,  but  is 
repugnant. 

Pr.  or  the  change  of  the  substance  of  bread  and  wine 
in  the  supper  of  the  Lord  cannot  be  proved  by 
holy  writ,  but  it  is  repugnant. 

MS.  but  the  mean  whereby  the  body  of  Christ  is 
received. 

Pr.  and  the  mean  whereby  the  body  of  Christ  is  re- 
ceived. 

MS.  lifted  up  or  worshipped. 
Pr.  lifted  up  and  worshipped. 
Art.  31.  MS.  is  the  perfect  redemption. 

Pr.  is  that  perfect  redemption. 
MS.  to  have  remission  of  pain  or  guilt  were  forged 
fables. 

Pr.  to  have  remission  of  pain  and  guilt  were  blas- 
phemous fables. 
Art.  33.  MS.  that  hath  authority  thereto. 

Pr.  that  hath  authority  thereunto. 
Art.  34.  MS.  diversity  of  countries,  times,  and  men's  man- 
ners. 

Pr.  diversity  of  countries  and  men's  manners. 
MS.  and  be  ordained  and  appointed  by  common 
authority. 

Pr.  and  be  ordained  and  approved  by  common  au- 
thority. 

MS.  the  consciences  of  the  weak  brethren. 
Pr.  the  consciences  of  weak  brethren. 


the  introduction. 


17 


Art.  35.  MS.  of  homilies,  the  titles  whereof  we  have  joined 

under  this  article,  do  contain. 
Pr.  of  homilies,  the  several  titles  whereof  we  have 

joined  under  this  article,  doth  contain. 
MS.  wholesome  doctrine,  and  necessary  for  this 

time,  as  doth  the  former  hook  which  was 

set  forth. 

Pr.  wholesome  doctrine,  necessary  for  these  times,  as 
doth  the  former  book  of  homilies  which  were 
set  forth. 

MS.  and  therefore  are  to  be  read  in  our  churches 
by  the  ministers,  diligently,  plainly,  and  dis- 
tinctly, that  they  may  be  understanded  of 
the  people. 

Pr.  and  therefore  toe  judge  them  to  he  read  in 
churches  by  the  ministers,  diligently  and  dis- 
tinctly, that  they  may  be  understood  of  the 
people. 

MS.  ministred  in  a  tongue  known. 
Pr.   ministred  in  a  known  tongue. 

Art.  De  Libro  Precationum,  fyc.  non  est  in  MS. 

Art.  36.  MS.  in  the  time  of  the  most  noble  K.  Edward  the 
Sixth. 

Pr.  in  the  time  of  Edward  the  Sixth. 
MS.  superstitious  or  ungodly. 
Pr.  superstitious  and  ungodly. 
Art.  37.  MS.  whether  they  be  ecclesiastical  or  not. 
Pr.   whether  they  be  ecclesiastical  or  civil. 
MS.  the  minds  of  some  slanderous  folks  to  be  of- 
fended. 

Pr.    The  minds  of  some  dangerous  folks  to  be  of- 
fended. 

MS.  we  give  not  to  our  princes. 
Pr.   we  give  not  our  princes. 
MS.  or  of  sacraments. 
Pr.   or  of  the  sacraments. 
MS.  the  injunctions  also  lately  set  forth. 
Pr.   the  injunctions  also  set  forth. 
MS.  and  serve  in  the  wars. 
Pr.   and  serve  in  lawful  wars. 
Art.  38.  MS.  every  man  oughteth  of  such  things. 
Pr.   every  man  ought  of  such  things. 

Art.  39.  Edw.  VI.  et  qui  sequuntur,  non  sunt  in  MS. 

We  th'  archbishops  and  bishops  of  either  province  of  this  realm 
of  England,  lawfully  gathered  together  in  this  provincial  synod 
holden  at  London,  with  continuations  and  prorogations  of  the 

O 


18 


THE  INTRODUCTION. 


same,  do  receive,  profess  and  acknowledge  the  xxxviii  Articles 
before  written  in  xix  pages  going  before,  to  contain  true  and 
sound  doctrine,  and  do  approve  and  ratify  the  same  by  the  sub- 
scription of  our  hands  the  xith  day  of  May  in  the  year  of  our 
Lord  1571,  and  in  the  year  of  the  reign  of  our  sovereign  lady 
Elizabeth  by  the  grace  of  God  of  England,  France,  and  Ireland, 
queen,  defender  of  the  faith,  &c.  the  thirteenth. 

Matthue  Cantuar.  N.  Bangor. 

Rob.  Winton.  Ri.  Cicestren. 

Jo.  Heref.  Thorn.  Lincoln. 

Richarde  Ely.  Wilhelmus  Exon. 

Nic.  Wigorn. 
Jo.  Sarisburien. 
Edm.  Roffen. 


From  these  diversities  a  great  difficulty  will  naturally  arise 
about  this  whole  matter.  The  manuscripts  of  Corpus  Christi 
are  without  doubt  originals. 

The  hands  of  the  subscribers  are  well  known  ;  they  belonged 
to  archbishop  Parker,  and  were  left  by  him  to  that  college,  and 
they  are  signed  with  a  particular  care  ;  for  at  the  end  of  them 
there  is  not  only  a  sum  of  the  number  of  the  pages,  but  of  the 
lines  in  every  page.  And  though  this  was  the  work  only  of 
the  convocation  of  the  province  of  Canterbury ;  yet  the  arch- 
bishop of  York,  with  the  bishops  of  Duresme  and  Chester, 
subscribed  them  likewise,  and  they  were  also  subscribed 
by  the  whole  lower  house.  But  we  are  not  sure  that  the 
like  care  was  used  in  the  convocation,  anno  1571 ;  for  the 
Articles  are  only  subscribed  by  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury, 
and  ten  bishops  of  his  province  ;  nor  does  the  subscription  of 
the  lower  house  appear.  These  Articles  were  first  printed 
in  the  year  1563,  conform  to  the  present  impressions  which 
are  still  in  use  among  us.  So  the  alterations  were  then  made 
while  the  thing  was  fresh  and  well  known,  therefore  no  fraud 
nor  artifice  is  to  be  suspected,  since  some  objections  would 
have  been  then  made,  especially  by  the  great  party  of  the  com- 
plying papists,  who  then  continued  in  the  church  :  they  would 
not  have  failed  to  have  made  much  use  of  this,  and  to  have 
taken  great  advantages  from  it,  if  there  had  been  any  occasion 
or  colour  for  it ;  and  yet  nothing  of  this  kind  was  then  done. 

One  alteration  of  more  importance  was  made  in  the  year 
1571.  Those  words  of  the  20th  Article,  The  church  hath  power 
to  decree  rites  or  ceremonies,  and  authority  in  controversies  of 
faith,  were  left  out  both  in  the  manuscripts,  and  in  the  printed 
editions,  but  were  afterwards  restored  according  to  the  Articles 
printed  anno  1563.  I  cannot  find  out  in  what  year  they  were 
again  put  in  the  printed  copies.  They  appear  in  two  several 
impressions  in  queen  Elizabeth's  time,  which  are  in  my  hands ; 
it  passes  commonly  that  it  was  done  by  archbishop  Laud ;  and 


AN  EXPOSITION,  &c. 


19 


his  enemies  laid  this  upon  him  among  other  things,  that  he  ART. 
had  corrupted  the  doctrine  of  this  church  hy  this  addition ; 
but  he  cleared  himself  of  that,  as  well  he  might,  and,  in  a 
speech  in  the  star-chamber,  appealed  to  the  original,  and 
affirmed  these  words  were  in  it. 

The  true  account  of  this  difficulty  is  this.  When  the  Arti- 
cles were  first  settled,  they  were  subscribed  by  both  houses 
upon  paper;  but,  that  being  done,  they  were  afterward  ingrossed 
in  parchment,  and  made  up  in  form  to  remain  as  records.  Now, 
in  all  such  bodies,  many  alterations  are  often  made  after  a 
minute  or  first  draught  is  agreed  on,  before  the  matter  is 
brought  to  full  perfection ;  so  these  alterations,  as  most  of 
them  are  small  and  inconsiderable,  were  made  between  the 
time  that  they  were  first  subscribed,  and  the  last  voting  of 
them.  But  the  original  records,  which,  if  extant,  would  have 
cleared  the  whole  matter,  having  been  burnt  in  the  fire  of 
London,  it  is  not  possible  to  appeal  to  them ;  yet  what  has 
been  proposed  may  serve,  I  hope,  fully  to  clear  the  difficulty. 

I  now  go  to  consider  the  Articles  themselves. 


ARTICLE  I. 

Of  Faith  in  the  Holy  Trinity. 

Chere  is  but  one  Itbtng  anB  true  <Sotr,  eberlastmg,  fot'thout  botsit, 
parts  or  passions,  of  infinite  poluer,  totstoom,  anti  goolfneSS,  tfje 
mafeet  antl  preScrbcr  of  all  things  boti)  bisible  anH  tnbt'stble ;  anlj 
tn  the  unity  of  this  ^otjljeati  there  be  three  SPerSonS  of  one  Sub* 
Stance,  pokier,  antj  eternttp,  the  dfatijer,  tije  £on,  anfc  the  J^olg 

THE  natural  order  of  things  required,  that  the  first  of  all 
articles  in  religion  should  be  concerning  the  being  and  attri- 
butes of  God :  for  all  other  doctrines  arise  out  of  this.  But 
the  title  appropriates  this  to  the  holy  Trinity ;  because  that  is 
the  only  part  of  the  Article  which  peculiarly  belongs  to  the 
Christian  religion ;  since  the  rest  is  founded  on  the  principles 
of  natural  religion. 

There  are  six  heads  to  be  treated  of,  in  order  to  the  full 
opening  of  all  that  is  contained  in  this  Article. 

1.  That  there  is  a  God. 

2.  That  there  is  but  one  God. 

3.  Negatively,  That  this  God  hath  neither  body,  parts,  nor 
passions. 

c  2 


20 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


4.  Positively,  That  he  is  of  infinite  power,  wisdom,  and 
goodness. 

5.  That  he  at  first  created,  and  does  still  preserve  all  things, 
not  only  what  is  material  and  visible,  but  also  what  is  spiritual 
and  invisible. 

6.  The  Trinity  is  here  asserted. 

These  being  all  points  of  the  highest  consequence,  it  is  very 
necessary  to  state  them  as  clearly,  and  to  prove  them  as  fully, 
as  may  be. 

The  first  is,  Tliat  there  is  a  God.  This  is  a  proposition, 
which  in  all  ages  has  been  so  universally  received  and  believed, 
some  very  few  instances  being  only  assigned  of  sueh  as  either 
have  denied  or  doubted  of  it,  that  the  very  consent  of  so  many 
ages  and  nations,  of  such  different  tempers  and  languages,  so 
vastly  remote  from  one  another,  has  been  long  esteemed  a 
good  argument,  to  prove  that  either  there  is  somewhat  in  the 
nature  of  man,  that  by  a  secret  sort  of  instinct  does  dictate  this 
to  him  :  or  that  all  mankind  has  descended  from  one  common 
stock,  and  that  this  belief  has  passed  down  from  the  first  man 
to  all  his  posterity.  If  the  more  polite  nations  had  only  received 
this,  some  might  suggest,  that  wise  men  had  introduced  it  as 
a  mean  to  govern  human  society,  and  to  keep  it  in  order  :  or, 
if  only  the  more  barbarous  had  received  this,  it  might  be 
thought  to  be  the  effect  of  their  fear,  and  their  ignorance  :  but, 
since  all  sorts,  as  well  as  all  ages,  of  men  have  received  it,  this 
alone  goes  a  great  way  to  assure  us  of  the  being  of  a  God. 

To  this  two  things  are  objected,  first,  That  some  nations, 
such  as  Soldania,  Formosa,  and  some  in  America,  have  been 
discovered  in  these  last  ages,  that  seem  to  acknowledge  no 
Deitv.  But  to  this,  two  things  are  to  be  opposed:  1st,  That 
those  who  first  discovered  these  countries,  and  have  given  that 
account  of  them,  did  not  know  them  enough,  nor  understand 
their  language  so  perfectly  as  was  necessary  to  enable  them  to 
comprehend  all  their  opinions  :  and  this  is  the  more  probable, 
because  others,  that  have  writ  after  them,  assure  us  that  they 
are  not  without  all  sense  of  religion,  which  the  first  discoverers 
had  too  hastilv  affirmed :  some  prints  of  religion  begin  to  be 
observed  among  those  of  Soldania,  though  it  is  certainly  one 
of  the  most  degenerated  of  all  nations.  But  a  second  answer 
to  this  is,  That  those  nations,  of  whom  these  reports  are  given 
out,  are  so  extremely  sunk  from  all  that  is  wise  or  regular, 
great  and  good  in  human  nature,  so  rude  and  untractable,  and 
so  incapable  of  arts  and  discipline,  that  if  the  reports  concerning 
them  are  to  be  believed,  and  if  that  weakens  the  argument 
from  the  common  consent  of  mankind  of  the  one  hand,  it 
strengthens  it  on  another ;  while  it  appears  that  human  nature, 
when  it  wants  this  impression,  it  wants  with  it  all  that  is  great 
or  orderly  in  it,  and  shews  a  brutality  almost  as  low  and  base 
as  is  that  of  beasts.  Some  men  are  born  without  some  of 
their  senses,  and  others  without  the  use  of  reason  and  memoj'y  ; 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


21 


and  yet  those  exceptions  do  not  prove  that  the  imperfections  ART. 
of  such  persons  are  not  irregularities  against  the  common 
course  of  things :  the  monstrousness,  as  well  as  the  miseries,  ~ 
of  persons  so  unhappily  born  tend  to  recommend  more  effec- 
tually the  perfection  of  human  nature.  So,  if  these  nations, 
which  are  supposed  to  be  without  the  belief  of  a  God,  are  such 
a  low  and  degenerated  piece  of  human  nature,  that  some  have 
doubted  whether  they  are  a  perfect  race  of  men  or  not,  this 
does  not  derogate  from,  but  rather  confirms,  the  force  of  this 
argument,  from  the  general  consent  of  all  nations. 

A  second  exception  to  this  argument  is,  That  men  have  not 
agreed  in  the  same  notions  concerning  the  Deity :  some  be- 
lieving two  gods,  a  good  and  a  bad,  that  are  in  a  perpetual 
contest  together :  others  holding  a  vast  number  of  gods,  either 
all  equal  or  subaltern  to  one  another :  and  some  believing 
God  to  be  a  corporeal  being,  and  that  the  sun,  moon,  and 
stars,  and  a  great  many  other  beings,  are  gods  :  since 
then,  though  all  may  acknowledge  a  Deity  in  general,  they  are 
yet  subdivided  into  so  many  different  conceits  about  it,  no 
argument  can  be  drawn  from  this  supposed  consent,  which  is 
not  so  great  in  reality  as  it  seems  to  be.  But,  in  answer  to 
this,  we  must  observe,  that  the  constant  sense  of  mankind 
agreeing  in  this,  that  there  is  a  superior  Being  that  governs 
the  world,  shews  that  this  fixed  persuasion  has  a  deep  root, 
though,  the  weakness  of  several  nations  being  practised  upon 
by  designing  men,  they  have  in  many  things  corrupted  this 
notion  of  God.  That  might  have  arisen  from  the  tradition  of 
some  true  doctrines  vitiated  in  the  conveyance.  Spirits  made 
by  God  to  govern  the  world  by  the  order  and  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Supreme  Mind,  might  easily  come  to  be  looked  on 
as  subordinate  deities  :  some  evil  and  lapsed  spirits  might  in 
a  course  of  some  ages  pass  for  evil  gods.  The  apparitions  of 
the  Deity  under  some  figures  might  make  these  figures  to  be 
adored :  and  God  being  considered  as  the  supreme  Light,  this 
might  lead  men  to  worship  the  sun  as  his  chief  vehicle :  and 
so  by  degrees  he  might  pass  for  the  supreme  God.  Thus  it 
is  easy  to  trace  up  these  mistakes  to  what  may  justly  be  sup- 
posed to  be  their  first  source  and  rise.  But  still  the  founda- 
tion of  them  all  was  a  firm  belief  of  a  superior  nature  that 
governed  the  world.  Mankind  agreeing  in  that,  an  occasion 
*vas  thereby  given  to  bad  and  designing  men  to  graft  upon  it 
such  other  tenets  as  might  feed  superstition  and  idolatry,  and 
furnish  the  managers  of  those  impostures  with  advantages  to 
raise  their  own  authority.  But,  how  various  soever  the  seA'eral 
ages  and  nations  of  the  world  may  have  been  as  to  their  more 
special  opinions  and  rites,  yet  the  general  idea  of  a  God  re- 
mained still  unaltered,  even  amidst  all  the  changes  that  have 
happened  in  the  particular  forms  and  doctrines  of  religion. 

Another  argument  for  the  being  of  God  is  taken  from  the 
visible  world,  in  which  there  is  a  vast  variety  of  beings 


22 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  curiously  framed,  and  that  seem  designed  for  great  and  noble 
ends.  In  these  we  see  clear  characters  of  God's  eternal  power 
and  wisdom.  And  that  is  thus  to  be  made  out.  It  is  certain, 
that  nothing  could  give  being  to  itself;  so  the  things  which 
we  see  either  had  their  being  from  all  eternity:  or  were  made 
in  time :  and  either  they  were  from  all  eternity  in  the  same 
state,  and  under  the  same  revolutions  of  the  heavens,  as  they 
are  at  present :  or  they  fell  into  the  order  and  method,  in  which 
they  do  now  roll,  by  some  happy  chance,  out  of  which  all  the 
beauty  and  usefulness  of  the  creation  did  arise.  But,  if  all 
these  suppositions  are  manifestly  false,  then  it  will  remain, 
that  if  things  neither  were  from  all  eternity  as  they  now  are, 
nor  fell  into  their  present  state  by  chance,  then  there  is  a 
superior  Essence  that  gave  them  being,  and  that  moulded 
them  as  we  see  they  now  are.  The  first  branch  of  this,  that 
they  were  not  as  now  they  are  from  all  eternity,  is  to  be  proved 
by  two  sorts  of  arguments ;  the  one  intrinsical,  by  demon- 
strating this  to  be  impossible  ;  the  other  moral,  by  shewing  that 
it  is  not  at  all  credible.  As  to  the  first,  it  is  to  be  considered, 
that  a  successive  duration  made  up  of  parts,  which  is  called  time, 
and  is  measured  by  a  successive  rotation  of  the  heavens,  cannot 
possibly  be  eternal.  For  if  there  were  eternal  revolutions  of 
Saturn  in  his  course  of  thirty  years,  and  eternal  revolutions 
of  days  as  well  as  years,  of  minutes  as  well  as  hours,  then  the 
one  must  be  as  infinite  as  the  other ;  so  that  the  one  must  be 
equal  to  the  other,  both  being  infinite ;  and  yet  the  latter  are 
some  millions  of  times  more  than  the  other,  which  is  impossi- 
ble. Further;  of  every  past  duration,  as  this  is  true,  that 
once  it  was  present ;  so  this  is  true,  that  once  it  was  to  come ; 
this  being  a  necessary  affection  of  every  thing  that  exists  in 
time :  if  then  all  past  durations  were  all  once  future,  or  to  be, 
then  we  cannot  conceive  such  a  succession  of  durations  eternal, 
since  once  every  one  of  them  was  to  come.  Nor  can  all  this, 
or  any  part  of  it,  be  turned  against  us,  who  believe  that  some 
beings  are  immortal,  and  shall  never  cease  to  be ;  for  all  those 
future  durations  have  never  actually  been,  but  are  still  pro- 
duced of  new,  and  so  continued  in  being.  Tins  argument 
may  seem  to  be  too  subtile,  and  it  will  require  some  attention 
of  mind  to  observe  and  discover  the  force  of  it ;  but,  after  we 
have  turned  it  over  and  over  again,  it  will  be  found  to  be  a 
true  demonstration.  The  chief  objection  that  lies  against  it 
is,  that,  in  the  opinion  of  those  who  deny  that  the  e  are  any 
indivisible  points  of  matter,  and  that  believe  that  matter  is 
infinitely  divisible,  it  is  not  absurd  to  say,  that  one  infinite  is 
more  than  another :  for  the  smallest  crum  of  matter  is  infinite, 
as  well  as  the  whole  globe  of  the  earth :  and,  therefore,  the 
revolutions  of  Saturn  may  be  infinite,  as  well  as  the  revolu- 
tions of  days,  though  the  one  be  vastly  more  numerous  than 
the  other.  But  there  is  this  difference  betwixt  the  succession 
of  time,  and  the  composition  of  matter ;  that  those,  who  deny 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


23 


indivisibles,  say  that  no  one  point  can  be  assigned :  for,  if  ART. 
points  could  be  assigned  or  numbered,  it  is  certain  that  they  '• 
could  not  be  infinite ;  for  an  infinite  number  seems  to  be  a 
contradiction :  but,  if  the  series  of  mankind  were  infinite, 
since  this  is  visibly  divided  into  single  individuals,  as  the 
units  in  that  series,  then  here  arises  an  infinite  number  com- 
posed of  units  or  individuals  that  can  be  assigned.  The  same 
is  to  be  said  of  minutes,  hours,  days,  and  years :  nor  can  it 
be  said  with  equal  reason,  that  every  portion  of  time  is  divisi- 
ble to  infinity,  as  well  as  every  parcel  of  matter.  It  seems 
evident,  that  there  is  a  present  time ;  and  that  past,  present, 
and  to  come,  cannot  be  said  to  be  true  of  any  thing  all  at 
once :  therefore  the  objection  against  the  assigning  points  in 
matter  does  not  overthrow  the  truth  of  this  argument.  But 
if  it  is  thought  that  this  is  rather  a  sleight  of  metaphysics  that 
entangles  one,  than  a  plain  and  full  conviction,  let  us  turn 
next  to  such  reasonings  as  are  more  obvious,  and  that  are  more 
easily  apprehended. 

The  other  moral  arguments  are  more  sensible  as  well  as 
they  are  of  a  more  complicated  nature ;  and  proceed  thus  : 
The  history  of  all  nations,  of  all  governments,  arts,  sciences, 
and  even  instituted  religions,  the  peopling  of  nations,  the 
progress  of  commerce  and  of  colonies,  are  plain  indications 
of  the  novelty  of  the  world ;  no  sort  of  trace  remaining,  by 
which  we  can  believe  it  to  be  ancienter  than  the  books  of 
Moses  represent  it  to  be.  For,  though  some  nations,  such 
as  the  Egyptians  and  the  Chineses,  have  boasted  of  a  much 
greater  antiquity,  yet  it  is  plain,  we  hear  of  no  series  of 
history  for  all  those  ages ;  so  that  what  they  had  relating  to 
them,  if  it  is  not  wholly  a  fiction,  might  have  been  only  in 
astronomical  tables,  which  may  be  easily  run  backwards  as 
well  as  forward.  The  very  few  eclipses  which  Ptolemy  could 
hear  of  is  a  remarkable  instance  of  the  novelty  of  history ; 
since  the  observing  such  an  extraordinary  accident  in  the 
heavens,  in  so  pure  an  air,  where  the  sun  was  not  only  ob- 
served, but  adored,  must  have  been  one  of  the  first  effects  of 
learning  or  industry.  All  these  characters  of  the  novelty  of 
the  world  have  been  so  well  considered  by  Lucretius,  and 
other  atheists,  that  they  gave  up  the  point,  and  thought  it 
evident  that  this  present  frame  of  things  had  certainly  a 
beginning. 

The  solution  that  those  men,  who  found  themselves  driven 
from  this  of  the  world's  being  eternal,  have  given  to  this 
difficulty,  by  saying  that  all  things  have  run  by  chance  into 
the  combinations  and  channels  in  which  we  see  nature  run,  is 
so  absurd,  that  it  looks  like  men  who  are  resolved  to  believe 
any  thing,  how  absurd  soever,  rather  than  to  acknowledge 
religion.  For  what  a  strange  conceit  is  it,  to  think  that  chance 
could  settle  on  such  a  regular  and  useful  frame  of  things,  and 
continue  so  fixed  and  stable  in  it.  and  that  chance  could  do  so 


24 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  much  at  once,  and  should  do  nothing  ever  since !  The  con- 
stancy  of  the  celestial  motions ;  the  obliquity  of  the  zodiac, 
by  which  different  seasons  are  assigned  to  different  climates  ; 
the  divisions  of  this  globe  into  sea  and  land,  into  hills  and 
vales ;  the  productions  of  the  earth,  whether  latent,  such  as 
mines,  minerals,  and  other  fossils ;  or  visible,  such  as  grass,  grain, 
herbs,  flowers,  shrubs,  and  trees ;  the  small  beginnings,  and 
the  curious  compositions  of  them :  the  variety  and  curious 
structure  of  insects  ;  the  disposition  of  the  bodies  of  perfecter 
animals  ;  and,  above  all,  the  fabric  of  the  body  of  man,  espe- 
cially the  curious  discoveries  that  anatomy  and  microscopes 
have  given  us ;  the  strange  beginning  and  progress  of  those ; 
the  wonders  that  occur  in  every  organ  of  sense,  and  the 
amazing  structure  and  use  of  the  brain,  are  all  such  things, 
so  artificial,  and  yet  so  regular,  and  so  exactly  shaped  and 
fitted  for  their  several  uses,  that  he,  who  can  believe  all  this 
to  be  chance,  seems  to  have  brought  his  mind  to  digest  any 
absurdity. 

That  all  men  should  resemble  one  another  in  the  main 
things,  and  yet  that  every  man  should  have  a  peculiar  look, 
voice,  and  way  of  writing,  is  necessary  to  maintain  order  and 
distinction  in  societv :  bv  these  we  know  men,  if  we  either 
see  them,  hear  them  speak  in  the  dark,  or  receive  any  writing 
from  them  at  a  distance ;  without  these,  the  Avhole  commerce 
of  life  would  be  one  continued  course  of  mistake  and  con- 
fusion. This,  I  say,  is  such  an  indication  of  wisdom,  that 
it  looks  like  a  violence  to  nature  to  think  it  can  be  otherwise. 

The  only  colour,  that  has  supported  this  monstrous  conceit, 
that  things  arise  out  of  chance,  is,  that  it  has  long  passed  cur- 
rent in  the  world,  that  great  varieties  of  insects  do  arise  out  of 
corrupted  matter.  They  argue,  that,  if  the  sun's  shining  on 
a  dunghill  can  give  life  to  such  swarms  of  curious  creatures, 
it  is  but  a  little  more  extraordinary,  to  think  that  animals  and 
men  might  have  been  formed  out  of  well-disposed  matter, 
under  a  peculiar  aspect  of  the  heavens.  But  the  exacter  ob- 
servations, that  have  been  made  in  this  age  by  the  help  of 
glasses,  have  put  an  end  to  this  answer,  which  is  the  best  that 
Lucretius  and  other  atheists  found  to  rest  in.  It  is  now  fully 
made  out,  that  the  production  of  all  insects  whatsoever  is  in 
the  way  of  generation :  heat  and  corruption  do  only  hatch 
those  eggs  that  insects  leave  to  a  prodigious  quantity  every 
where.  So  that  this,  which  is  the  only  specious  thing  in  the 
whole  plea  for  atheism,  is  now  given  up  by  the  universal  con- 
sent of  all  the  inquirers  into  nature. 

And  now  to  bring  the  force  of  this  long  argument  to  a 
head :  If  this  world  was  neither  from  all  eternity  in  the  state 
in  which  it  is  at  present,  nor  could  fall  into  it  by  chance  or 
accident,  then  it  must  follow  that  it  was  put  into  the  state  in 
which  we  now  see  it  by  a  Being  of  vast  power  and  wisdom. 
This  is  the  great  and  solid  argument  on  which  religion  rests ; 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


25 


and  it  receives  a  vast  accession  of  strength  from  this,  that  we  ART 
plainly  see  matter  has  not  motion  in  or  of  itself:  every  part  *■ 
of  it  is  at  quiet  till  it  is  put  in  motion  that  is  not  natural  to 
it ;  for  many  parts  of  matter  fall  into  a  state  of  rest  and  quiet ; 
so  that  motion  must  be  put  in  them  by  some  impulse  or  othei . 
Matter,  after  it  has  passed  through  the  highest  refinings  and 
rectifyings  possible,  becomes  only  more  capable  of  motion 
than  it  was  before  ;  but  still  it  is  a  passive  principle,  and  must 
be  put  in  motion  by  some  other  being.  This  has  appeared  so 
necessary  even  to  those  who  have  tried  their  utmost  force  to 
make  God  as  little  needful  as  possible  in  the  structure  of  the 
universe,  that  they  have  yet  been  forced  to  own,  that  there 
must  have  been  once  a  vast  motion  given  to  matter  by  the 
Supreme  Mind. 

A  third  argument  for  the  being  of  a  God  is,  that,  upon  some 
great  occasions,  and  before  a  vast  number  of  witnesses,  some 
persons  have  wrought  miracles :  that  is,  they  have  put  nature 
out  of  its  course,  by  some  words  or  signs,  that  of  themselves 
could  not  produce  those  extraordinary  effects  :  and  therefore 
such  persons  were  assisted  by  a  power  superior  to  the  course 
of  nature ;  and  by  consequence  there  is  such  a  Being,  and 
that  is  God.  To  this  the  atheists  do  first  say,  that  we  do  not 
know  the  secret  virtues  that  are  in  nature :  the  loadstone  and 
opium  produce  wonderful  effects  :  therefore,  unless  we  knew 
the  whole  extent  of  nature,  we  cannot  define  what  is  super- 
natural and  miraculous,  and  what  is  not  so.  But,  though  we 
cannot  tell  how  far  nature  may  go,  yet  of  some  things  we  may, 
without  hesitation,  say,  they  are  beyond  natural  powers. 
Such  were  the  wonders  that  Moses  wrought  in  Egypt  and  in 
the  wilderness,  by  the  speaking  a  few  words,  or  the  stretching 
out  of  a  rod.  We  are  sure  these  could  not  by  any  natural 
efficiency  produce  those  wonders.  And  the  like  is  to  be  said 
of  the  miracles  of  Christ,  particularly  of  his  raising  the  dead 
to  life  again,  and  of  his  own  resurrection.  These  we  are  sure 
did  not  arise  out  of  natural  causes.  The  next  thing  atheists 
say  to  this,  is,  to  dispute  the  truth  of  the  facts :  but  of  that  I 
shall  treat  in  another  place,  when  the  authority  of  revealed 
religion  comes  to  be  proved  from  those  facts.  All  that  is  ne- 
cessary to  be  added  here,  is,  that  if  facts,  that  are  plainly 
supernatural,  are  proved  to  have  been  really  done,  then  here 
is  another  clear  and  full  argument,  to  prove  a  Being  superior 
to  nature,  that  can  dispose  of  it  at  pleasure :  and  that  Being 
must  either  be  God,  or  some  other  invisible  being  that  has  a 
strength  superior  to  the  settled  course  of  nature.  And  if  in- 
visible beings,  superior  to  nature,  whether  good  or  bad,  are 
once  acknowledged,  a  great  step  is  made  to  the  proof  of  the 
Supreme  Being. 

There  is  another  famed  argument  taken  from  the  idea  of 
God;  which  is  laid  thus:  that,  because  one  frames  a  notion  of 
infinite  perfection,  therefore  there  must  be  such  a  Being,  from 


26 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  whom  that  notion  is  conveyed  to  us.  This  argument  is  also 
I-  managed  by  other  methods,  to  give  us  a  demonstration  of  the 
being  of  a  God.  I  am  unwilling  to  say  any  thing  to  derogate 
from  any  argument  that  is  brought  to  prove  this  conclusion ; 
but,  when  he,  who  insists  on  this,  lays  all  other  arguments 
aside,  or  at  least  slights  them  as  not  strong  enough  to  prove 
the  point,  this  naturally  gives  jealousy,  when  all  those  reasons, 
that  had  for  so  many  ages  been  considered  as  solid  proofs, 
are  neglected,  as  if  this  only  could  amount  to  a  demonstration. 
But,  besides,  this  is  an  argument  that  cannot  be  offered  by 
any  to  another  person,  for  his  conviction ;  since,  if  he  denies 
that  he  has  any  such  idea,  he  is  without  the  reach  of  the 
argument.  And  if  a  man  will  say  that  any  such  idea,  which 
he  may  raise  in  himself,  is  only  an  aggregate  that  he  makes 
of  all  those  perfections,  of  which  he  can  form  a  thought,  which 
he  lays  together,  separating  from  them  every  imperfection 
that  he  observes  to  be  often  mixed  with  some  of  those  perfec- 
tions :  if,  I  say,  a  man  will  affirm  this,  I  do  not  see  that  the 
inference  from  any  such  thought  that  he  has  formed  within 
himself,  can  have  any  great  force  to  persuade  him  that  there 
is  any  such  Being.  Upon  the  whole,  it  seems  to  be  fully 
proved,  that  there  is  a  Being  that  is  superior  to  matter,  and 
that  gave  both  being  and  order  to  it,  and  to  all  other  things. 
This  may  serve  to  prove  the  being  of  a  God.  It  is  fit  in  the 
next  place  to  consider,  with  all  humble  modesty,  what  thoughts 
we  can,  or  ought  to  have  of  the  Deity. 

That  Supreme  Being  must  have  its  essence  of  itself  neces- 
sarily and  eternally ;  for  it  is  impossible  that  any  thing  can 
give  itself  being ;  so  it  must  be  eternal.  And,  though  eternity 
in  a  succession  of  determinate  durations  was  proved  to  be 
impossible,  yet  it  is  certain  that  something  must  be  eternal ; 
either  matter,  or  a  Being  superior  to  it,  that  has  not  a  dura- 
tion defined  by  succession,  but  is  a  simple  essence,  and 
eternally  was,  is,  and  shall  be,  the  same.  There  is  nothing 
contradictor)'  to  itself  in  this  notion :  it  is  indeed  above  our 
capacity  to  form  a  clear  thought  of  it ;  but  it  is  plain  it  must 
be  so,  and  that  this  is  only  a  defect  in  our  nature  and  capa- 
city, that  we  cannot  distinctly  apprehend  that  which  is  so  far 
above  us.  Such  a  Being  must  have  also  necessary  existence 
in  its  notion ;  for  whatsoever  is  infinitely  perfect  must  neces- 
sarily exist ;  since  we  plainly  perceive  that  necessary  existence 
is  a  perfection,  and  that  contingent  existence  is  an  imperfec- 
tion, which  supposes  a  being  that  is  produced  by  another,  and 
that  depends  upon  it :  and,  as  this  superior  Being  did  exist 
from  all  eternity,  so  it  is  impossible,  it  should  cease  to  be ; 
since  nothing  that  once  has  actually  a  being  can  ever  cease 
to  be,  but  by  an  act  of  a  superior  Being  annihilating  it.  But 
there  being  nothing  superior  to  the  Deity,  it  is  impossible 
that  it  should  ever  cease  to  be :  what  was  self-existent  from 
all  eternity,  must  also  be  so  to  all  eternity ;  and  it  is  as  im- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


27 


possible  that  a  simple  essence  can  annihilate  itself,  as  that  it  A^T- 
can  make  itself.  ' 

So  much  concerning  the  first  and  capital  article  of  all  re- 
ligion, the  existence  and  being  of  a  God ;  which  ought  not  to 
be  proved  by  any  authorities  from  scripture,  unless  from  the 
recitals  that  are  given  in  it  concerning  miracles,  as  was 
already  hinted  at.  But  as  to  the  authority  of  such  passages 
In  scripture,  which  affirm  that  there  is  a  God,  it  is  to  be 
considered,  that  before  we  can  be  bound  to  submit  to  them, 
we  must  helieve  three  propositions  antecedent  to  that ; 
1.  That  there  is  a  God.  2.  That  all  his  words  are  true. 
3.  That  these  are  his  words.  What,  therefore,  must  be  be- 
lieved before  we  acknowledge  the  scriptures  cannot  be  proved 
out  of  them.  It  is  then  a  strange  assertion,  to  say,  that  the 
being  of  a  God  cannot  be  proved  by  the  light  of  nature,  but 
must  be  proved  by  the  scriptures;  since  our  being  assured 
that  there  is  a  God  is  the  first  principle  upon  which  the  au- 
thority of  the  scriptures  depends. 

The  second  proposition  in  the  Article  is,  That  there  is  but 
one  God.  As  to  this,  the  common  argument,  by  which  it  is 
proved,  is  the  order  of  the  world ;  from  whence  it  is  inferred, 
that  there  cannot  be  more  gods  than  one,  since,  where  there 
are  more  than  one,  there  must  happen  diversity  and  confu- 
sion. This  is  by  some  thought  to  be  no  good  reason ;  for  if 
there  are  more  gods,  that  is,  more  beings  infinitely  perfect, 
they  will  always  think  the  same  thing,  and  be  knit  together 
with  an  entire  love.  It  is  true,  in  things  of  a  moral  nature, 
this  must  so  happen :  for  beings  infinitely  perfect  must  ever 
agree.  But  in  physical  things,  capable  of  no  morality,  as  in 
creating  the  world  sooner  or  later,  and  the  different  systems 
of  beings,  with  a  thousand  other  things  that  have  no  moral 
goodness  in  them,  different  beings  infinitely  perfect  might 
have  different  thoughts.  So  this  argument  seems  still  of 
great  force  to  prove  the  unity  of  the  Deity.  The  other  argu- 
ment from  reason,  to  prove  the  unity  of  God,  is  from  the 
notion  of  a  Being  infinitely  perfect.  For  a  superiority  over 
all  other  beings  comes  so  naturally  into  the  idea  of  infinite 
perfection,  that  we  cannot  separate  it  from  it.  A  Being 
therefore,  that  has  not  all  other  beings  inferior  and  subordi- 
nate to  it,  cannot  be  infinitely  perfect ;  whence  it  is  evident, 
that  there  is  but  one  God.  But,  besides  all  this,  the  unity  of 
God  seems  to  be  so  frequently  and  so  plainly  asserted  in  the 
scripture,  that  we  see  it  was  the  chief  design  of  the  whole  Old 
Testament,  both  of  Moses  and  the  prophets,  to  establish  it, 
in  opposition  to  the  false  opinions  of  the  heathen  concerning 
a  diversity  of  gods.  This  is  often  repeated  in  the  most 
solemn  words,  as,  *'  Hear,  O  Israel;  the  Lord  our  God  is  one  Deui.vi.4. 

*  "inS  mrP  imbS  mm  bs-ltC,»  VOW  '  Hear,  Israel,  Jehovah,  our 
God,  is  one  Jehovah.'    On  this  passage  the  Jews  lay  great  stress  ;  and  it  is  one 


28 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   God.'     It  is  the  first  of  the  Ten  Commandments,  'Thou 

  shalt  have  no  other  gods  hut  me.'    And  all  things  in  heaven 

Isa.xliv.6.  a«d  earth  are  often  said  to  he  made  by  this  one  God.  Nega- 
8.  tive  words  are  also  often  used,  '  There  is  none  other  God  but 

one :  besides  me  there  is  none  else,  and  I  know  no  other*  :* 
the  going  after  other  gods  is  reckoned  the  highest  and  the 
John  xvii.  most  unpardonable  act  of  idolatry.    The  New  Testament  goes 
3  on  in  the  same  strain.    Christ  speaks  of  the  only  true  God, 

lCor.  vii?.  am*  taat  ne  a'one  ought  to  be  worshipped  and  served;  all  the 
5, 6.        apostles  do  frequently  affirm  the  same  thing :  they  make  the 
believing  of  one  God,  in  opposition  to  the  many  Gods  of  the 
heathens,  the  chief  article  of  the  Christian  religion;  and  they 
Eph.  iv.4,  lay  down  this  as  the  chief  ground  of  our  obligation  to  mutual 
5>  6*       love  and  union  among  ourselves,  That  <  there  is  one  God,  one 
Lord,  one  faith,  one  baptism.'    Now,  since  we  are  sure  that 
there  is  but  one  Messias,  and  one  doctrine  delivered  by  him, 
it  will  clearly  follow  that  there  must  be  but  one  God. 

So  the  unity  of  the  Divine  Essence  is  clearly  proved  both 
from  the  order  and  government  of  the  world,  from  the  idea 
of  infinite  perfection,  and  from  those  express  declarations  that 
are  made  concerning  it  in  the  scriptures  ;  which  last  is  a  full 
proof  to  all  such  as  own  and  submit  to  them. 

The  third  head  in  this  Article  is  that  which  is  negatively 
expressed,  that  God  is  without  body,  parts,  or  passions.  In 
general,  all  these  are  so  plainly  contrary  to  the  ideas  of  in- 
finite perfection,  and  they  appear  so  evidently  to  be  imper- 
fections, that  this  part  of  the  Article  will  need  little  explana- 
tion. We  do  plainly  perceive  that  our  bodies  are  clogs  to 
our  minds ;  and  all  the  use,  that  even  the  purest  sort  of  body, 
in  an  estate  conceived  to  be  glorified,  can  be  of  to  a  mind,  is 
to  be  an  instrument  of  local  motion,  or  to  be  a  repository 
of  ideas  for  memory  and  imagination :  but  God,  who  is  every 
where,  and  is  one  pure  and  simple  act,  can  have  no  such  use 
for  a  body.  A  mind  dwelling  in  a  body  is  in  many  respects 
superior  to  it;  yet  in  some  respects  is  under  it.  We,  who  feel 
how  an  act  of  our  mind  can  so  direct  the  motions  of  our 
body  that  a  thought  sets  our  limbs  and  joints  a  going,  can, 
from  thence,  conceive  how  that  the  whole  extent  of  matter 
should  receive  such  motions  as  the  acts  of  the  Supreme  Mind 
give  it ;  but  yet  not  as  a  body  united  to  it,  or  that  the  Deity 
either  needs  such  a  body,  or  can  receive  any  trouble  from  it. 
Thus  far  the  apprehension  of  the  thing  is  very  plainly  made 


of  the  four  passages  which  they  write  on  their  phylacteries.  On  the  word  Elohim, 
Simeon  Ben  Joachi  says,  '  Come  and  see  the  mystery  of  the  word  Elohim  :  there 
are  three  degrees,  and  each  degree  is  by  itself  alone,  and  yet  they  are  all  one,  and 
joined  together  in  one,  and  are  not  divided  from  each  other.' — Bagstei's  Compre- 
hensive Bible. — Note  on  the  passage.  — [Ed. J 

*  The  passage  stands  thus  in  Isa.  xliv.  6.  '  Thus  saith  the  Lord,  the  King  of 
Israel,  and  his  redeemer  the  Lord  of  Hosts;  I  am  the  first  and  I  am  the  last; 
and  beside  me  there  is  no  God.'  These  titles  are  in  the  New  Testament  given  to 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  Rev.  i.  8,  11—13,17,  18.  and  xxii.  12,  13,  16.— [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


'ZD 


out  to  us.  Our  thoughts  put  some  parts  of  our  body  in  a  ART. 
present  motion,  when  the  organization  is  regular,  and  all  the 
parts  are  exact,  and  when  there  is  no  obstruction  in  those  ves- 
sels or  passages,  through  which  that  heat  and  those  spirits,  do 
pass,  that  cause  the  motion.  We  do  in  this  perceive,  that  a 
thought  does  command  matter ;  but  our  minds  are  limited  to 
our  bodies,  and  these  do  not  obey  them,  but  as  they  are  in 
an  exact  disposition  and  a  fitness  to  be  so  moved.  Now 
these  are  plain  imperfections;  but,  removing  them  from  God, 
we  can  from  thence  apprehend  that  all  the  matter  in  the  uni- 
verse may  be  so  entirely  subject  to  the  Divine  Mind,  that  it 
shall  move  and  be  whatsoever  and  wheresoever  he  will  have 
it  to  be.    This  is  that  which  all  men  do  agree  in. 

But  many  of  the  philosophers  thought  that  matter,  though 
it  was  moved  and  moulded  by  God  at  his  pleasure,  yet  was 
not  made  by  him,  but  was  self-existent,  and  was  a  passive 
principle,  but  coexistent  to  the  Deity,  which  they  thought 
was  the  active  principle  :  from  whence  some  have  thought, 
that  the  belief  of  two  gods,  one  good  and  another  bad,  did 
spring :  though  others  imagine  that  the  belief  of  a  bad  god 
did  arise  from  the  corruption  of  that  tradition  concerning 
fallen  angels,  as  was  before  suggested.  The  philosophers 
could  not  apprehend  that  things  could  be  made  out  of 
nothing,  and  therefore  they  believed  that  matter  was  co- 
eternal  with  God.  But  it  is  as  hard  to  apprehend  how  a 
mind,  by  its  thought,  should  give  motion  to  matter,  as  how  it 
should  give  it  being.  A  being  not  made  by  God  is  not  so 
easily  conceivable  to  be  under  the  acts  of  his  mind,  as  that 
which  is  made  by  him.  This  conceit  plainly  destroys  infinite 
perfection,  which  cannot  be  in  God,  if  all  beings  are  not  from 
him,  and  under  his  authority ;  besides  that,  successive  dura- 
tion has  been  already  proved  inconsistent  with  eternity. 
This  opinion  of  the  world's  being  a  body  to  God,  as  the  mind 
that  dwells  in  it,  and  actuates  it,  is  the  foundation  of  atheism  : 
for  if  it  be  once  thought  that  God  can  do  nothing  without 
such  a  body,  then,  as  this  destroys  the  idea  of  infinite  perfec- 
tion, so  it  makes  way  to  this  conceit,  that  since  matter  is 
visible,  and  God  invisible,  there  is  no  other  God,  but  the  vast 
extent  of  the  universe.  It  is  true,  God  has  often  shewed  him- 
self in  visible  appearances ;  but  that  was  only  his  putting  a 
special  quantity  of  matter  into  such  motions,  as  should  give  a 
great  and  astonishing  idea  of  his  nature,  from  that  appear- 
ance :  which  was  both  the  effect  of  his  power,  and  the  symbol 
of  his  presence.  And  thus  what  glorious  representations 
s->ever  were  made  either  on  mount  Sinai,  or  in  the  pillar  of 
the  cloud,  and  cloud  of  glory,  those  were  no  indications  of 
God's  having  a  body ;  but  were  only  manifestations,  suited 
to  beget  such  thoughts  in  the  minds  of  men,  that  dwelt  in 
bodies,  as  might  lay  the  principles  and  foundations  of  reli- 
gion deep  in  them.    The  language  of  the  scriptures  speaks  to 


30 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


the  capacities  of  men,  and  even  of  rude  men  in  dark  times, 
in  which  most  of  the  Scriptures  were  writ:  but,  though  God 
is  spoke  of  as  having  a  face,  eyes,  ears,  a  smelling,  hands  and 
feet,  and  as  coming  down  to  view  things  on  earth,  all  this  is 
expressed  after  the  manner  of  men,  and  is  to  be  understood 
in  a  way  suitable  to  a  pure  spirit.  For  the  great  care  that 
was  used,  even  under  the  most  imperfect  state  of  revelation, 
to  keep  men  from  framing  any  image  or  similitude  of  the 
Deity,  shewed  that  it  was  far  from  the  meaning  of  those  ex- 
pressions, that  God  had  an  organized  body.  These  do  there- 
fore signify  only  the  several  varieties  of  Providence.  When 
God  was  pleased  with  a  nation,  his  face  was  said  to  shine 
upon  it ;  for  so  a  man  looks  towards  those  whom  he  loves. 
The  particular  care  he  takes  of  them,  and  the  answering  their 
prayers,  is  expressed  by  figures  borrowed  from  eyes  and  ears: 
the  peculiar  dispensations  of  rewards  and  punishments  are 
expressed  by  his  hands;  and  the  exactness  of  his  justice  and 
wisdom  is  expressed  by  coming  down  to  view  the  state  of 
human  affairs.  Thus  it  is  clear  that  God  has  no  body :  nor 
has  he  parts,  for  we  can  apprehend  no  parts  but  of  a  body : 
so,  since  it  is  certain  that  God  has  no  body,  he  can  have  no 
parts:  something  like  parts  does  indeed  belong  to  spirits, 
which  are  their  thoughts  distinct  from  their  being,  and  they 
have  a  succession  of  them,  and  do  oft  change  them.  But 
infinite  perfection  excludes  this  from  the  idea  of  God ;  suc- 
cessive thoughts,  as  well  as  successive  duration,  seem  in- 
consistent both  with  eternity,  and  Avith  infinite  perfection. 
Therefore  the  essence  of  God  is  one  perfect  thought,  in  which 
he  both  views  and  wills  all  things :  and  though  his  transient 
acts  that  pass  out  of  the  divine  essence,  such  as  creation, 
providence,  and  miracles,  are  done  in  a  succession  of  time ; 
yet  his  immanent  acts,  his  knowledge  and  his  decrees,  are 
one  with  his  essence.  Distinct  thoughts  are  plainly  an  im- 
perfection, and  argue  a  progress  in  knowledge,  and  a  delibe- 
ration in  council,  which  carry  defect  and  infirmity  in  them. 
To  conceive  how  this  is  in  God  is  far  above  our  capacity : 
who,  though  we  feel  our  imperfection  in  successive  acts,  yet 
cannot  apprehend  how  all  things  can  be  both  seen  and  de- 
termined by  one  single  thought.  But  the  divine  Essence 
being  so  infinitely  above  us,  it  is  no  wonder  if  we  can  frame 
no  distinct  act  concerning  its  knowledge  or  will. 

There  is  indeed  a  vast  difficulty  that  arises  here;  for 
those  acts  of  God  are  supposed  free;  so  that  they  might 
have  been  otherwise  than  we  see  they  are:  and  then  it  is 
not  easy  to  imagine  how  they  should  be  one  with  the  divine 
Essence,  to  which  necessary  existence  does  certainly  belong. 
It  cannot  be  said  that  those  acts  are  necessary,  and  could 
not  be  otherwise :  for,  since  all  God's  transient  acts  are  the 
certain  effects  of  his  immanent  ones,  if  the  immanent  ones 
are  necessary,  then  the  transient  must  be  so  likewise,  and  so 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


31 


every  thing  must  be  necessary:  a  chain  of  necessary  fate  ART. 
must  run  through  the  whole  order  of  things;  and  God  him-  Ij 
self  then  is  no  free  being,  but  acts  by  a  necessity  of  nature- 
This  some  have  thought  was  no  absurdity :  God  is  neces- 
sarily just,  true,  and  good,  not  by  any  extrinsic  necessity,  for 
that  would  import  an  outward  limitation,  which  destroys  the 
idea  of  God;  but  by  an  intrinsic  necessity  that  arises  from 
his  own  infinite  perfection.  Some  have  from  hence  thought 
that,  since  God  acts  by  infinite  wisdom  and  goodness,  things 
could  not  have  been  otherwise  than  they  are :  for  what  is 
infinitely  wise  or  good  cannot  be  altered,  or  made  either 
better  or  worse.  But  this  seems  on  the  other  hand  very 
hard  to  conceive :  for  it  would  follow  from  thence,  that  God 
could  neither  have  made  the  world  sooner  nor  later,  nor  any 
other  way  than  now  it  is :  nor  could  he  have  done  any  one 
thing  otherwise  than  as  it  is  done.  This  seems  to  establish 
fate,  and  to  destroy  industry  and  all  prayers  and  endeavours. 
Thus  there  are  such  great  difficulties  on  all  hands  in  this 
matter  that  it  is  much  the  wisest  and  safest  course  to  adore 
what  is  above  our  apprehensions,  rather  than  to  inquire  too 
curiously,  or  determine  too  boldly  in  it.  It  is  certain  that 
God  acts  both  freely  and  perfectly:  nor  is  he  a  Being  subject 
to  change,  or  to  new  acts;  but  he  is  what  he  is,  both  infinite 
and  incomprehensible :  we  can  neither  apprehend  how  he 
made,  nor  how  he  executes  his  decrees.  So  we  must  leave 
this  difficulty,  without  pretending  that  we  can  explain  it,  or 
answer  the  objections  that  arise  against  all  the  several  ways 
by  which  divines  have  endeavoured  to  resolve  it. 

The  third  thing  under  the  head  I  now  consider  is,  God's 
being  without  passions.  That  will  be  soon  explained.  Pas- 
sion is  an  agitation  that  supposes  a  succession  of  thoughts, 
together  with  a  trouble  for  what  is  past,  and  a  fear  of  missing 
what  is  aimed  at.  It  arises  out  of  a  heat  of  mind,  and  pro- 
duces a  vehemence  of  action.  Now  all  these  are  such  mani- 
fest imperfections,  that  it  does  plainly  appear  they  cannot 
consist  with  infinite  perfection.  Yet  after  all  this,  there  are 
several  passions,  such  as  anger,  fury,  jealousy,  and  revenge, 
bowels  of  mercy,  compassion  and  pity,  joy  and  sorrow,  that  are 
ascribed  to  God  in  the  common  forms  of  speech,  that  occur 
often  in  scripture,  as  was  formerly  observed,  with  relation  to 
those  figures  that  are  taken  from  the  parts  of  a  human  body. 
Passion  produces  a  vehemence  of  action :  so,  when  there  is 
in  the  providences  of  God  such  a  vehemence  as,  according  to 
the  manner  of  men,  would  import  a  passion,  then  that  passion 
is  ascribed  to  God:  when  ne  punishes  men  tor  sin,  he  is 
said  to  be  angry :  when  he  does  that  by  severe  and  re- 
doubled strokes,  he  is  said  to  be  full  of  fury  and  revenge : 
when  he  punishes  for  idolatry,  or  any  dishonour  done  himself, 
he  is  said  to  be  jealous :  when  he  changes  the  course  of  his 
proceedings,  he  is  said  to  repent :  when  his  dispensations  of 


32 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  providence  are  very  gentle,  and  his  judgments  come  slowly 
from  him,  he  is  said  to  have  bowels.  And  thus  all  the 
varieties  of  Providence  come  to  be  expressed  by  all  that 
variety  of  passions,  which  among  men  might  give  occasion  to 
such  a  variety  of  proceeding. 

The  fourth  head  in  this  article  is  concerning  the  power, 
wisdom,  and  goodness  of  God,  that  he  is  infinite  in  them.  If 
he  can  give  being  to  things  that  are  not,  and  can  also  give  all 
the  possibilities  of  motion,  size,  and  shape,  to  beings  that  do 
exist,  here  is  power  without  bounds.  A  power  of  creating 
must  be  infinite,  since  nothing  can  resist  it.  If  some  things 
are  in  their  own  nature  impossible,  that  does  not  arise  from 
the  want  of  power  in  God,  which  extends  to  every  thing  that 
is  possible.  But  that,  which  is  supposed  to  be  impossible  of 
its  own  nature,  cannot  actually  be :  otherwise  a  thing  might 
both  be  and  not  be;  and  it  is  perceptible  to  every  man  that 
this  is  impossible.  It  is  not  want  of  power  in  God,  that  he 
cannot  lie  nor  sin :  it  is  the  infinite  purity  of  the  Divine 
nature  that  makes  this  impossible,  by  reason  of  his  infinite 
perfection.  Nor  is  it  a  want  of  power  in  God,  that  the  truth 
of  propositions  concerning  things  that  are  past,  as  that  yes- 
terday once  was,  is  unalterable.  Among  impossibilities,  one 
is,  to  take  from  any  being  that  which  is  essential  to  it.  God 
can  annihilate  every  being  at  his  pleasure;  for,  as  he  gave 
being  with  a  thought,  so  he  can  destroy  it  with  another :  and 
this  does  fully  assert  the  infinite  power  of  God.  But  if  he 
has  made  beings  with  such  peculiar  essences,  as  that  matter 
must  be  extended  and  impenetrable,  and  that  it  is  capable  of 
peculiar  surfaces  and  other  modes,  which  are  only  its  differ- 
ent sizes  and  shapes,  then  matter  cannot  be,  and  yet  not  be, 
extended;  nor  can  these  modes  subsist,  if  the  matter  of 
which  they  are  the  modes  is  withdrawn.  The  infinite  power 
of  God  is  fully  believed  by  those  who  acknowledge  both  his 
power  of  creating  and  annihilating;  together  with  a  power  of 
disposing  of  the  whole  creation,  according  to  the  possibilities 
of  every  part  or  individual  of  it;  though  they  cannot  con- 
ceive a  possibility  of  separating  the  essential  properties  of 
any  being  from  itself;  that  is  to  say,  that  it  may  both  be, 
and  not  be,  at  the  same  time;  since  an  essential  property  is 
that  which  cannot  be  without  that  substance  to  which  it 
belongs. 

The  wisdom  of  God  consists  first  in  his  seeing  all  the  possi- 
bilities of  things,  and  then  in  his  knowing  all  things  that  either 
are,  or  ever  were,  or  shall  be :  the  former  is  called  the  know- 
ledge of  simple  intelligence  or  apprehension ;  the  other  is  called 
the  knowledge  of  vision.  The  one  arises  from  the  perfection 
of  the  divine  Essence,  by  which  he  apprehends  whatever  is 
possible ;  the  other  arises  from  his  own  decrees,  in  which  the 
whole  order  of  things  is  fixed.  But  besides  these  two  ideas 
that  we  can  frame  of  the  knowledge  of  God,  some  have 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


33 


imagined  a  third  knowledge,  which,  because  it  is  of  a  middle  ART. 
order  betwixt  intelligence  and  vision,  they  have  called  a  middle  Ij 
knowledge ;  which  is  the  knowing  certainly  how,  according  to 
ail  the  possibilities  of  circumstances  in  which  free  agents 
might  be  put,  they  should  choose  and  act.  Some  have  thought 
that  this  was  a  vain  and  needless  conceit ;  and  that  it  is  im- 
possible that  such  knowledge  should  be  certain,  or  more  than 
conjectural ;  and,  since  conjecture  implies  doubt,  it  is  an 
imperfect  act,  and  so  does  not  become  a  Being  of  infinite  per- 
fection. But  others  have  thought  that  the  infinite  perfection 
of  the  divine  Mind  must  go  so  far  as  to  foresee  certainly  what 
free  creatures  are  to  do ;  since  upon  this  foresight  only  they 
imagine  that  the  justice  or  goodness  of  God  in  his  providence 
can  be  made  out  or  defended.  It  seemed  fit  to  mention  this 
upon  the  present  occasion ;  but  it  will  be  then  proper  to  in- 
quire more  carefully  about  it,  when  the  article  of  predestination 
is  explained. 

It  is  necessary  to  state  the  idea  of  the  goodness  of  God 
most  carefully ;  for  we  naturally  enough  frame  great  and  just 
ideas  of  power  and  wisdom ;  but  we  easily  fall  into  false  con- 
ceits of  goodness.  This  is  that  of  all  the  divine  perfections  in 
which  we  are  the  most  concerned,  and  so  we  ought  to  be  the 
most  careful  to  frame  true  ideas  of  it :  it  is  also  that,  of  all 
God's  attributes,  of  which  the  scriptures  speak  most  copiously. 
Infinite  goodness  is  a  tendency  to  communicate  the  divine 
perfections  to  all  created  beings,  according  to  their  several 
capacities.  God  is  original  goodness,  all  perfect  and  happy 
in  himself,  acting  and  seeing  every  thing  in  a  perfect  light ; 
and  he  having  made  rational  beings  capable  of  some  degrees 
of  his  light,  purity,  and  perfection,  the  first  and  primary  act 
of  goodness  is  to  propose  to  them  such  means  as  may  raise 
them  to  these,  to  furnish  them  with  them,  to  move  them  oft 
to  them,  to  accept  and  to  assist  their  sincere  endeavours  after 
them.  A  second  act  of  goodness,  which  is  but  in  order  to  the 
first,  is  to  pity  those  miseries  into  which  men  fall,  as  long  as 
there  is  any  principle  or  possibility  left  in  them  of  their 
becoming  good ;  to  pardon  all  such  sins  as  men  have  com- 
mitted, who  turn  to  the  purposes  of  becoming  seriously  good, 
and  to  pass  by  all  the  frailties  and  errors  of  those  who  are 
truly  and  upon  the  main  good,  though  surprise  and  strong 
temptations  prove  often  too  hard  for  them.  These  two  give 
us  as  full  an  idea  as  we  can  have  of  perfect  goodness ;  whose 
first  aim  must  be  the  making  us  good,  and  like  to  that  original 
goodness  :  pity  and  pardon  coming  in  but  in  a  subsidiary  way, 
to  carry  on  the  main  design  of  making  men  truly  good. 
Therefore  the  chief  act  and  design  of  goodness  is  the  making 
us  truly  good ;  and,  when  any  person  falls  below  that  possi- 
bility, he  is  no  more  the  object  of  pity  or  pardon,  because  he 
is  no  more  capable  of  becoming  good.  Pardon  is  offered  on 
design  to  make  us  really  good ;  so  it  is  not  to  be  sought  for, 

D 


34 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  nor  rested  in,  but  in  order  to  a  farther  end,  which  is  the 
reforming  our  natures,  and  the  making  us  partakers  of  the 
divine  nature.  We  are  not  therefore  to  frame  ideas  of  a 
feeble  goodness  in  God,  that  yields  to  importunate  cries,  or 
that  melts  at  a  vast  degree  of  misery.  Tenderness  in  human 
nature  is  a  great  ornament  and  perfection,  necessary  to  dispose 
us  to  much  benignity  and  mercy :  but,  in  the  common  ad- 
ministration of  justice,  this  tenderness  must  be  restrained ; 
otherwise  it  would  slacken  the  rigour  of  punishment  too  much, 
which  might  dissolve  the  order  and  peace  of  human  societies. 
But  since  we  cannot  see  into  the  truth  of  men's  hearts,  a 
charitable  disposition  and  a  compassionate  temper  are  neces- 
sary to  make  men  sociable  and  kind,  gentle  and  humane. 
God,  who  sees  our  hearts,  and  is  ever  assisting  all  our  endea- 
vours to  become  truly  good,  needs  not  this  tenderness,  nor  is 
he  indeed  capable  of  it ;  for,  after  all  its  beauty  with  relation 
to  the  state  wherein  we  are  now  put,  yet,  in  itself  it  implies 
imperfection.  Nor  can  the  miseries  and  bowlings  of  wicked 
beings,  after  all  the  seeds  and  possibilities  of  goodness  are 
utterly  extinguished  in  them,  give  any  pity  to  the  divine 
Being.  These  are  no  longer  the  object  of  the  primary  act  of 
his  goodness,  and  therefore  they  cannot  come  under  its 
secondary  acts.  It  is  of  such  great  consequence  to  settle  this 
notion  right  in  our  minds,  that  it  well  deserves  to  be  so 
copiously  opened ;  since  we  now  see  in  what  respects  God's 
goodness  is  without  bounds,  and  infinite  ;  that  is,  it  reaches 
to  all  men,  after  all  sins  whatsoever,  as  long  as  they  are  capa- 
ble of  becoming  good.  It  is  not  a  limitation  of  the  divine 
goodness  to  say,  that  some  men  and  some  states  are  beyond 
it ;  no  more  than  it  is  a  limitation  of  his  power  to  say,  that 
he  cannot  sin,  or  cannot  do  impossibilities :  for  a  goodness, 
towards  persons  not  capable  of  becoming  good,  is  a  goodness 
that  does  not  agree  with  the  infinite  purity  and  holiness  of 
God.  It  is  such  a  goodness,  that  if  it  were  proposed  to  the 
world,  it  would  encourage  men  to  live  in  sin,  and  to  think 
that  a  few  acts  of  homage  offered  to  God,  perhaps  in  our 
last  extremities,  could  so  far  please  him,  as  to  bribe  and  cor- 
rupt him. 

This  is  that  which  makes  idolatry  so  great  a  sin,  so  often 
forbid  by  God,  and  so  severely  punished,  not  only  as  it  is 
injurious  to  the  majesty  of  God,  but  because  it  corrupts  the 
ideas  or  notions  of  God.  Those  ideas  rightly  formed  are  the 
basis  upon  which  all  religion  is  built.  The  seeds  and  princi- 
ples of  a  new  and  godlike  nature  spring  up  in  us  as  we  form 
ourselves  upon  the  true  ideas  or  notions  of  God.  Therefore, 
when  God  is  proposed  to  be  adored  by  us  under  a  visible 
shape  or  image,  all  the  acts  of  religion  offered  to  it  are  onlj 
so  many  pieces  of  pageantry,  and  end  in  the  flatterings  and 
the  magnifyings  of  it  with  much  pomp,  cruelty,  or  lascivious- 
ness,  according  to  the  different  genius  of  several  nations.  So 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


35 


the  forming  a  false  notion  of  the  goodness  of  God,  as  a  tender-  A  R 

ness  that  is  to  be  overcome  wit  h  importunities  and  howlings,  ^ 

and  other  submissions,  and  not  to  be  gained  only  by  becom- 
ing like  him,  is  a  capital  and  fundamental  error  in  religion. 

The  next  branch  of  this  article  is,  God's  creating  and  pre- 
senting of  all  things ;  and  that  both  material  substances,  which 
are  visible,  and  immaterial  and  spiritual  substances,  which  are 
invisible.  God's  creating  all  things  has  been  already  made 
out.  If  matter  could  neither  be  eternal,  nor  give  itself  a 
being,  then  it  must  have  its  being  from  God.  Creating  does 
naturally  import  infinite  power;  for  that  power  is  clearly 
without  bounds,  that  can  make  things  out  of  nothing:  a 
bounded  power,  which  can  only  shape  and  mould  matter, 
must  suppose  it  to  have  a  being,  before  it  can  work  upon  it. 
We  cannot  indeed  form  a  distinct  thought  of  creation,  for  we 
cannot  apprehend  what  nothing  is.  The  nearest  approach  we 
can  bring  ourselves  to  a  true  idea  of  this,  is,  the  considering  our 
own  thoughts ;  especially  our  ideas  of  mathematical  propor- 
tions, and  the  other  affections  of  bodies  :  those  ideas  are  the 
modes  of  a  spiritual  substance ;  and  there  is  no  likeness  nor 
resemblance  between  them  and  the  modes  of  material  sub- 
stances, which  are  only  the  occasions  of  our  having  those 
ideas,  and  not  in  any  wise  the  matter  out  of  which  they  are 
formed.  Here  seems  to  be  a  sort  of  beings  brought  out  of 
nothing ;  but,  after  all,  this  is  vastly  below  creation,  and  is 
only  a  faint  resemblance  of  it. 

With  the  power  of  creating  we  must  also  join  that  of  anni- 
hilating, which  is  equal  to  it,  and  must  necessarily  be  sup- 
posed to  be  in  God,  because  we  plainly  perceive  it  to  be  a 
perfection.  The  recalling  into  nothing  a  being  brought  out  of 
nothing,  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  infinite  power,  when  it 
thinks  fit  so  to  exert  itself.  There  is  a  common  notion  in  the 
world,  that  things  would  fall  back  into  nothing  of  themselves, 
if  they  were  not  preserved  by  the  same  infinite  Power  that 
made  them :  but  without  question  it  is  an  act  of  the  same 
infinite  Power  to  reduce  a  being  to  nothing,  that  it  is  to  bring 
a  being  out  of  nothing :  so  whatever  has  once  a  being,  must 
of  its  nature  continue  still  to  be,  without  any  new  causality  or 
influence.  This  must  be  acknowledged,  unless  it  can  be  said, 
that  a  tendency  to  annihilation  is  the  consequent  of  a  created 
being.  But  as  this  would  make  the  preservation  of  the  world 
to  be  a  continued  violence  to  a  natural  tendency  that  is  in  all 
things ;  so  there  is  no  more  reason  to  imagine  that  beings 
have  a  tendency  to  annihilation,  than  that  nothing  had  a  ten- 
dency to  creation.  It  is  absurd  to  think  that  any  thing  can 
have  a  tendency  to  that  which  is  essentially  opposite  to  itself, 
and  is  destructive  of  it. 

The  preservation  of  things  is  the  keeping  the  frame  of 
nature,  and  the  order  of  the  universe,  in  such  a  state  as  is  suit- 
able to  the  purposes  of  the  supreme  Mind.    It  is  true,  natural 

D  2 


36 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.    agents  must  ever  keep  the  course  in  which  they  are  once  put ; 
and  the  great  heavenly  orbs,  as  well  as  all  smaller  motions, 
must  ever  have  rolled  on  in  one  constant  channel,  when  thev 
were  once  put  into  it ;  so  in  this  respect  it  may  seem  that 
conservation  by  a  special  act  is  not  necessary.    But  we  per- 
ceive a  freedom  in  our  own  natures,  and  a  power  that  our  minds 
have,  not  only  to  move  our  own  bodies,  but  by  them,  and  by 
the  help  of  such  engines  as  we  can  invent,  we  make  a  vast 
change  in  this  earth  from  what  it  would  be,  if  it  were  left  un- 
wrought.    In  a  course  of  some  ages,  the  whole  world,  by  the 
natural  progress  of  things,  would  be  a  forest :  both  earth  and 
air  are  very  much  different  from  what  they  would  be,  if  men 
were  not  free  agents,  and  did  not  cultivate  the  earth,  and 
thereby  purify  the  air.    The  working  of  mines,  minerals,  and 
other  fossils,  makes  also  a  great  change  in  its  bowels ;  it  gives 
vent  to  some  damps  which  might  much  affect  the  air,  and  it 
frees  the  earth  from  earthquakes.    Thus  the  industry  of  man 
has  in  many  respects  changed  both  earth  and  air  very  sensibly 
from  what  it  would  have  been,  if  the  world  had  not  those 
inhabitants  in  it.    Nor  do  we  know  what  natural  force  other 
spirits  inhabiting  in  or  about  it,  or  at  least  using  subtiller 
bodies,  may  have,  or  in  what  influences  or  operations  they 
may  exert  that  force  on  material  substances.    Upon  all  these 
accounts  it  is,  that  the  world  could  not  be  preserved  in  a  con- 
stant and  regular  state,  if  the  supreme  Mind  had  not  a  direc- 
tion both  of  men's  wills  and  actions,  and  of  the  course  of 
nature :  for,  unless  it  is  thought  that  man  is  really  no  free 
agent,  but  acts  in  a  chain  as  certainly  as  other  natural  agents 
do,  it  must  be  acknowledged,  that  by  the  interposition  of 
men's  minds,  together  with  their  power  over  matter,  the 
course  of  the  first  motion  that  was  given  to  the  universe  is  so 
changed,  that  if  there  is  not  a  constant  providence,  the  frame 
of  nature  must  go  out  of  the  channel  into  which  God  did  at 
first  put  it.    The  order  of  things  on  this  earth  takes  a  great 
turn  from  the  wind,  both  as  to  the  fruitfulness  of  the  earth, 
and  to  the  operations  on  the  sea,  and  has  likewise  a  great 
influence  on  the  purity  of  the  air,  and,  by  consequence,  on 
men's  good  or  ill  health ;  and  the  wind,  or  the  agitation  of 
the  air,  turns  so  often  and  so  quick,  that  it  seems  to  be  the 
great  instrument  of  Providence,  upon  which  an  unconceivable 
variety  of  things  does  naturally  depend.    I  do  not  deny,  but 
that  it  may  be  said,  that  all  those  changes  in  the  air  arise 
from  certain  and  mechanical,  though  to  us  unknown,  causes ; 
which  may  be  supported  from  this,  that  between  the  tropics, 
where  the  influence  of  the  heavenly  bodies  is  stronger,  the 
wind  and  weather  are  more  regular ;  though  even  that  admits 
of  great  exceptions :  yet  it  has  been  the  common  sense  of 
mankind,  that,  besides  the  natural  causes  of  the  alterations  in 
the  air,  they  are  under  a  particular  influence  and  direction  of 
Providence :  and  it  is  in  itself  highly  probable,  to  say  no  more 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


37 


of  it.    This  may  either  be  managed  immediately  by  the  acts  ART. 
of  the  divine  Mind,  to  which  nature  readily  obeys,  or  by  some  '■ 
subaltern  mind,  or  angel,  which  may  have  as  natural  an  effi-  — 
ciency  over  an  extent  of  matter  proportioned  to  its  capacity, 
as  a  man  has  over  his  own  body,  and  over  that  compass  of 
matter  that  is  within  his  reach.    Which  way  soever  God 
governs  the  world,  and  what  influence  soever  he  has  over 
men's  minds,  we  are  sure  that  the  governing  and  preserving 
his  own  workmanship  is  so  plainly  a  perfection,  that  it  must 
belong  to  a  Being  infinitely  perfect :  and  there  is  such  a  chain 
in  things,  those  of  the  greatest  consequence  arising  often  from 
small  and  inconsiderable  ones,  that  we  cannot  imagine  a 
Providence,  unless  we  believe  every  thing  to  be  within  its 
care  and  view. 

The  only  difficulty  that  has  been  made  in  apprehending 
this  has  arisen  from  the  narrowness  of  men's  minds,  who 
have  measured  God  rather  by  their  own  measure  and  capacity, 
than  by  that  of  infinite  perfection,  which,  as  soon  as  it  is  con- 
sidered, will  put  an  end  to  all  farther  doubtings  about  it. 
When  we  perceive  that  a  vast  number  of  objects  enter  in  at 
our  eye  by  a  very  small  passage,  and  yet  are  so  little  jumbled 
in  that  crowd,  that  they  open  themselves  regularly,  though 
there  is  no  great  space  for  that  neither ;  and  that  they  give  us 
a  distinct  apprehension  of  many  objects  that  lie  before  us, 
some  even  at  a  vast  distance  from  us,  both  of  their  nature, 
colour,  and  size ;  and  by  a  secret  geometry,  from  the  angles 
that  they  make  in  our  eye,  we  judge  of  the  distance  of  all  ob- 
jects both  from  us,  and  from  one  another.  If  to  this  we  add 
the  vast  number  of  figures  that  we  receive  and  retain  long  and 
with  great  order  in  our  brains,  which  we  easily  fetch  up  either  in 
our  thoughts  or  in  our  discourses,  we  shall  find  it  less  difficult 
to  apprehend  how  an  infinite  mind  should  have  the  universal 
view  of  all  things  ever  present  before  it.  It  is  true,  we  do 
not  so  easily  conceive  how  free  minds  are  under  this  Pro- 
vidence, as  how  natural  agents  should  always  move  at  its 
direction.  But  we  perceive  that  one  mind  can  work  upon 
another.  A  man  raises  a  sound  of  words,  which  carry  such 
signs  of  his  inward  thoughts,  that,  by  this  motion  in  the  air, 
another  man's  ear  is  so  struck  upon  that  thereby  an  impres- 
sion is  made  upon  his  brain,  by  which  he  not  only  conceives 
what  the  other  man's  thought  was,  but  is  very  powerfully 
inclined  to  consent  to  it,  and  to  concur  with  it.  All  this  is  a 
great  way  about,  and  could  not  be  easily  apprehended  by  us, 
if  we  had  not  a  clear  and  constant  perception  of  it.  Now 
since  all  this  is  brought  about  by  a  motion  upon  our  brains, 
according  to  the  force  with  which  we  are  more  or  less  affected, 
it  is  very  reasonable  for  us  to  apprehend  that  the  supreme 
Mind  can,  besides  many  other  ways  to  us  less  known,  put 
such  motions  in  our  brain,  as  may  give  us  all  such  thoughts 


38 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.    as  it  intends  to  impress  upon  us,  in  as  strong  and  effectual  a 
l-      manner  as  may  fully  answer  all  its  purposes. 

The  great  objection  that  lies  against  the  power  and  the 
goodness  of  Providence,  from  all  that  evil  that  is  in  the  world, 
which  God  is  either  not  willing  or  not  able  to  hinder,  will  be 
more  properly  considered  in  another  place ;  at  present  it  is 
enough  in  general  to  observe,  that  God's  providence  must 
carry  on  every  tiling  according  to  its  nature  ;  and  since  he  has 
made  some  free  beings  capable  of  thought,  and  of  good  and 
evil,  we  must  believe,  that,  as  the  course  of  nature  is  not  oft 
put  out  of  its  channel,  unless  when  some  extraordinary  thing 
is  to  be  done,  in  order  to  some  great  end,  so,  in  the  govern- 
ment of  free  agents,  they  must  be  generally  left  to  their 
liberty,  and  not  put  too  oft  off  their  bias :  this  is  a  hint  to 
resolve  that  difficulty  I  y,  concerning  all  the  moral  evil,  which 
is,  generally  speaking,  the  occasion  of  most  of  the  physical 
evil  that  is  in  the  world.  A  providence  thus  settled,  that  ex- 
tends itself  to  all  things  both  natural  and  free,  is  necessary  to 
preserve  religion,  to  engage  us  to  prayers,  praises,  and  to  a 
dependence  on  it,  and  a  submission  to  it.  Some  have  thought 
it  was  necessary  to  carry  this  farther,  and  so  they  make  God  to 
be  the  first  and  immediate  cause  of  every  action  or  motion. 
This  some  modern  writers  have  taken  from  the  schools,  and 
have  dressed  it  in  new  phrases  of  general  laws,  particular  wills, 
and  occasional  causes ;  and  so  they  express  or  explain  God's 
producing  every  motion  that  is  in  matter,  and  his  raising 
every  sensation,  and,  by  the  same  parity  of  reason,  every 
cogitation  in  minds :  this  they  think  arises  out  of  the  idea  of 
infinite  perfection,  and  fully  answers  these  words  of  the  scrip- 
tures, that  '  in  God  we  live,  move,  and  have  our  being.'  To 
others  all  this  seems  first  unnecessary ;  for,  if  God  has  made 
matter  capable  of  motion,  and  capable  of  receiving  it  from  the 
stroke  or  impulse  that  another  piece  of  matter  gives  it,  this 
comes  as  truly  from  God,  as  if  he  did  immediately  give  every 
motion  by  an  act  of  his  own  will.  It  seems  more  suitable  to 
the  beauty  of  his  workmanship,  to  think  that  he  has  so  framed 
things  that  they  hold  on  in  that  course  in  which  he  has  put 
them,  than  to  make  him  perpetually  produce  every  new 
motion.  And  the  bringing  God  immediately  into  every 
thing,  may,  by  an  odd  reverse  of  effects,  make  the  world 
think  that  every  thing  is  done  as  much  without  him,  as  others 
are  apt  to  imagine  that  every  thing  is  done  by  him.  And 
though  it  is  true  that  we  cannot  distinctly  apprehend  how  a 
motion  in  our  brain  should  raise  such  a  thought  as  answers 
to  it  in  our  minds  ;  yet  it  seems  more  reasonable  to  think  that 
God  has  put  us  under  such  an  order  of  being  from  which  that 
does  naturally  follow,  than  that  he  himself  should  interpose 
in  every  thought.  The  difficulty  of  apprehending  how  a  thing 
is  done,  can  be  no  prejudice  to  the  belief  of  it,  when  we  have 
the  infinite  power  of  God  in  our  thoughts,  who  may  be  as 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


39 


easily  conceived  to  have  once  for  all  put  us  in  a  method  of  ART 
receiving  Mich  sensations,  hy  a  general  law  or  course  of  nature, 
as  to  give  us  new  ones  at  every  minute.  But  the  greatest  — 
difficulty  against  this  is,  that  it  makes  God  the  first  physical 
cause  of  all  the  evil  that  is  in  the  world  :  which,  as  it  is  con- 
iiary  to  his  nature,  so,  it  absolutely  destroys  all  liberty;  and 
this  puts  an  end  to  all  the  distinctions  between  good  and  evil, 
and  consequently  to  all  religion.  And  as  for  those  large  ex- 
pressions that  are  brought  from  scripture,  every  word  in  scrip- 
ture is  not  to  be  stretched  to  the  utmost  physical  sense  to 
which  it  can  be  carried :  it  is  enough  if  a  sense  is  given  to  it, 
that  agrees  to  the  scope  of  it:  which  is  fully  answered  by 
acknowledging,  that  the  power  and  providence  of  God  is  over 
all  things,  and  that  it  directs  every  thing  to  wise  and  good 
ends,  from  which  nothing  is  hid,  by  which  nothing  is  forgot, 
and  to  which  nothing  can  resist.  This  scheme  of  providence 
fully  agrees  with  the  notion  of  a  Being  infinitely  perfect,  and 
with  all  that  the  scriptures  affirm  concerning  it :  and  it  lays 
down  a  firm  foundation  for  all  the  acts  and  exercises  of 
religion. 

As  to  the  power  and  providence  of  God  with  relation  to 
invisible  beings,  we  plainly  perceive  that  there  is  in  us  a 
principle  capable  of  thought  and  liberty,  of  which,  by  all  that 
appears  to  us,  matter  is  not  at  all  capable :  after  its  utmost 
refinings  by  fires  and  furnaces,  it  is  still  passive,  and  has  no 
self-motion,  much  less  thought,  in  it.  Thought  seems  plainly 
to  arise  from  a  single  principle,  that  has  no  parts,  and  is  quite 
another  thing  than  the  motion  of  one  subtile  piece  of  matter 
upon  another  can  be  supposed  to  be.  If  thought  is  only 
motion,  then  no  part  of  us  thinks,  but  as  it  is  in  motion  ;  so  that 
only  the  moving  particles,  or  rather  their  surfaces,  that  strike 
upon  one  another,  do  think:  but  such  a  motion  must  end 
quickly  in  the  dissipation  and  evaporation  of  the  whole  think- 
ing substance ;  nor  can  any  of  the  quiescent  parts  have  any 
perception  of  such  thoughts,  or  any  reflection  upon  them. 
And  to  say  that  matter  may  have  other  affections  unknown 
to  us  besides  motion,  by  which  it  may  think,  is  to  affirm  a 
thing  without  any  sort  of  reason  :  it  is  rather  a  flying  from  an 
argument,  than  an  answering  it :  no  man  has  any  reason  to 
affirm  this,  nor  can  he  have  any.  And  besides,  all  our  cogita- 
tions of  immaterial  things,  proportions,  and  numbers,  do 
plainly  shew  that  we  have  a  being  in  us  distinct  from  matter, 
that  rises  above  it,  and  commands  it :  we  perceive  we  have  a 
freedom  of  moving  and  acting  at  pleasure.  All  these  things 
give  us  a  clear  perception  of  a  being  that  is  in  us  distinct  from 
matter,  of  which  we  are  not  able  to  form  a  complete  idea: 
we  having  only  four  perceptions  of  its  nature  and  operations. 
1.  That  it  thinks.    2.  That  it  has  an  inward  power  of  choice. 

3.  That  by  its  will  it  can  move  and  command  the  body.  And, 

4.  That  it  is  in  a  close  and  entire  union  with  it,  that  it  has  a 


40 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  dependence  on  it,  as  to  many  of  its  acts,  as  well  as  an  autho 
rity  over  it  in  many  other  things.  Such  a  being  that  has  no 
parts  must  be  immortal  in  its  nature,  for  every  single  being  is 
immortal.  It  is  only  the  union  of  parts  that  is  capable  of 
being  dissolved ;  that  which  has  no  parts  is  indissoluble.  To 
this  two  objections  are  made :  one  is,  that  beasts  seem  to 
have  both  thought  and  freedom,  though  in  a  lower  order :  if 
then  matter  can  be  capable  of  this  in  any  degree  how  low 
soever,  a  higher  rectification  of  matter  may  be  capable  of  a 
higher  degree  of  it.  It  is  therefore  certain,  that  either  beasts 
have  no  thought  or  liberty  at  all,  and  are  only  pieces  of  finely 
organized  matter,  capable  of  many  subtile  motions,  that  come 
to  them  from  objects  without  them,  but  that  they  have  no 
sensation  nor  thought  at  all  about  them  :  or,  since  how  pret- 
tily soever  some  may  have  dressed  up  this  notion,  it  is  that 
which  human  nature  cannot  receive  or  bear ;  there  being  such 
evident  indications  of  even  high  degrees  of  reason  among  the 
beasts ;  it  is  more  reasonable  to  imagine,  that  there  may  be 
spirits  of  a  lower  order  in  beasts,  that  have  in  them  a  capacity 
of  thinking  and  choosing;  but  that  so  entirely  under  the  im- 
pressions of  matter,  that  they  are  not  capable  of  that  large- 
ness, either  of  thought  or  liberty,  that  is  necessary  to  make 
them  capable  of  good  or  evil,  of  rewards  and  punishments;  and 
that  therefore  they  may  be  perpetually  rolling  about  from  one 
body  to  another.  Another  objection  to  the  belief  of  an  im- 
material substance  in  us  is,  that  we  feel  it  depends  so  entirely 
on  the  fabric  and  state  of  the  brain,  that  a  disorder,  a  vapour, 
or  humour  in  it,  defaces  all  our  thoughts,  our  memory,  and 
imagination  ;  and,  since  we  find  that  which  we  call  mind  sinks 
so  low  upon  a  disorder  of  the  body,  it  may  be  reasonable  to 
believe,  that  it  evaporates,  and  is  quite  dissipated,  upon  the 
dissolution  of  our  bodies :  so  that  the  soul  is  nothing  but  the 
livelier  parts  of  the  blood,  called  the  animal  spirits.  In 
answer  to  this,  we  know  that  those  animal  spirits  are  of  such 
an  evanid  and  subtile  nature,  that  they  are  in  a  perpetual 
waste,  new  ones  always  succeeding  as  the  former  go  off:  but 
we  perceive  at  the  same  time  that  our  soul  is  a  stable  and 
permanent  being,  by  the  steadiness  of  its  acts  and  thoughts ; 
we  being  for  many  years  plainly  the  same  beings,  and  there- 
fore our  souls  cannot  be  such  a  loose  and  evaporating  sub- 
stance as  those  spirits  are.  The  spirits  are  indeed  the  inward 
organs  of  the  mind,  for  memory,  speech,  and  bodily  motion ; 
and,  as  these  flatten  or  are  wasted,  the  mind  is  less  able  to 
act :  as  when  the  eye  or  any  other  organ  of  sense  is  weakened, 
the  sensations  grow  feeble  on  that  side :  and  as  a  man  is  less 
able  to  work,  when  all  those  instruments  he  makes  use  of 
are  blunted ;  so  the  mind  may  sink  upon  a  decay  or  disorder 
in  those  spirits,  and  yet  be  of  a  nature  wholly  different  from 
them.  How  a  mind  should  work  on  matter,  cannot,  I  confess, 
be  clearly  comprehended.    It  cannot  be  denied  by  any  that 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


41 


is  not  a  direct  atheist,  that  the  thoughts  of  the  supreme  Mind  A  R  T. 
give  impressions  and  motions  to  matter.  So  our  thoughts 
may  give  a  motion,  or  the  determination  of  motion,  to  matter, 
and  yet  rise  from  substances  wholly  different  from  it.  Nor 
is  it  inconceivable,  that  the  supreme  Mind  should  have  put 
our  minds  likewise  under  such  a  subordination  to  some  mate- 
rial motions,  that  out  of  them  peculiar  thoughts  should  arise 
in  us.  And  though  this  union  is  that  which  we  cannot  dis- 
tinctly conceive ;  yet  there  is  no  difficulty  in  it,  equal  to  that 
of  our  imagining  that  matter  can  think  or  move  itself.  We 
perceive  that  we  ourselves  and  the  rest  of  mankind  have 
thinking  principles  within  us ;  so  from  thence  it  is  easy 
enough  to  us  to  apprehend,  that  there  may  be  other  thinking 
beings,  which  either  have  no  bodies  at  all,  but  act  purely  as 
intellectual  substances :  or,  if  they  have  bodies,  that  they  are 
so  subtilized  as  to  be  capable  of  a  vast  quickness  of  motion, 
such  in  proportion  as  v/e  perceive  to  be  in  our  animal  spirits, 
which  in  the  minute  that  our  minds  command  them,  are 
raising  motions  in  the  remotest  parts  of  our  bodies.  Such 
bodies  may  also  be  so  thin  as  to  be  invisible  to  us ;  and  as 
among  men  some  are  good  and  some  bad,  and  of  the  bad 
some  seem  to  be  determinedly,  and,  as  to  all  appearance,  in- 
curably bad ;  so  there  may  have  been  a  time  and  state  of 
liberty,  in  which  those  spirits  were  left  to  their  choice, 
whether  they  would  continue  in  their  innocency,  or  fall  from 
it;  and  such  as  continued  might  be  for  ever  fixed  in  that 
state,  or  exalted  to  higher  degrees  in  it :  and  such  as  fell  from 
it  might  fall  irrecoverably  into  a  state  of  utter  apostacy  from 
God,  and  of  rebellion  against  him.  There  is  nothing  in  this 
theory  that  is  incredible :  therefore,  if  the  scriptures  have 
told  us  any  thing  concerning  it,  we  have  no  reason  to  be  pre- 
judiced against  them  upon  that  account :  besides  that,  there 
are  innumerable  histories  in  many  several  countries  and  ages 
of  the  world,  of  extraordinary  apparitions,  and  other  unac- 
countable performances,  that  could  only  have  been  done  by 
invisible  powers.  Many  of  those  are  so  well  attested,  that  it 
argues  a  strange  pitch  of  obstinacy,  to  refuse  to  believe  a 
matter  of  fact  when  it  is  well  vouched,  and  when  there  is 
nothing  in  reason  to  oppose  it,  but  an  unwillingness  to  believe 
invisible  beings.  It  is  true,  this  is  an  argument  in  which  a 
fabulous  humour  will  go  far,  and  in  which  some  are  so  credu- 
lous as  to  swallow  down  every  thing ;  therefore  all  wise  men 
ought  to  suspend  their  belief,  and  not  to  go  too  fast :  but 
when  things  are  so  undeniably  attested,  that  there  is  no  rea- 
son to  question  the  exactness  or  the  credit  of  the  witnesses, 
it  argues  a  mind  unreasonably  prepossessed  to  reject  all  such 
evidence. 

All  those  invisible  beings  were  created  by  God,  and  are 
not  to  be  considered  as  emanations  or  rays  of  his  essence, 
which  was  a  gross  conceit  of  such  philosophers  as  fancied  that 


42 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  the  Deity  had  parts.  They  are  beings  created  by  him,  an  J 
are  capable  of  passing  through  various  scenes,  in  bodies  more 
or  less  refined.  In  this  life  the  state  of  our  minds  receives 
vast  alterations  from  the  state  of  our  bodies,  which  ripen  gra- 
dually :  and  after  they  are  come  to  their  full  growth,  they 
cannot  hold  in  that  condition  long,  but  sink  down  much  faster 
than  they  grew  up ;  some  humours  or  diseases  discomposing 
the  brain,  which  is  the  seat  of  the  mind,  so  entirely,  that  it 
cannot  serve  it,  at  least  so  far  as  to  reflex  acts.  So  in  the 
next  state  it  is  possible  that  we  may  at  first  be  in  a  less  per- 
fect condition  by  reason  of  this,  that  we  may  have  a  less  per- 
fect body,  to  which  we  may  be  united  between  our  death  and 
the  general  resurrection  ;  and  there  may  be  a  time,  in  which 
we  may  receive  a  vast  addition  and  exaltation  in  that  state  by 
the  raising  up  of  our  former  bodies,  and  the  reuniting  us  to 
them,  which  may  give  us  a  greater  compass,  and  a  higher 
elevation. 

These  things  are  only  proposed  as  suppositions,  that  have 
no  absurdity  in  them :  so  that,  if  they  should  happen  to  be 
the  parts  of  a  revealed  religion,  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt 
of  it,  or  to  reject  it,  on  such  an  account. 

The  last  branch  of  this  article  is  the  assertion  of  that  great 
doctrine  of  the  Christian  religion  concerning  the  Trinity,  or 
three  Persons  in  one  divine  essence.  It  is  a  vain  attempt  to 
go  about  to  prove  this  by  reason:  for  it  must  be  confessed, 
that  we  should  have  had  no  cause  to  have  thought  of  any 
such  thing,  if  the  scriptures  had  not  revealed  it  to  us.  There 
are  indeed  prints  of  a  very  ancient  tradition  in  the  world,  of 
three  in  the  Deity ;  *  called  the  Word,  or  the  Wisdom,  and  the 
Spirit,  or  the  Love,  besides  the  fountain  of  both  these,  God  : 
this  was  believed  by  those  from  whom  the  most  ancient  phi- 

*  Doctor  Buchanan,  in  his  Christian  Researches  in  Asia,  observes,  that  the  chief 
and  distinguishing  doctrines  of  the  Scripture — the  Trinity  in  Unity ;  the  incar- 
nation of  the  Deity  ;  a  vicarious  atonement  for  sin  ;  and  the  influence  of  the  Divine 
Spirit  on  the  mind  of  man — are  held  by  the  eastern  nations,  though  in  gross  igno- 
rance respecting  the  only  living  and  true  God.     Of  the  Trinity  he  writes  : 

'  The  Hindoos  believe  in  one  God,  Brahma ;  and  yet  they  represent  him  as  sub- 
sisting in  three  persons  ;  and  they  worship  one  or  other  of  these  persons  in  every 
part  of  India.  And  what  proves  distinctly  that  they  hold  this  doctrine  is,  that  their 
most  ancient  representation  of  the  Deity  is  formed  of  one  body  and  three  faces. 
The  most  remarkable  of  these  is  that  at  the  caves  of  Elephanta,  in  an  island  near 
Bombay.  The  author  visited  it  in  the  year  1808  ;  nor  has  he  seen  any  work  of 
art  in  the  east,  which  he  contemplated  with  greater  wonder:  whether  considered 
with  respect  to  its  colossal  size,  its  great  antiquity,  the  beauty  of  the  sculpture,  or 
the  excellence  of  the  preservation.  From  causes  which  cannot  now  be  known, 
the  Hindoos  have  long  since  ceased  to  worship  at  this  temple.  Each  of  the  faces 
of  the  Triad  is  about  five  feet  in  length.  The  whole  of  the  statue  and  the  spacious 
temple  which  contains  it,  is  cut  out  of  the  solid  rock  of  the  mountain.  The  Hin- 
doos assign  to  these  works  an  immense  antiquity,  and  attribute  the  workmanship 
to  the  Gods.  The  temple  of  Elephanta  is  certainly  one  of  the  wonders  of  the 
world,  and  is,  perhaps,  a  grander  effort  of  the  ingenuity  of  man,  than  the  pyramids 
of  Egypt.  Whence  then  have  the  Hindoos  derived  the  idea  of  a  Triune  God  c  It 
should  seem  as  if  they  had  heard  of  the  Elohim  of  Revelation  in  the  first  chapter 
of  Genesis — "  Let  us  make  man."' — [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


43 


losophers  had  their  doctrines.    The  author  of  the  Book  of  ART. 
Wisdom,  Philo,  and  the  Chaldee  paraphrasts,  have  many 
tilings  that  shew  that  they  had  received  those  traditions  from 
the  former  ages ;  but  it  is  not  so  easy  to  determine  what  gave 
the  first  rise  to  them. 

It  has  been  much  argued,  whether  this  was  revealed  in  the 
Old  Testament  or  not ;  some  from  the  plural  termination  of 
Elohim,  which  is  joined  to  singular  verbs,  and  from  that  of 
the  Lord  raining  fire  from  the  Lord  upon  Sodom  {Jehovah 
from  Jehovah)  ;  from  the  description  of  the  Wisdom  of  God 
in  the  8th  of  the  Proverbs,  as  a  Person  with  God  from  all 
eternity;  and  from  the  mention  that  is  often  made  of  the 
Spirit,  as  well  as  the  Word  of  God  that  came  to  the  prophets ; 
they  have,  I  say,  from  all  these  places,  and  some  others,  con- 
cluded, that  this  is  contained  in  the  Old  Testament.  Others 
have  doubted  of  this,  and  have  said  that  the  name  Elohim, 
though  of  a  plural  termination,  being  often  joined  to  a  singu- 
lar verb,  makes  it  reasonable  to  think  it  was  a  singular : 
which,  by  somewhat  peculiar  to  that  language,  might  be  of  a 
plural  termination.  Nor  have  they  thought  that  since  angels 
carry  the  name  of  God,  when  they  went  on  special  deputations 
from  him,  the  angels  being  called  Jehovah  could  be  very  con- 
fidently urged:  that  sublime  description  of  the  Wisdom  of 
God  in  the  Proverbs  seems  not  to  them  to  be  a  full  proof  in 
this  matter:  for  the  Wisdom  there  mentioned  seems  to  be 
the  Wisdom  of  creation  and  providence,  which  is  not  per- 
sonal, but  belongs  to  the  essence ;  nor  do  they  think  that 
those  places  in  the  Old  Testament,  in  which  mention  is  made 
of  the  Word,  or  of  the  Spirit  of  God,  can  settle  this  point ; 
for  these  may  only  signify  God's  revealing  himself  to  his  pro- 
phets. Therefore,  whatever  secret  tradition  the  Jews  might 
have  had  among  them  concerning  this,  from  whom  perhaps 
the  Greeks  might  have  also  had  it ;  yet  many  do  not  pretend 
to  prove  this  from  passages  in  the  Old  Testament  alone : 
though  the  expositions  given  to  some  of  them  in  the  New 
Testament  prove  to  us,  who  acknowledge  it,  what  was  the 
true  meaning  of  those  passages ;  yet,  take  the  Old  Testament 
in  itself  without  the  New,  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  it 
will  not  be  easy  to  prove  this  article  from  it. 

But  there  are  very  full  and  clear  proofs  of  it  in  the  New 
Testament ;  and  they  had  need  be  both  full  and  clear,  before 
a  doctrine  of  this  nature  can  be  pretended  to  be  proved  by 
them.  In  order  to  the  making  this  mystery  to  be  more  dis- 
tinctly intelligible,  different  methods  have  been  taken.  By 
one  Substance  many  do  understand  a  numerical  or  individual 
unity  of  substance  ;  and  by  three  Persons  they  understand 
three  distinct  subsistences  in  that  essence.  It  is  not  pre- 
tended by  these,  that  we  can  give  a  distinct  idea  of  Person  or 
Subsistence,  only  they  hold  it  imports  a  real  diversity  in  one 
from  another,  and  even  such  a  diversity  from  the  substance 


44 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


art.  of  the  Deity  itself,  that  some  things  belong  to  the  Person 
which  do  not  belong  to  the  Substance :  for  the  Substance 
neither  begets  nor  is  begotten  ;  neither  breathes,  nor  proceeds. 
If  this  carries  in  it  something  that  is  not  agreeable  to  our 
notions,  nor  like  any  thing  that  we  can  apprehend,  to  this  it 
is  said,  that,  if  God  has  revealed  that  in  the  scripture  which 
is  thus  expressed,  we  are  bound  to  believe  it,  though  we  can 
frame  no  clear  apprehension  about  it.  God's  eternity,  his 
being  all  one  single  act,  his  creating  and  preserving  all  things, 
and  his  being  every  where,  are  things  that  are  absolute  riddles 
to  us :  we  cannot  bring  our  minds  to  conceive  them,  and  yet 
we  must  believe  that  they  are  so ;  because  we  see  much 
greater  absurdities  must  follow  upon  our  conceiving  that  they 
should  be  otherwise.  So  if  God  has  declared  this  inexplica- 
ble thing  concerning  himself  to  us,  we  are  bound  to  believe  it, 
though  we  cannot  have  any  clear  idea  how  it  truly  is.  For 
there  appear  as  strange  and  unanswerable  difficulties  in  many 
other  things,  which  yet  we  know  to  be  true ;  so  if  we  are 
once  well  assured  that  God  has  revealed  his  doctrine  to  us, 
we  must  silence  all  objections  against  it,  and  believe  it :  rec- 
koning that  our  not  understanding  it,  as  it  is  in  itself,  makes 
the  difficulties  seem  to  be  much  greater  than  otherwise  they 
would  appear  to  be,  if  we  had  light  enough  about  it,  or  were 
capable  of  forming  a  more  perfect  idea  of  it  while  we  are  in 
this  depressed  state. 

Others  give  another  view  of  this  matter,  that  is  not  indeed 
so  hard  to  be  apprehended :  but  that  has  an  objection  against 
it,  that  seems  as  great  a  prejudice  against  it,  as  the  difficulty 
of  apprehending  the  other  way  is  against  that :  it  is  this  ;  they 
do  hold  that  there  are  three  Minds ;  that  the  first  of  these 
three,  who  is  from  that  called  the  Father,  did  from  all  eternity 
by  an  emanation  of  essence  beget  the  Son,  and  by  another 
emanation  that  was  from  eternity  likewise,  and  was  as  essen- 
tial to  him  as  the  former,  both  the  first  and  the  second,  did 
jointly  breathe  forth  the  Spirit ;  and  that  these  are  three  dis- 
tinct Minds,  every  one  being  God,  as  much  as  the  other :  only 
the  Father  is  the  fountain,  and  is  only  self-originated.  All 
this  is  in  a  good  degree  intelligible :  but  it  seems  hard  to  re- 
concile it  both  with  the  idea  of  unity,  which  seems  to  belong 
to  a  Being  of  infinite  perfection ;  and  with  the  many  express 
declarations  that  are  made  in  the  scriptures  concerning  the 
unity  of  God.  Instead  of  going  farther  into  explanations  of 
that  which  is  certainly  very  far  beyond  all  our  apprehensions, 
and  that  ought  therefore  to  be  let  alone,  I  shall  now  consider 
what  declarations  are  made  in  the  scripture  concerning  this 
point. 

The  first  and  the  chief  is  in  that  charge  and  commission 
which  our  Saviour  gave  to  his  apostles  to  go  and  make  dis- 
ciples to  him  among  all  nations,  '  baptizing  them  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Ghost.'    By  name  is 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


45 


meant  either  an  authority  derived  to  them,  in  the  virtue  of  ART. 
which  all  nations  were  to  be  baptized  :  or  that  the  persons  so  1 
baptized  are  dedicated  to  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy  Ghost.  ]yia,t. 
Either  of  these  senses,  as  it  proves  them  all  to  be  Persons,  so  xxviii.  19. 
it  sets  them  in  an  equality,  in  a  thing  that  can  only  belong  to 
the  divine  Nature.  Baptism  is  the  receiving  men  from  a  state 
of  sin  and  wrath,  into  a  state  of  favour,  and  into  the  rights  of 
the  sons  of  God,  and  the  hopes  of  eternal  happiness,  and  a 
calling  them  by  the  name  of  God.  These  are  things  that  can 
only  be  offered  and  assured  to  men  in  the  name  of  the  great 
and  eternal  God ;  and  therefore,  since,  without  any  distinction 
or  note  of  inequality,  they  are  all  three  set  together  as  Per- 
sons in  whose  name  this  is  to  be  done,  they  must  be  all  three 
the  true  God ;  otherwise  it  looks  like  a  just  prejudice  against 
our  Saviour,  and  his  whole  gospel,  that  by  his  express  direc- 
tion the  first  entrance  to  it,  which  gives  the  visible  and  fede- 
ral right  to  those  great  blessings  that  are  offered  by  it,  or  their 
initiation  into  it,  should  be  in  the  name  of  two  created  beings, 
(if  the  one  can  be  called  properly  so  much  as  a  being,  accord- 
ing to  their  hypothesis,)  and  that  even  in  an  equality  with  the 
supreme  and  increated  Being.  The  plainness  of  this  charge, 
and  the  great  occasion  upon  which  it  was  given,  makes  this 
an  argument  of  such  force  and  evidence,  that  it  may  justly 
determine  the  whole  matter. 

A  second  argument  is  taken  from  this,  that  we  find  St. 
Paul  begins  or  ends  most  of  his  Epistles  with  a  salutation  in 
the  form  of  a  wish,  which  is  indeed  a  prayer,  or  a  benediction, 
in  the  name  of  those  who  are  so  invocated;  in  which  he 
wishes  the  churches  '  grace,  mercy,  and  peace,  from  God  the 
Father  and  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ ;'  *  which  is  an  invocation 
of  Christ,  in  conjunction  with  the  Father,  for  the  greatest 
blessings  of  favour  and  mercy :  that  is  a  strange  strain,  if  he 
was  only  a  creature ;  which  yet  is  delivered  without  any  mi- 
tigation or  softening  in  the  most  remarkable  parts  of  his 
Epistles.  This  is  carried  farther  in  the  conclusion  of  the  Second 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians ;  '  The  grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  2  Cor.  xiii. 
Christ,  the  love  of  God,  and  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  14. 
be  with  you/  It  is  true  this  is  expressed  as  a  wish,  and  not 
in  the  nature  of  a  prayer,  as  the  common  salutations  are :  but 
here  three  great  blessings  are  wished  to  them  as  from  three 
fountains,  which  imports  that  they  are  three  different  Persons, 
and  yet  equal :  for,  though  in  order  the  Father  is  first,  and 
is  generally  put  first,  yet,  here  Christ  is  named,  which  seems 
to  be  a  strange  reversing  of  things,  if  they  are  not  equal  as  to 
their  essence  or  substance.  It  is  true  the  second  is  not  named 
here,  the  Father,  as  elsewhere,  but  only  God ;  yet,  since  he  is 

•  Rom.  i.  7.  Rom.  xvi.  20,  24.  1  Cor.  xvi.  23.  1  Cor.  i.  3.  2  Cor.  i.  2. 
Gal.  i.  3.  Gal.  vi.  18.  Eph.  i.  2.  Eph.  vi.  23.  Phil.  i.  2.  Phii.  iv.  23. 
Col.  i.  2.  1  Thess.  i.  1-  1  Thess.  v.  28.  2  Thess.  i.  2.  2  Thess.  iii.  18. 
1  Tim.  i.  2.    2  Tim.  i.  2.    Tit.  i.  4.    Philem.  3.  25.    2  John  i.  3. 


46 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  mentioned  as  distinct  from  Christ  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  it 
must  he  understood  of  the  Father;  for,  when  the  Father  is 
named  with  Christ,  sometimes  he  is  called  God  simply,  and 
sometimes  God  the  Father. 

This  argument  from  the  threefold  salutation  appears  yet 
stronger  in  the  words  in  which  St.  John  addresses  himself  to 
the  seven  churches  in  the  beginning  of  the  Revelations : 

Bar.  i.  4,  <  Grace  and  peace  from  him  which  is,  which  was,  and  which 
is  to  come ;  and  from  the  seven  spirits  which  are  before  his 
throne  ;  and  from  Jesus  Christ.'  By  the  seven  spirits  must 
be  meant  one  or  more  persons,  since  he  wishes  or  declares 
grace  and  peace  from  them :  now  either  this  must  be  meant 
of  angels,  or  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  There  are  no  where  prayers 
made,  or  blessings  given,  in  the  name  of  angels :  this  were 
indeed  a  worshipping  them ;  against  which  there  are  express 
authorities,  not  only  in  the  other  books  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, but  in  this  book  in  particular.  Nor  can  it  be  imagined 
that  angels  could  have  been  named  before  Jesus  Christ :  so 
then  it  remains,  that,  seven  being  a  number  that  imports  both 
variety  and  perfection,  and  that  was  the  sacred  number 
among  the  Jews,  this  is  a  mystical  expression,  which  is  no 
extraordinary  thing  in  a  book  that  is  all  over  mysterious;  and 
it  imports  one  Person  from  whom  all  that  variety  of  gifts, 
administrations,  and  operations,  that  were  then  in  the  church 
did  flow ;  and  this  is  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  as  to  his  being 
put  in  order  before  Christ,  as  upon  the  supposition  of  an' 
equality,  the  going  out  of  the  common  order  is  no  great 
matter;  so  since  there  was  to  come  after  this  a  full  period 
that  concerned  Christ,  it  might  be  a  natural  way  of  writing  to 
name  him  last.  Against  all  this  it  is  objected,  that  the 
designation  that  is  given  to  the  first  of  these  in  a  circumlo- 
cution that  imports  eternity,  shews  that  the  great  God,  and 
not  the  person  of  the  Father,  is  to  be  meant:  but  then  how 
could  St.  John,  writing  to  the  churches,  wish  them  grace  and 
peace  from  the  other  two  ?  A  few  verses  after  this,  the  same 
description  of  eternal  duration  is  given  to  Christ,  and  is  a 
strong  proof  of  his  eternity,  and,  by  consequence,  of  his 
divinity :  so  what  is  brought  so  soon  after  as  a  character  of 
the  eternity  of  the  Son,  may  be  also  here  used  to  denote  the 
eternal  Father.  These  are  the  chief  places  in  which  the 
Trinity  is  mentioned  all  together. 

I  do  not  insist  on  that  contested  passage  of  St.  John's 

1  JohD  v.  Epistle  ;  there  are  great  doubtings  made  about  it ;  the  main 
ground  of  doubting  being  the  sdence  of  the  Fathers,  who 
never  made  use  of  it  in  the  disputes  with  the  Arians  and 
Macedonians.  There  are  very  considerable  things  urged,  on 
the  other  hand,  to  support  the  authority  of  that  passage  ;  yet 
I  think  it  is  safer  to  build  upon  sure  and  indisputable 
grounds :  so  I  leave  it  to  be  maintained  by  others  who  are 
more  fully  persuaded  of  its  being  authentical.    There  is  no 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


47 


need  of  it.    This  matter  is  capable  of  a  very  full  proof,  ART. 
whether  that  passage  is  believed  to  be  a  part  of  the  canon,  l- 
or  not. 

It  is  no  small  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  this  doctrine, 
that  we  are  certain  it  was  universally  received  over  the 
whole  Christian  church  long  before  there  was  either  a  Chris- 
tian prince  to  support  it  by  his  authority,  or  a  council  to 
establish  it  by  consent :  and,  indeed,  the  council  of  Nice  did 
nothing  but  declare  what  was  the  faith  of  the  Christian 
church,  with  the  addition  only  of  the  word  consubstantial: 
for,  if  all  the  other  words  of  the  Creed  settled  at  Nice  are 
acknowledged  to  be  true,  that  of  the  three  Persons  being  of 
one  substance  will  follow  from  thence  by  a  just  consequence. 
We  know,  both  by  what  Tertullian  and  Novatian  writ,  what 
was  the  faith  both  of  the  Roman  and  the  African  churches. 
From  Iremeus  we  gather  the  faith  both  of  the  Gallican  and 
the  Asiatic  churches.  And  the  whole  proceedings  in  the  case 
of  Samosatenus,*  that  was  the  solemnest  business  that  passed 
while  the  church  was  under  oppression  and  persecution,  give 
us  the  most  convincing  proof  possible,  not  only  of  the  faith 
of  the  eastern  churches  at  that  time,  but  of  their  zeal  likewise 
in  watching  against  every  breach  that  was  made  in  so  sacred 
a  part  of  their  trust  and  depositum. 

These  things  have  been  fully  opened  and  enlarged  on  by 

•  Paulus  Samosatenus,  who  flourished  in  the  latter  end  of  the  third  century, 
succeeded  Demetrianus  in  the  see  of  Antioch.  He  was  at  first  poor,  but  amassed 
very  considerable  wealth  by  his  corrupt  practices,  by  his  oppression  of  the  brethren, 
by  his  using  his  patronage  to  advance  his  own  interests ; — thus  turning  godliness 
into  gain.  He  was,  besides,  a  man  of  very  immoral  character,  and  lived  in  such  a 
manner  as  proved  him  totally  unfit  to  govern  in  the  church  of  God.  He  endea- 
voured to  revive  the  heresy  of  Artemon,  'which  affirmed  Christ  to  be  a  mere  man,' 
but  after  his  incarnation,  by  his  improvement  of  the  wisdom  and  power  which  were 
imparted  to  him,  to  have  been  made  God.  Eusebius  quotes  from  a  volume,  writ- 
ten in  his  day  to  confute  this  'blasphemous  untruth,'  the  following  in  replv  to  the 
daring  assertion  of  these  men,  that  the  apostles  and  early  fathers  taught  this 
heresy  unto  the  time  of  Victor,  thirteenth  bishop  of  Rome :  '  This  peradventure 
might  seem  to  have  some  likelihood  of  truth,  if  it  were  not  oppugned  first  by  all 
the  holy  Scriptures,  next  by  the  books  of  sundry  men  long  before  the  time  of 
Victor,  which  they  published  against  the  Gentiles,  and  in  confutation  of  the 
heretical  opinions  of  their  time.  I  mean  Justin  Miltiades,  Tatian,  and  Clemens,  with 
many  others,  in  all  which  works  Christ  is  preached  and  published  to  be  God.  Who 
knoweth  not  that  the  works  of  Irenaeus,  Melito,  and  all  other  Christians,  do  confess 
Christ  to  be  both  God  and  man?' 

A  Synod  was  held  at  Antioch  which  was  attended  by  many  distinguished  bishops, 
who  there  '  met  with  the  rotten  sheep  which  corrupted  the  flock  of  Christ.' 
Samosatenus  endeavoured  to  conceal  his  opinions,  but  his  '  blasphemy  against 
Christ'  was  laid  open  by  many,  and  especially  by  Malchion,  a  very  eloquent  man, 
a  moderator  in  moral  discipline  in  the  school  of  Antioch,  and  who,  for  his  sincere 
faith  in  Christ,  was  advanced  to  the  ministry.  Paul  was  condemned,  and  a  letter 
(from  which  some  of  the  above  is  taken)  was  written  to  Dionysius  and  Maximus, 
bishops  of  Rome  and  Alexandria,  and  '  to  all  our  fellow  bishops,  elders,  and  deacons, 
throughout  the  world,  and  to  the  whole  universal  and  Catholic  church  under 
heaven,'  in  which  the  character  of  Paul  is  given  at  some  length.  Paul  was  deposed 
by  the  Synod,  but  refused  to  surrender  the  church  or  house  until  an  edict  was 
obtained  from  the  emperor  to  expel  him.  He  was  succeeded  bv  Domnus,  the  son 
of  Demetrianus,  Paul's  predecessor,  a  man  adorned  with  those  gifts  required  in  a 
bishop. — [Ed.T 


48 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  others,  to  whom  the  reader  is  referred ;  I  shall  only  desire 
_  him  to  make  this  reflection  on  the  state  of  Christianity  at 
that  time ;  the  disputes  that  were  then  to  be  managed  with 
the  heathens,  against  the  deifying  or  worshipping  of  men, 
and  those  extravagant  fables  concerning  the  genealogies  of 
their  heroes  and  gods,  must  have  obliged  the  Christians 
rather  to  have  silenced  and  suppressed  the  doctrine  of  the 
Trinity,  than  to  have  owned  and  published  it:  so  that 
nothing  but  their  being  assured  that  it  was  a  necessary  and 
fundamental  article  of  their  faith,  could  have  led  them  to  own 
it  in  so  public  a  manner ;  since  the  advantages  that  the 
heathen  would  have  taken  from  it,  must  be  too  visible  not  to 
be  soon  observed.  The  heathens  retorted  upon  them  their 
doctrine  of  a  man's  being  a  God,  and  of  God's  having  a 
Son  ;  and  every  one  who  engaged  in  this  controversy  framed 
such  answers  to  these  objections  as  he  thought  he  could  best 
maintain.  This,  as  it  gave  the  rise  to  the  errors  which  some 
brought  into  the  church,  so  it  furnishes  us  with  a  copious 
proof  of  the  common  sense  of  the  Christians  of  those  ages, 
who  all  agreed  in  general  to  the  doctrine,  though  they  had 
many  different,  and  some  very  erroneous  ways  of  explaining 
it  among  them. 

I  now  come  to  the  special  proofs  concerning  each  of  the 
three  Persons :  but,  there  being  other  articles  relating  to  the 
Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  proofs  of  these  two  will  belong 
more  properly  to  the  explanation  of  those  articles;  therefore 
all  that  belongs  to  this  article  is  to  prove  that  the  Father  is 
truly  God ;  but  that  needs  not  be  much  insisted  on,  for  there 
is  no  dispute  about  it:  none  deny  that  he  is  God;  many 
think  that  he  is  so  truly  God,  that  there  is  no  other  that  can 
be  called  God  besides  him,  unless  it  be  in  a  larger  sense  of  the 
word:  and,  therefore,  I  will  here  conclude  all  that  seems 
necessary  to  be  said  on  this  first  article ;  on  which  if  I  have 
dwelt  the  longer,  it  was  because  the  stating  the  idea  of  God 
right  being  the  fundamental  article  of  all  religion,  and  the  key 
into  every  part  of  it,  this  was  to  be  done  with  all  the  fulness 
and  clearness  possible. 

In  a  word,  to  recapitulate  a  little  what  has  been  said ;  the 
liveliest  way  of  framing  an  idea  of  God  is  to  consider  our  own 
souls,  which  are  said  to  be  made  after  the  image  of  God.  An 
attentive  reflection  on  what  we  perceive  in  ourselves,  will 
cany  us  farther  than  any  other  thing  whatsoever,  to  form 
just  "and  true  thoughts  of  God.  We  perceive  what  thought 
is,  but,  with  that,  we  do  also  perceive  the  advantage  of  such 
an  easy  thought  as  arises  out  of  a  sensation,  such  as  seeing 
or  hearing,  which  gives  us  no  trouble :  we  think,  without  any 
trouble,  of  many  of  the  objects  that  we  see  all  at  once,  or  so 
near  all  at  once,  that  the  progression  from  one  object  to 
another  is  scarce  perceptible;  but  the  labour  of  study  and  of 
pursuing  consequences  wearies  us,  though  the  pleasure  or  the 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


49 


vanity  of  having  found  them  out  compensates  for  the  pain  ART. 
they  gave  us,  and  sets  men  on  to  new  inquiries.  We  per- 
ceive  in  ourselves  a  love  of  truth,  and  a  vexation  when  we  see 
we  are  in  error,  or  are  in  the  dark:  and  we  feel  that  we  act 
the  most  perfectly,  when  we  act  upon  the  clearest  views  of 
truth,  and  in  the  strictest  pursuance  of  it ;  and  the  more  pre- 
sent and  regular,  the  more  calm  and  steady,  that  our  thoughts 
of  all  tilings  are,  that  lie  in  our  compass  to  know,  present, 
past,  or  to  come,  we  do  plainly  perceive  that  we  do  therehy 
become  perfecter  and  happier  beings.  Now  out  of  all  this 
we  can  easily  rise  up  in  our  thoughts  to  an  idea  of  a  mind 
t  hat  sees  all  things  by  a  clear  and  full  intuition,  without  the 
possibility  of  being  mistaken,  and  that  ever  acts  in  that  light, 
upon  the  surest  prospect,  and  with  the  perfectest  reason;  and 
that  does  therefore  always  rejoice  in  every  thing  it  does,  and 
has  a  constant  perception  of  all  truth  ever  present  to  it. 
This  idea  does  so  genuinely  arise  from  what  we  perceive  both 
of  the  perfections  and  the  imperfections  of  our  own  minds, 
that  a  very  little  reflection  will  help  us  to  form  it  to  a  very 
high  degree. 

The  perception  also  that  we  have  of  goodness,  of  a  desire 
to  make  others  good,  and  of  the  pleasure  of  effecting  it ;  of 
the  joy  of  making  any  one  wiser  or  better,  of  making  any 
one's  life  easy,  and  of  raising  his  mind  higher,  will  also  help 
us  in  the  forming  of  our  ideas  of  God.  But  in  this  we  meet 
with  much  difficulty  and  disappointment.  So  this  leads  us 
to  apprehend  how  diffusive  of  itself  infinite  goodness  must 
needs  be;  and  what  is  the  eternal  joy  that  inflnite  love  has, 
in  bringing  so  many  to  that  exalted  state  of  endless  happi- 
ness. We  do  also  feel  a  power,  issuing  from  us  by  a  thought, 
that  sets  our  bodies  in  motion ;  the  varieties  in  our  thoughts 
create  a  vast  variety  in  the  state  of  our  bodies ;  but  with  this, 
as  that  power  is  limited  to  our  own  bodies;  so  it  is  often 
checked  by  disorders  in  them,  and  the  soul  suffers  a  great 
deal  from  those  painful  sensations  chat  its  union  with  the 
body  subjects  it  to.  From  hence  we  can  easily  apprehend 
how  the  Supreme  Mind  can  by  a  thought  set  matter  into 
what  motions  it  will,  all  matter  being  constantly  subject  to 
such  impressions  as  the  acts  of  the  Divine  Mind  give  it. 
This  absolute  dominion  over  all  matter  makes  it  to  move, 
and  shapes  it  according  to  the  acts  of  that  Mind;  and  matter 
has  no  power,  by  any  irregularity  it  falls  into,  to  resist  those 
impressions  which  do  immediately  command  and  govern  it; 
nor  can  it  throw  any  uneasy  sensations  into  that  perfect 
Being. 

This  conduces  also  to  give  us  a  distinct  idea  of  miracles. 
All  matter  is  uniform :  and  it  is  only  the  variety  of  its 
motions  and  texture  that  makes  all  the  variety  that  is  in  the 
world.  Now,  as  the  acts  of  the  Eternal  Mind  gave  matter  its 
first  motion,  and  put  it  into  that  course  that  we  do  now  call 

E 


50 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  the  course  of  nature,  so  another  act  of  the  same  Mind  can 
*'  either  suspend,  stop,  or  change  that  course  at  pleasure,  as  he 
who  throws  a  bowl  may  stop  it  in  its  course,  or  throw  it  back 
if  he  will ;  this  being  only  the  altering  that  impulse  which 
himself  gave :  so,  if  one  act  of  the  infinite  Mind  puts  things 
in  a  regular  course,  another  act  interposed  may  change  that 
at  pleasure.  And  thus  with  relation  to  God,  miracles  are  no 
more  difficult  than  any  other  act  of  Providence :  they  are 
only  more  amazing  to  us,  because  they  are  less  ordinary,  and 
go  out  of  the  common  and  regular  course  of  things.  By  all 
this  it  appears  how  far  the  observation  of  what  we  perceive 
concerning  ourselves  may  carry  us  to  form  livelier  and  clearer 
thoughts  of  God. 

So  much  may  suffice  upon  the  first  article. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


51 


ART. 
II. 

ARTICLE  II. 

Of  the  Word  or  Son  of  God,  which  was  made 
very  Man. 

tC!)t  g>on,  tobt'ch  it  tbc  Horl  of  tljc  dfatbcr,  begotten  from  <2Bbeiv 
laSttng  of  tbc  father ;  ttic  bcn>  anK  eternal  &oH,  of  one  &ub* 
Stance  luit])  the  dfathcr,  took  gait's  fiaturc  in  the  Wiomb  of 
the  Eleven  Virgin  of  her  J*>ub£tance;  So  tftat  tluo  fobole  aritf 
perfect  Matures!,  that  it,  the  (Sotlhcafc  antr  fHanhooll,  foere  joined 
together  tu  one  Version;  neber  to  be  fctbtBetf:  foftereof  tsi  one 
€i)vist,  bcru  <©oi»  ant)  bcrp  fHan :  foho  trulp  SufiferetJ,  toas  ttcati 
anti  buvteU,  to  reconcile  his  dfather  to  usi,  anil  to  be  a  Sacrifice 
not  onto  for  (Original  <£>uu*t,  but  also  for  actual  ^tnsi  of  £Hen. 

There  are  in  this  article  five  heads  to  be  explained. 

I.  That  the  Son  or  Word  is  of  the  same  substance  with 
the  Father,  begotten  of  him  from  all  eternity. 

II.  That  he  took  man's  nature  upon  him  in  the  womb  of 
the  blessed  virgin,  and  of  her  substance. 

III.  That  the  two  natures  of  the  Godhead  and  manhood, 
both  still  perfect,  were  in  him  joined  in  one  person  never  to 
be  divided. 

IV.  That  Christ  truly  suffered,  was  crucified,  dead,  and 
buried. 

V.  That  he  was  our  sacrifice  to  reconcile  the  Father  to  us, 
and  that  not  only  for  original  guilt,  but  for  actual  sins. 

The  first  of  these  leads  me  to  prosecute  what  was  begun 
in  the  former  article:  and  to  prove,  that  the  Son  or  Word, 
was  from  all  eternity  begotten  of  the  same  substance  with 
the  Father.  It  is  here  to  be  noted,  that  Christ  is,  in  two 
respects,  the  Son,  and  the  only-begotten  Son  of  God.  The 
one  is,  as  he  was  man ;  the  miraculous  overshadowing  of  the 
blessed  Virgin  by  the  Holy  Ghost  having,  without  the 
ordinary  course  of  nature,  formed  the  first  beginnings  of 
Christ's  human  body  in  the  womb  of  the  Virgin.  Thus, 
that  miracle  being  instead  of  a  natural  begetting,  he  may,  in 
that  respect,  be  called  the  begotten,  and  the  only-begotten  Son 
of  God.  The  other  sense  is,  that  the  Word,  or  the  divine 
Person,  was  in,  and  of,  the  substance  of  the  Father,  and  so 
was  truly  God.  It  is  also  to  be  considered,  that  by  the  word 
one  substance  is  to  be  understood  that  this  second  Person  is 
not  a  creature  of  a  pure  and  excellent  nature,  like  God,  holy 
and  perfect,  as  we  are  called  to  be ;  but  is  truly  God,  as  the 
Father  is.  Begetting  is  a  term  that  naturally  signifies  the 
relation  between  the  Father  and  the  Son ;  but,  what  it  strictly 
signifies  here  is  not  possible  for  us  to  understand,  till  we 

E  2 


52 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  comprehend  this  whole  matter:  nor  can  we  be  able  to  assign 
IIj  a  reason  why  the  emanation  of  the  Son,  and  not  that  of  the 
—  Holy  Ghost  likewise,  is  called  begetting.  In  this  we  use  the 
scripture  terms,  but  must  confess  we  cannot  frame  a  distinct 
apprehension  of  that  which  is  so  far  above  us.  This  beget- 
ting was  from  all  eternity :  if  it  had  been  in  time,  the  Son 
and  Holy  Ghost  must  have  been  creatures ;  but,  if  they  are 
truly  God,  they  must  be  eternal,  and  not  produced  by  having 
a  being  given  them,  but  educed  of  a  substance  that  was 
eternal,  and  from  which  they  did  eternally  spring.  All  these 
are  the  natural  consequences  of  the  main  article  that  is  now 
to  be  proved ;  and,  when  it  is  once  proved  clearly  from  scrip- 
ture, these  do  follow  by  a  natural  and  necessary  deduction. 
John  1. 1,  The  first  and  great  proof  of  this  is  taken  from  the  words 
' 3'  with  which  St.  John  begins  his  Gospel.*  '  In  the  beginning 
was  the  Word,  and  the  Word  was  with  God,  and  the  Word 
was  God ;  the  same  was  in  the  beginning  with  God.  All 
things  were  made  by  him,  and  without  him  was  not  any  thing 
made  that  was  made.'  Here  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  these 
words  are  set  down  here,  before  St.  John  comes  to  speak  of 
Christ's  being  made  in  our  nature :  this  passage  belongs  to 
another  precedent  being  that  he  had.  The  beginning  also  here  is 
set  to  import,  that  it  was  before  creation  or  time  :  now  a  dura- 
tion before  time  is  eternal.  So  this  beginning  can  be  no  other 
than  that  duration  which  was  before  all  things  that  were  made. 
It  is  also  plainly  said,  over  and  over  again,  that  all  things  were 
made  by  this  Word.  A  power  to  create  must  be  infinite  ;  for, 
it  is  certain,  that  a  power  which  can  give  being  is  without 
bounds.  And,  although  the  word  make  may  seem  capable  of 
a  larger  sense,  yet,  as  in  other  places  of  the  New  Testament, 
the  stricter  word  create  is  used  and  applied  to  Christ,  as  the 
Colos.  i.    'Maker  of  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth,  visible  and  invisible  ;' 

so  the  word  make  is  used  through  the  Old  Testament  for 
Isai.xl.     create  ;  so  that  God's  making  the  heaven  and  the  earth  is  the 
xHv2^4     c^aracter  frequently  given  of  him  to  distinguish  him  from 
xlv.5, &c.  idols  and  false  gods.    And  of  this  Word  it  is  likewise  said, 
xlviii.  12.  that  he  ivas  with  God,  and  ivas  God.    These  words  seem  very 
13  je  1«  P^am>  an(l  tne  place  where  they  are  put  by  St.  John,  in  the 
1-16.  Acts  front  of  his  Gospel,  as  it  were  an  inscription  upon  it,  or  an 
iv.  24,  25.  introduction  to  it,  makes  it  very  evident,  that  he,  who  of  all 
the  writers  of  the  New  Testament  has  the  greatest  plainness 
and  simplicity  of  style,  would  not  have  put  words  here,  such 
as  were  not  to  be  understood  in  a  plain  and  literal  significa- 
tion, without  any  key  to  lead  us  to  any  other  sense  of  them. 
This  had  been  to  lay  a  stone  of  stumbling  in  the  very  threshold ; 
particularly  to  the  Jews,  who  were  apt  to  cavil  at  Christianity, 
and  were  particularly  jealous  of  every  thing  that  savoured  of 
idolatry,  or  of  the  plurality  of  gods.    And  upon  this  occasion 

•  For  a  full  and  critical  examination  of  this  passage,  see  Pearson  on  the  Creed, 
page  177,  Dobson's  Edition. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


53 


I  desire  one  thing  to  be  observed,  with  relation  to  all  those  ART. 
subtile  expositions  which  those  who  oppose  this  doctrine  put 
upon  many  of  those  places  by  which  we  prove  it ;  that  they 
represent  the  apostles  as  magnifying  Christ  in  words  that  at 
first  sound  seem  to  import  his  being  the  true  God;  and  yet 
they  hold  that  in  all  these  they  had  another  sense,  and  a  re- 
serve of  some  other  interpretation,  of  which  their  words  were 
capable.    But  can  this  be  thought  fair  dealing  ?    Does  it  look 
like  honest  men  to  write  thus ;  not  to  say,  men  inspired  in 
what  they  preached  and  writ  ?  and  not  rather  like  impostors, 
to  use  so  many  sublime  and  lofty  expressions  concerning 
Christ  as  God,  if  all  these  must  be  taken  down  to  so  low  a 
sense,  as  to  signify  only  that  he  was  miraculously  formed,  and 
endued  with  an  extraordinary  power  of  miracles,  and  an 
authority  to  deliver  a  new  religion  to  the  world;  and  that  he 
was,  in  consideration  of  his  exemplary  death  which  he  under- 
went so  patiently,  raised  up  from  the  grave,  and  had  divine 
honours  conferred  upon  him.    In  such  an  hypothesis  as  this, 
the  world  going  in  so  naturally  to  the  excessive  magnifying, 
and  even  the  deifying  of  wonderful  men,  it  had  been  necessary 
to  have  prevented  any  such  mistakes,  and  to  have  guarded 
against  the  belief  of  them  rather  than  to  have  used  a  continued 
strain  of  expressions,  that  seem  to  carry  men  violently  into 
them,  and  that  can  hardly,  nay  very  hardly,  be  softened  by  all 
the  skill  of  critics,  to  bear  any  other  sense.    It  is  to  be  con- 
sidered farther,  that,  when  St.  John  writ  his  Gospel,  there 
were  three  sorts  of  men  particularly  to  be  considered.  The 
Jews,  who  could  hear  nothing  that  savoured  of  idolatry ;  so 
no  stumbling-block  was  to  be  laid  in  their  way,  to  give  them 
deeper  prejudices  against  Christianity.    Next  to  these  were 
the  Gentiles  ;  who,  having  worshipped  a  variety  of  gods,  were 
not  to  be  indulged  in  any  tiling  that  might  seem  to  favour  their 
polytheism.    In  fact,  we  find  particular  caution  used,  in  the 
New  Testament,  against  the  worshipping  angels  or  saints.  Matt.  iv. 
How  can  it  therefore  be  imagined,  that  words  would  have  been  J0'^  °'03 
used,  that,  in  the  plain  signification  that  did  arise  out  of  the  aVis  x.  25, 
first  hearing  of  them,  imported  that  a  man  was  God,  if  this  26.  xiv.14, 
had  not  been  strictly  true  ?    The  apostles  ought,  and  must,  'j5x'  ^ v^ 
have  used  a  particular  care  to  have  avoided  all  such  expres-  xxii.  8 ,9. 
sions,  if  they  had  not  been  literally  true.    The  third  sort  of 
men  in  St.  John's  time  were  those,  of  whom  intimation  is 
frequently  given  through  all  the  Epistles,  who  were  then 
endeavouring  to  corrupt  the  purity  of  the  Christian  doctrine, 
and  to  accommodate  it  so,  both  to  the  Jew  and  to  the  Gen- 
tile, as  to  avoid  the  cross  and  persecution  upon  the  account 
of  it.    Church-history,  and  the  earliest  writers  after  St.  John, 
assure  us,  that  Ebion*  and  Cerinthus*  denied  the  divinity  of 

*  hence  the  Ebionites  derived  their  name  is  uncertain.  According  to  some 
tliey  wore  «n  called  from  the  founder  of  their  sect,  Ebion.  Eusebius  states  that 
they  were  "tailed  Ebionites,  ».  e.  poor  men,  for  they  were  poor  and  abject,  in 


51 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.    Christ,  and  asserted  that  he  was  a  mere  man.  Controverry 
naturally  carries  men  to  speak  exactly ;  and,  among  human 
'  writers,  those  who  let  things  fall  more  carelessly  from  their 

pens,  when  they  apprehend  no  danger  or  difficulty,  are  more 
correct  both  in  their  thoughts  and  in  their  expressions,  when 
things  are  disputed ;  therefore,  if  we  should  have  no  other 
regard  to  St.  John,  but  as  an  ordinary,  cautious,  and  careful 
man,  we  must  believe  that  he  weighed  all  his  words  in  that 
point,  which  was  then  the  matter  in  question  ;  and  to  clear 
which,  we  have  good  ground  to  believe,  both  from  the  testi- 
mony of  ancient  writers,  and  from  the  method  that  he  pursues 
quite  through  it  all,  that  he  writ  his  Gospel;  and  that,  there- 
fore, every  part  of  it,  but  this  beginning  of  it  more  signally, 
was  writ,  and  is  to  be  understood,  in  the  sense  which  the 
words  naturally  import ;  that  the  Word  which  took  flesh,  and 
assumed  the  human  nature,  had  a  being  before  the  worlds  were 
made,  and  that  this  Word  was  God,  and  made  the  world. 
Phil.  ii.  Another  eminent  proof  of  this  is  in  St.  Paul's  Epistle  to 
6  11*  the  Philippians ;  in  which,  when  he  is  exhorting  Christians 
to  humility,  he  gives  an  argument  for  it  from  our  Saviour's 
example.  He  begins  with  the  dignity  of  his  person,  ex- 
pressed thus ;  '  that  he  was  in  the  form  of  God,  and  that  he 
thought  it  no  robbery  to  be  equal  with  God    then  his  humi- 


delivering  the  doctrine  concerning  Christ."  They  judged  him  'a  simple  and  a  com- 
mon man  ;  and  for  his  forwardness  of  manners  found  justified  only  as  man,  and 
born  of  Mary  and  her  husband.'  They  thought  that  the  observance  of  the  law  was 
necessary,  '  as  though  salvation  were  not  by  faith  alone  in  Christ,  and  corresponding 
conversation  of  life.'  Others  of  the  same  name,  according  to  Eusebius,  avoided 
tbe  absurdity  of  their  speeches ;  not  denying  the  Lord  to  have  been  born  of  the 
Virgin,  and  the  Holy  Ghost ;  yet,  when  called  on  to  confess  him  to  be  God,  the 
Word  and  Wisdom  before  his  incarnation,  they  fell  into  the  same  sin  with  their 
companions.  They  contended  for  the  '  corporal  observation  of  the  law  ;'  rejected 
the  epistles  of  the  apostle  Paul,  and  accused  him  of  having  fallen  from  the  law. 
They  used  a  gospel  of  their  own,  indiscriminately  called  the  gospel  of  the  Nazarines 
or  Hebrews,  about  which  there  have  been  many  disputes  amongst  the  learned.  1  hey 
observed  the  Jewish  Sabbaths  and  other  ceremonies,  only  they  observed  Sunday,  in 
like  manner  as  the  Christians,  in  remembrance  of  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  1  her 
are  generally  placed  among  the  heretics  of  the  apostolic  age  ;  '  yet  (remarks  Dr. 
Mosheim)  they  really  belong  to  the  second  century,  which  was  the  earliest  period 
of  their  existence  as  a  sect.' 

Cerinthus  was  a  Jew,  who  attempted  to  form  a  new  system,  by  a  combination  of 
the  doctrines  of  Christ  with  the  opinions  and  errors  of  the  Jews  and  Gnostics.  He 
taught  the  necessity  of  circumcision,  and  that  the  Prophets  and  law  were  given  bv 
angels,  and  that  the  world  was  made  by  them.  He  maintained  that  Jesus  was  not 
born  of  a  virgin,  which  he  affirmed  to  be  impossible,  but  of  Mary  and  Joseph — that 
Jesus  was  not  Christ,  but  that  Christ  came  upon  him  in  the  form  of  a  dove — that 
Jesus  suffered  and  rose  again,  but  not  Christ ;  for  Christ,  he  said,  fled  aw  ay  from 
him  before  his  passion.  He  taught  that  the  kingdom  of  Christ  should  become  earthly 
— that  after  the  resurrection,  Christ  should  reign  over  us  on  earth  one  thousand  \  ears. 
He  lusted,  saith  Eusebius,  after  the  satisfying  of  the  belly  with  meat,  drink,  and  mar- 
riage; to  which  he  added,  holy  days,  oblations,  and  slaughter  for  sacrifices.  Such 
was  the  millcnium  which  he  held  out  to  his  followers.  Irenaeus  relates,  on  the 
authority  of  Polycarp,  that  St.  John  having  gone  to  a  public  bath,  and  hearing  that 
Cerinthus  was  there,  returned  hastily,  saying,  '  Let  us  speedily  go  hence,  lest  the 
bath  come  to  ruin,  w  herein  Cerinthus,  the  enemy  of  the  truth,  batheth  himself.'  '  So 
zealous  (remarks  Eusebius)  were  the  apostles  and  their  disciples,  that  they  commu- 
nicated not  even  in  word  with  the  corrupters  of  the  truth.' — [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


55 


liation  comes,  that  he  fmade  himself  of  no  reputation,  hut  ART. 
took  on  him  the  form  of  a  servant,'  (the  same  word  with  that 
used  in  the  former  verse :)  after  which  follows  his  exaltation, 
and  a  name  or  authority  above  every  name  or  authority  is  said 
to  he  given  him  ;  so  that  e  all  in  heaven,  earth,  and  under  the 
earth  (which  seems  to  import  angels,  men,  and  devils),  should 
bow  at  his  name,  and  confess  that  he  is  the  Lord.'  Now,  in 
this  progress  that  is  made  in  these  words,  it  is  plain  that  the 
dignity  of  Christ's  person  is  represented  as  antecedent  both 
to  his  humiliation  and  to  his  exaltation.  It  was  that  which 
put  the  value  on  his  humiliation,  as  his  humiliation  was  re- 
warded by  his  exaltation.  This  dignity  is  expressed  first,  that 
he  was  in  the  form  of  God,  before  he  humbled  himself:  he 
was  certainly  in  the  form  of  a  servant,  that  is,  really  a  servant, 
as  other  servants  are ;  he  was  obedient  to  his  parents,  he  was 
under  the  authority  both  of  the  Romans,  of  Herod,  and  of  the 
sanhedrim :  therefore  since  his  being  really  a  servant  is  ex- 
pressed by  his  being  in  the  form  of  a  servant,  his  being  in  the 
form  of  God  must  also  import  that  he  was  truly  God.  But  the 
following  words,  that  he  thought  it  not  robbery  to  be  equal, 
or  be  held  equal  (for  so  the  word  may  be  rendered)  with  God, 
carry  such  a  natural  signification  of  his  being  neither  a  made 
nor  subordinate  God,  and  that  his  divinity  is  neither  precari- 
ous nor  by  concession,  that  fuller  words  cannot  be  devised  for 
expressing  an  entire  equality.  Those  who  deny  this  are  aware 
of  it,  and  therefore  they  have  put  another  sense  on  the  words, 
in  the  form  of  God.  They  think,  that  they  signify  his  appear- 
ing in  the  world,  as  one  sent  in  the  name  of  God,  represent- 
ing him,  working  miracles,  and  delivering  a  law  in  his  name : 
and  the  words  rendered,  he  thought  it  no  robbery,  they  render, 
he  did  not  catch  at,  or  vehemently  desire  to  be  held  in  equal 
honour  with  God.  And  some  authorities  are  found,  in  eloquent 
Greek  authors,  who  use  the  words  rendered,  he  thought  it  not 
robbery,  in  a  figurative  sense,  for  the  earnestness  of  desire, 
or  the  pursuing  after  a  thing  greedily,  as  robbers  do  for  their 
prey.  This  rendering  represents  St.  Paul  as  treating  so  sacred 
a  point  in  the  figures  of  a  high  and  seldom  used  rhetoric, 
which,  one  would  think,  ought  to  have  been  expressed  more 
exactly.  But,  if  even  this  sense  is  allowed,  it  will  make  a 
strange  period,  and  a  very  odd  sort  of  an  argument,  to  enforce 
humility  upon  us,  because  Christ,  though  working  miracles, 
did  not  desire,  or  snatch  at,  divine  adorations,  in  an  equality 
with  God.  The  sin  of  Lucifer,  and  the  cause  of  his  fall,  is 
commonly  believed  to  be  his  desire  to  be  equal  to  God ; 
and  yet  this  seems  to  be  such  an  extravagant  piece  of  pride, 
that  it  is  scarce  possible  to  think  that  even  the  sublimest 
of  created  beings  should  be  capable  of  it.  To  be  next 
to  God  seems  to  be  the  utmost  height  to  which  even  the 
diabolical  pride  could  aspire :  so  that  here,  by  the  sense 
which  the  Socinians  put  on  those  words,  they  will  import, 


56 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   thai  we  are  persuaded  to  be  humble  from  the  example  of 
*g      Christ,  who  did  not  affect  an  equality  with  God  !  the  bare 
repeating  of  this  seems  so  fully  to  expose  and  overthrow  it, 
that  I  think  it  is  not  necessary  to  say  more  upon  this  place. 

The  next  head  of  proof  is  made  up  of  more  particulars.  All 
the  names,  the  operations,  and  even  the  attributes,  of  God, 
are  in  full  and  plain  words  given  to  Christ.    He  is  called 
Acts  xx.    God:  his  blood  is  said  to  be  the  blood  of  God;  God  is  said 
l  John  iii  *°  ^iave  ^au^  d°wn  h*s  tye  for  us  >  Christ  is  called  the  true  God, 
16.         the  great  God,  the  Lord  of  glory,  the  King  of  kings,  and  the 
l^Jolin  v.  Lord  of  lords ;  and,  more  particularly,  the  name  Jehovah 
Tit  ii.  13.  *s  ascribed  to  him  in  the  same  word  in  which  the  LXX  inter- 
Jam,  ii.  l.  preters  had  translated  it  throughout  the  whole  Old  Testament. 
Rev.  i.8.  g0  tnat  this  constant  uniformity  of  style  between  the  Greek 
^ev.xix.   Q£  ^e  ]\jeWj  an(j  that  translation  of  the  Old  Testament  which 
was  then  received,  and  was  of  great  authority  among  the  Jews, 
and  was  yet  of  more  authority  among  the  first  Christians,  is 
an  argument  that  carries  such  a  weight  with  it,  that  this  alone 
may  serve  to  determine  the  matter.    The  creating,  the  pre- 
serving, and  the  governing,  of  all  things,  is  also  ascribed  to 
Christ  in  a  variety  of  places,  but  most  remarkablv,  when  it  is 
Col.  i.  16,  said,  that  'by  him  were  all  created,  that  are  in  heaven  and 
Joiinii  25  ^ia^  are  *n  ear'n'  visible  and  invisible,  whether  they  be  thrones, 
Matt.  xi.  or  dominions,  or  principalities,  or  powers :  all  things  were 
27.         created  by  him,  and  for  him  :  and  he  is  before  all  things,  and 
Tohn'xv'6'ky  ^m  a^  tninSs  consist/    He  is  said  to  have  'known  what 
26.      '   was  in  man,  to  have  known  men's  secret  thoughts,  and  to 
John  xiv.  have  known  all  things  :'  that  '  as  the  Father  was  known  of  none 
Johnv  25        °^  ^e  S°n'  so  none  knew  the  Son  but  the  Father.5  He 
26.        ' 1  pardons  sin,  sends  the  Spirit,  gives  grace  and  eternal  life,  and 
John  vi.    he  shall  raise  the  dead  at  the  last  day/    When  all  these  things 
39,  40.     are  iaifj  together  in  that  variety  of  expressions,  in  which  they 
lie  scattered  in  the  New  Testament,  it  is  not  possible  to  retain 
any  reverence  for  those  books,  if  wre  imagine  that  they  are 
writ  in  a  style  so  full  of  approaches  to  the  deifying  of  a  mere 
man,  that,  without  a  very  critical  studying  of  languages  and 
phrases,  it  is  not  possible  to  understand  them  otherwise. 
Idolatry,  and  a  plurality  of  gods,  seem  to  be  the  main  things 
that  the  scriptures  warn  us  against ;  and  yet  here  is  a  pursued 
thread  of  passages  and  discourses,  that  do  naturally  lead  a 
man  to  think  that  Christ  is  the  true  God,  who  yet,  according 
to  these  men,  only  acted  in  his  name,  and  has  now  a  high 
honour  put  on  him  by  him. 

This  carries  me  to  another  argument  to  prove  that  the  Word 
that  was  made  flesh  was  truly  God.  Nothing  but  the  true 
God  can  be  the  proper  object  of  adoration.  This  is  one  of 
those  truths  that  seems  almost  so  evident,  that  it  needs  not 
to  be  proved.  Adoration  is  the  humble  prostration  of  our- 
selves before  God,  in  acts  that  own  our  dependence  upon  him, 
both  for  our  being,  and  for  all  the  blessings  that  we  do  either 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


57 


enjoy  or  hope  for,  and  also  in  earnest  prayers  to  him  for  the  A  R  T. 
continuance  of  these  to  us.  This  is  testified  hy  such  outward 
gestures  and  actions  as  are  most  proper  to  express  our  humi- 
lity and  submission  to  God:  all  this  has  so  clear  and  so  insepa- 
rable a  relation  to  the  only  true  God,  as  its  proper  object,  that 
it  is  scarce  possible  to  apprehend  how  it  should  be  separated 
from  him,  and  given  to  any  other.  And,  as  this  seems  evi- 
dent from  the  nature  of  things,  so  it  is  not  possible  to  imagine 
how  any  thing  could  have  been  prohibited  in  more  express 
and  positive,  and  in  more  frequently-repeated  words,  and 
longer  reasonings,  than  the  offering  of  divine  worship,  or  any 
part  of  it,  to  creatures.  The  chief  design  of  the  Mosaical 
religion  was  to  banish  all  idolatry  and  polytheism  out  of  the 
minds  of  the  Jews,  and  to  possess  them  with  the  idea  of  one 
God,  and  of  one  object  of  worship.  The  reasons  upon  which 
those  prohibitions  are  founded  are  universal ;  which  are,  the 
unity  of  God's  essence,  and  his  jealousy  in  not  giving  his 
honour  to  another.  It  is  not  said  that  they  should  not  wor- 
ship any  as  God,  till  they  had  a  precept  or  declaration  for  it. 
There  is  no  reserve  for  any  such  time ;  but  they  are  plainly 
forb.d  to  worship  any  but  the  great  God,  because  he  was  one, 
and  was  jealous  of  his  glory.  The  New  Testament  is  writ  in 
the  same  strain:  Christ,  when  tempted  of  the  Devil,  answered, 
1  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only  shalt  Matt.  iv. 
thou  serve.'    The  apostles  charged  all  idolaters  cto  forsake  \0' 

•   •  Acts  xiv. 

those  idols  and  to  serve  the  living  God.'    The  angel  refused  15, 
St.  John's  worship,  commanding  him  to  '  worship  God'.    The  Acts  xvii. 
Christian  faith  does,  in  every  particular,  raise  the  ideas  of  ; 
God  and  of  religion  to  a  much  greater  purity  and  sublimity  9. 
than  the  Mosaical  dispensation  had  done ;  so  it  is  not  to  be  Rev.  xix. 
imagined,  that  in  the  chief  design  of  revealed  religion,  which  10- 
was  the  bringing  men  from  idolatry  to  the  worship  of  one  God, 
it  should  make  such  a  breach,  and  extend  it  to  a  creature.  All 
this  seems  fully  to  prove  the  first  proposition  of  this  argument, 
that  God  is  the  only  proper  object  of  adoration.    The  next  is, 
that  Christ  is  proposed  in  the  New  Testament  as  the  object 
of  divine  worship.    I  do  not  in  proof  of  this  urge  the  instances 
of  those  who  fell  down  at  Christ's  feet  and  worshipped  him, 
while  he  was  on  earth :  for  it  may  be  well  answered  to  that, 
that,  a  prophet  was  worshipped  with  the  civil  respect  of  falling 
down  before  him,  among  the  Jews ;  as  appears  in  the  history 
of  Elijah  and  Elisha  :  nor  does  it  appear  that  those  who  wor- 
shipped Christ  had  any  apprehension  of  his  being  God;  they 
only  considered  him  as  the  Messias,  or  as  some  eminent  pro- 
phet.   But  the  mention  that  St.  Luke  makes  in  his  Gospel,  Lukexxiv. 
of  the  disciples  worshipping  Christ  at  his  ascension,  comes 
more  home  to  this  matter.    All  those  salutations  in  the  be- 
ginning and  conclusion  of  the  Epistles,  in  which  ( grace,  mercy, 
and  peace'  are  wished  '  from  God  the  Father,  and  the  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,'  are  implied  invocations  of  him.  It  is  also  plain, 


58 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   that  it  was  to  him  that  St.  Paul  prayed,  when  he  was  under 

 II;      the  temptations  of  the  Devil,  as  they  are  commonly  under- 

2  Cor.  xii.  stood ;  '  Every  knee  must  bow  to  him :  the  angels  of  God 
8,  9.       worship  him :'  all  the  hosts  in  heaven  are  represented  in  St. 
Heb  i"  6°  J°nn's  visions  as  falling  down  prostrate  before  him,  and  wor- 
Rev.  v.8.  shipping  him  as  they  worship  the  Father.    He  is  proposed  as 
to  the  end.  the  object  of  our  faith,  hope,  and  love ;  as  the  Person  whom 
we  are  to  obey,  to  pray  to,  and  to  praise ;  so  that  every  act  of 
worship,  both  external  and  internal,  is  directed  to  him  as  to 
its  proper  object.    But  the  instance  of  all  others,  that  is  the 
clearest  in  this  point,  is  in  the  last  words  of  St.  Stephen,  who 
was  the  first  martyr,  and  whose  martyrdom  is  so  particularly 
related  by  St.  Luke :  he  then  in  his  last  minutes  saw  Christ 
at  the  right  hand  of  God ;  and  in  his  last  breath  he  worshipped 
him  in  two  short  prayers,  that  are,  upon  the  matter,  the  same 
with  those  in  which  our  blessed  Saviour  worshipped  his  Father 
KMio"'    0n  t^1C  cross>  'Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit:  Lord,  lay  not 
'    '     this  sin  to  their  charge.'    From  this  it  seems  very  evident, 
that,  if  Christ  was  not  the  true  God,  and  equal  to  the  Father, 
then  this  proto-martyr  died  in  two  acts  that  seem  not  only 
idolatrous,  but  also  blasphemous ;  since  he  worshipped  Christ 
in  the  same  acts  in  which  Christ  had  worshipped  his  Father. 
It  is  certain,  from  all  this  deduction  of  particulars,  that  his 
human  nature  cannot  be  worshipped;  therefore  there  must  be 
another  nature  in  him,  to  which  divine  worship  is  due,  and  on 
the  account  of  which  he  is  to  be  worshipped. 

It  is  plain,  that  when  this  religion  was  first  published,  to- 
gether with  these  duties  in  it  as  a  part  of  it,  the  Jews,  though 
implacably  set  against  it,  yet  never  accused  it  of  idolatry ; 
though  that  charge,  of  all  others,  had  served  their  purposes 
the  best  who  intended  to  blacken  and  blast  it.  Nothing 
would  have  been  so  well  heard,  and  so  easily  apprehended,  as 
a  just  prejudice  against  it,  as  this.  The  argument  would  have 
appeared  as  strong  as  it  was  plain  :  and  as  the  Jews  could  not 
be  ignorant  of  the  acts  of  the  Christian  worship,  when  so  many 
fell  back  to  them  from  it  who  were  offended  at  other  parts  of 
it :  so  they  had  the  books,  in  which  it  was  contained,  in  their 
hands.  Notwithstanding  all  which,  we  have  all  possible  reason 
to  believe  that,  this  objection  against  it  was  never  made  by 
any  of  them,  in  the  first  age  of  Christianity :  upon  all  which, 
I  say,  it  is  not  to  be  imagined  that  they  could  have  been 
silent  on  this  head,  if  a  mere  man  had  been  thus  proposed 
among  the  Christians  as  the  object  of  divine  worship.  The 
silence  of  the  apostles,  in  not  mentioning  nor  answering  this, 
is  such  a  proof  of  the  silence  of  the  Jews,  that  it  would  indeed 
disparage  all  their  writings,  if  we  could  think,  that,  while  they 
mentioned  and  answered  the  other  prejudices  of  the  Jews, 
which  in  comparison  to  this  are  small  and  inconsiderable  mat- 
ters, they  should  have  passed  over  this,  which  must  have  been 
the  greatest  and  the  plausiblest  of  them  all,  if  it  was  one  at 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


59 


all.  Therefore,  as  the  silence  of  the  apostles  is  a  clear  proof  ART. 
that  the  Jews  were  silent  also,  and  did  not  object  this  ;  and  _ 
since  their  silence  could  neither  flow  from  their  ignorance, 
nor  their  undervaluing  of  this  religion  ;  it  seems  to  be  certain, 
that  the  first  opening  of  the  Christian  doctrine  did  not  carry 
any  thing  in  it  that  could  be  called  the  worshipping  of  a 
creature.  It  follows  from  hence,  that  the  Jews  must  have 
understood  this  part  of  our  religion  in  such  a  manner  as 
agreed  with  their  former  ideas.  So  we  must  examine  these : 
they  had  this  settled  among  them,  that  God  dwelt  in  the 
cloud  of  glory,  and  that,  by  virtue  of  that  inhabitation,  divine 
worship  was  paid  to  God  as  dwelling  in  the  cloud;  that  it 
was  called  God,  God's  TJirone,  his  Holiness,  his  Face,  and  the 
Light  of  his  Countenance :  they  went  up  to  the  temple  to 
worship  God,  as  dwelling  there  bodily,  that  is  substantially, 
so  bodily  sometimes  signifies,  or  in  a  corporeal  appearance. 
This  seems  to  have  been  a  Person  that  was  truly  God,  and 
yet  was  distinct  from  that  which  appeared  and  spake  to 
Moses;  for  this  seems  to  be  the  importance  of  these  words: 
'  Behold,  I  send  an  angel  before  thee  to  keep  thee  in  the  way,  Exod.xxiii. 
and  to  bring  thee  to  the  place  which  I  have  prepared :  beware  20, 21- 
of  him,  and  obey  his  voice,  provoke  him  not ;  for  he  will  not 
pardon  your  transgressions:  for  my  name  is  in  him.5  These 
words  do  plainly  import  a  person  to  whom  they  belong ; 
and  yet  they  are  a  pitch  far  above  the  angelical  dignity.  So 
that  angel  must  here  be  understood,  in  a  large  sense,  for  one 
sent  of  God  ;  and  it  can  admit  of  no  sense  so  properly,  as, 
that  the  eternal  Word,  which  dwelt  afterwards  in  the  man 
Christ  Jesus,  dwelt  then  in  that  cloud  of  glory.  It  was  also 
one  of  the  prophecies  received  by  the  Jews,  'that  the  glory  Hag.ii. 9 
of  the  second  temple  was  to  exceed  the  glory  of  the  first.' 
The  chief  character  of  the  glory  of  the  first  was  that  inhabita- 
tion of  the  divine  presence  among  them ;  from  hence  it 
follows,  that  such  an  inhabitation  of  God  in  a  creature,  by 
which  that  creature  was  not  only  called  God,  but  that  adora- 
tion was  due  to  it  upon  that  account,  was  a  notion  that 
could  not  have  scandalized  the  Jews,  and  was  indeed  the  only 
notion  that  agreed  with  their  former  ideas,  and  that  could 
have  been  received  by  them  without  difficulty  or  opposition. 
This  is  a  strong  inducement  to  believe  that  this  great  article 
of  our  religion  was  at  that  time  delivered  and  understood  in 
that  sense. 

If  the  Son  or  Word  is  truly  God,  he  must  be  from  all 
eternity,  and  must  also  be  of  the  same  substance  with  the 
Father,  otherwise  he  could  not  be  God ;  since  a  God  of  an- 
other substance,  or  of  another  duration,  is  a  contradiction. 

The  last  argument  that  I  shall  offer  is  taken  from  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews :  to  the  apprehending 
the  force  of  which,  this  must  be  premised,  that  all  those  who 
acknowledge  that  Christ  ought  to  be  honoured  and  wor- 


60 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART  shipped  as  the  Father,  must  say  that  this  is  due  to  him  either 
n-  because  he  is  truly  God  :  or  because  he  is  a  person  of  such  a 
high  and  exalted  dignity,  that  God  has,  upon  the  considera- 
tion of  that,  appointed  him  to  be  so  worshipped.  Now  this 
second  notion  may  fall  under  another  distinction  ;  that  either 
he  was  of  a  very  sublime  order  by  nature,  as  some  angelical 
being,  that  though  he  was  created,  yet  had  this  high  privilege 
bestowed  upon  him :  or  that  he  was  a  prophet  illuminated 
and  authorized  in  so  particular  a  manner  beyond  all  others, 
that,  out  of  a  regard  to  that,  he  was  exalted  to  this  honour  of 
being  to  be  worshipped.  One  of  these  must  be  chosen  bv 
all  who  do  not  believe  him  to  be  truly  God :  and  indeed  one 
of  these  was  the  Arian,*  as  the  other  is  the  Socinian,f  hypo- 

*  Arius,  a  Presbyter  of  Alexandria,  a  'man  very  skilful  in  the  subtilties  of  so- 
phistical logic,'  and  remarkable  for  his  eloquence,  arose  in  the  beginning  of  the 
fourth  century.  He  entered  the  field  of  controversy  against  his  bishop,  Alexandi  r 
of  Alexandria,  who,  in  his  discourses,  treated  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  of  the 
unity  in  the  Trinity,  'somewhat  too  curiously.'  Arius  suspected  Alexander  of  an 
intention  to  revive  the  heresy  of  Sabellius  (who  maintained  that  the  three  persons 
in  the  Trinitv  were  one,  but  differed  from  his  master  Nactus  in  that  Sabellius  did 
not  allege  that  the  Father  suffered),  and  opposed  him  with  much  zeal,  and  too  much 
of  the  spirit  of  contention.  His  opposition  led  into  the  opposite  extreme,  and  he 
laid  down  his  doctrine  thus : — '  If  the  Father  begat  the  Son,  then  had  the  Son, 
■which  was  begotten,  a  beginning  of  essence;  hereby  it  is  maintained  that  there 
was  a  time  when  the  Son  was  not,  and  consequently  that  he  had  his  essence  of 
nothing.'  From  this  it  appears  that  he  separated  the  Son  from  the  Father.  He 
held  the  Son  to  be  the  highest  of  beings  whom  the  F'ather  had  created,  and  by 
whom  he  made  the  worlds — consequently  inferior  to  the  Father,  not  onlv  as  touch- 
ing his  manhood,  but  also  as  to  his  godhead.  The  first  general  Council  was  sum- 
moned and  assembled  at  Nice,  in  the  year  325,  in  consequence  of  the  manner  in 
which  this  destructive  heresy  spread  throughout  the  empire.  At  that  famous 
council  was  this  antichristian  heresy  condemned ;  and  a  creed  drawn  up,  and  after- 
wards at  the  Council  of  Constantinople  adopted  and  enlarged,  which  is  held  by, 
and  read  in  the  communion  service  of,  the  Church  of  England.  Arius  was  excom- 
municated, and  died  at  Constantinople,  according  to  the  testimony  of  Socrates 
Scholasticus,  a  most  wretched  death. — [Ed.] 

f  '  The  Socinians  are  said  to  have  derived  this  denomination  from  the  illustrious 
family  of  the  Sozzini,  which  flourished  a  long  time  at  Sienna  in  Tuscany,  and 
produced  several  great  and  eminent  men,  and  among  others  Lselius  and  Faustus 
Socinus,  who  are  commonly  supposed  to  have  been  the  founders  of  this  sect.  The 
former  was  the  son  of  Marianus,  a  famous  lawyer,  and  was  himself  a  man  of  uncom- 
mon genius  and  learning  ;  to  which  he  added,  as  his  very  enemies  are  obliged  to 
acknowledge,  the  lustre  of  a  virtuous  life,  and  of  unblemished  manners.  Being 
forced  to  leave  his  country,  in  the  year  1547,  on  account  of  the  disgust  he  had 
conceived  against  poperv,  he  travelled  through  France,  England,  Holland,  Ger- 
many, and  Poland,  in  order  to  examine  the  religious  sentiments  of  those  who  had 
thrown  off  the  yoke  of  Rome,  and  thus  at  length  to  come  at  the  truth.  After  this 
he  settled  at  Zurich,  where  he  died  in  the  year  1562,  before  he  had  arrived  at  the 
fortieth  year  of  his  age.  His  mild  and  gentle  disposition  rendered  him  averse 
from  whatever  had  the  air  of  contention  and  discord.  He  adopted  the  Helvetic 
confession  of  faith,  and  professed  himself  a  member  of  the  church  of  Switzerland  ; 
but  this  did  not  engage  him  to  conceal  entirely  the  doubts  he  had  formed  in  rela. 
tion  to  certain  points  of  religion,  and  which  he  communicated,  in  effect,  by  letter, 
to  some  learned  men,  whose  judgment  he  respected,  and  in  whose  friendship  he 
could  confide.  His  sentiments  were  indeed  propagated,  in  a  more  public  manner, 
after  his  death  ;  since  Faustus.  his  nephew  and  his  heir,  is  supposed  to  have  drawn 
from  the  papers  he  left  behind  him  that  religious  system  upon  which  the  sect  of 
the  Socinians  was  founded. 

'  It  is,  however,  to  be  observed,  that  this  denomination  does  not  always  convey  the 
same  idea,  since  it  is  susceptible  of  different  significations,  and  is,  in  effect,  used, 
sometimes  in  a  more  strict  and  proper,  and  at  others  in  a  more  improper  and 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


61 


thesis.    For  how  much  soever  the  Arians  might  exalt  him  in  ART. 
words,  yet  if  they  helieved  him  to  be  a  creature  made  in 
time,  so  that  once  he  was  not ;  all  that  they  said  of  him  can 
amount  to  no  more,  but  that  he  was  a  creature  of  a'spiritual 
nature;  and  this  is  plainly  the  notion  which  the  scripture 
gives  us  of  angels.    Artemon,  Samosatenus,  Photinus,  and 
the  Socinians  in  our  days,  consider  our  Saviour  as  a  great 
•prophet  and  lawgiver,  and  into  this  they  resolve  his  dignity. 
In  opposition  to  both  these,  that  Epistle  begins  with  expres- 
sions that  are  the  more  severe,  because  they  are  negative, 
which  are  to  be  understood  more  strictly  than  positive  words. 
Christ  is  not  only  preferred  to  angels,  but  is  set  in  opposition 
to  them,  as  one  of  another  order  of  beings.    '  Made  so  much  Heb.  i.  4, 
better  than  angels,  as  he  hath  by  inheritance  obtained  a 
more  excellent  name  than  they.     For  unto  which  of  the  5, 
angels  said  he  at  any  time,  Thou  art  my  Son,  this  day  have  I 
begotten  thee  ?    When  he  bringeth  in  the  first  begotten  into  6, 
the  world,  he  saith,  And  let  all  the  angels  of  God  worship  him. 
Of  the  angels  he  saith,  Who  maketh  his  angels  spirits,  and  7, 
his  ministers  aflame  of  fire.    But  unto  the  Son  he  saith.  Thy  8, 
throne,  O  God,  is  for  ever  and  ever.    And,  Thou,  Lord,  in  10, 
the  beginning  hast  laid  the  foundation  of  the  earth :  and  the 
heavens  are  the  works  of  thy  hands.    Thou  art  the  same,  and  12, 
thy  years  shall  not  fail.    But  to  which  of  the  angels  said  he  13, 
at  any  time,  Sit  on  my  right  hand,  till  I  make  thine  enemies 
thy  footstool  ?    Are  they  not  all  ministering  spirits,  sent  14. 
forth  to  minister  for  them  who  shall  be  heirs  of  salvation  ?' 


extensive  sense.  For,  according  to  the  usual  manner  of  speaking,  all  are  termed 
Socinians  whose  sentiments  bear  a  certain  affinity  to  the  system  of  Socinus ;  and 
they  are  more  especially  ranked  in  that  class,  who  either  boldly  deny,  or  artfully 
explain  away,  the  doctrines  that  assert  the  Divine  nature  of  Christ,  and  a  Trinity  of 
persons  in  the  Godhead.  But,  in  a  strict  and  proper  sense,  they  f>nly  are  deemed 
the  members  of  this  sect  who  embrace  wholly,  or  with  a  few  exceptions,  the  form 
of  theological  doctrine  which  Faustus  Socinus  either  drew  up  himself,  or  received 
from  his  uncle,  and  delivered  to  the  Unitarian  brethren,  or  Socinians,  in  Poland 
and  Transylvania. 

'  The  sum  of  their  theology  is  as  follows  • — "  God,  who  is  infinitely  more  perfect 
than  man,  though  of  a  similar  nature  in  some  respects,  exerted  an  act  of  that 
power  by  which  he  governs  all  things ;  in  consequence  of  which  an  extraordinary 
person  was  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary.  That  person  was  Jesus  Christ,  whom  God 
first  translated  to  heaven  by  that  portion  of  his  divine  power  which  is  called  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  and  having  instructed  him  fully  there  in  the  knowledge  of  his  will, 
counsels,  and  designs,  sent  him  again  into  this  sublunary  world,  to  promulgate  to 
mankind  a  new  rule  of  life,  more  excellent  than  that  under  which  they  had  for- 
merly lived,  to  propagate  divine  truth  by  his  ministry,  and  to  confirm  it  by  his 
death. 

'  "  Those  who  obey  the  voice  of  this  Divine  Teacher  (and  this  obedience  is  in 
the  power  of  every  one  whose  will  and  inclination  leads  that  way),  shall  one  day 
be  clothed  with  new  bodies,  and  inhabit  eternally  those  blessed  regions,  where  God 
himself  immediately  resides.  Such,  on  the  contrary,  as  are  disobedient  and  rebel- 
lious shall  undergo  most  terrible  and  exquisite  torments,  which  shall  be  succeeded 
by  annihilation,  or  the  total  extinction  of  their  being." 

'  The  whole  system  of  Socinianism,  when  stripped  of  the  embellishments  and 
commentaries  with  which  it  has  been  loaded  and  disguised  by  its  doctors,  is  really 
reducible  to  the  few  propositions  now  mentioned.'    Moskeim  — [Ed.] 


62 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   This  opposition  is  likewise  carried  on  through  the  whole 
H-     second  chapter ;  one  passage  in  it  being  most  express  to 
shew  both  that  his  nature  had  a  subsistence  before  his  incar- 
nation, and  that  it  was  not  of  an  angelical  order  of  beings, 
Chap.  ii.   since  he  '  took  not  on  him  the  nature  of  angels,  but  the  seed 
16-         of  Abraham.'    Thus,  in  a  great  variety  of  expressions,  the 
conceit  of  Christ's  being  of  an  angelical  nature  is  very  fully 
condemned.    From  that  the  writer  goes  next  to  the  notion 
of  his  being  to  be  honoured,  because  he  was  an  eminent  pro- 
phet; on  which  he  enters  with  a  very  solemn  preface,  inviting 
Chap.  iii.  them  to  ( consider  the  apostle  and  high-priest  of  our  profes- 
*•  sion :'  then  he  compares  Moses  to  him,  as  to  the  point  of 

being  '  faithful  to  him  who  had  appointed  him.'  But  how 
eminent  soever  Moses  was  above  all  other  prophets,  and  how 
harshly  soever  it  must  have  sounded  to  the  Jews  to  have 
stated  the  difference  in  terms  so  distant  as  that  of  a  servant 
and  a  son,  of  one  who  built  the  hoitse,  and  of  the  house  itself; 
yet  we  see  the  apostle  does  not  only  prefer  Christ  to  Moses, 
but  puts  him  in  another  order  and  rank ;  which  could  not  be 
done  according  to  the  Socinian  hypothesis.  From  all  which 
this  conclusion  naturally  follows, — that  if  Christ  is  to  be  wor- 
shipped, and  that  this  honour  belongs  to  him  neither  as  an 
angel,  nor  as  a  prophet,  that  then  it  is  due  to  him  because  he 
is  truly  God. 

The  second  branch  of  this  article  is,  that  he  took  man's 
nature  upon  him  in  the  womb  of  the  blessed  Virgin,  and  of 
her  substance.  This  will  not  need  any  long  or  laboured  proof, 
since  the  texts  of  scripture  are  so  express  that  nothing  but 
wild  extravagance  can  withstand  them.  Christ  was  in  all 
things  like  unto  us,  except  his  miraculous  conception  by  the 
Virgin :  he  was  the  son  of  Abraham  and  of  David.  But 
among  the  frantic  humours  that  appeared  at  the  Reformation, 
some,  in  opposition  to  the  superstition  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  studied  to  derogate  as  much  from  the  blessed  Virgin 
on  the  one  hand,  as  she  had  been  over-exalted  on  the  other  : 
so  they  said,  that  Christ  had  only  gone  through  her.  But  this 
impiety  sunk  so  soon,  that  it  is  needless  to  say  any  thing 
more  to  refute  it. 

The  third  branch  of  the  Article  is,  that  these  two  natures 
were  joined  in  one  Person,  never  to  be  divided.  What  a  person 
is  that  results  from  a  close  conjunction  of  two  natures,  we 
can  only  judge  of  by  considering  man,  in  whom  there  is  a 
material  and  a  spiritual  nature  joined  together.  They  are 
two  natures  as  different  as  any  we  can  apprehend  among  all 
created  beings ;  yet  these  make  but  one  man.  The  matter  of 
which  the  body  is  composed  does  not  subsist  by  itself,  is  not 
under  all  those  laws  of  motion  to  which  it  would  be  subject, 
if  it  were  mere  inanimated  matter;  but,  by  the  indwelling  and 
actuation  of  the  soul,  it  has  another  spring  within  it,  and  has 
another  course  of  operations.    According  to  this,  then,  to 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


CJ 


subsist  by  another  is  when  a  being  is  acting  according  to  its  ART. 
natural  properties,  but  yet  in  a  constant  dependance  upon  1J- 
another  being ;  so  our  bodies  subsist  by  the  subsistence  of 
our  souls.  This  may  help  us  to  apprehend  how  that  as  the 
body  is  still  a  body,  and  operates  as  a  body,  though  it  sub- 
sists by  the  indwelling  and  actuation  of  the  soul ;  so  in  the 
person  of  Jesus  Christ  the  human  nature  was  entire,  and  still 
acted  according  to  its  own  character ;  yet  there  was  such  an 
union  and  inhabitation  of  the  eternal  Word  in  it,  that  there  did 
arise  out  of  that  a  communication  of  names  and  characters,  as 
we  find  in  the  scriptures.  A  man  is  called  tall,  fair,  and 
healthy,  from  the  state  of  his  body ;  and  learned,  wise,  and 
good,  from  the  qualities  of  his  mind :  so  Christ  is  called 
holy,  harmless,  and  undefiled ;  is  said  to  have  died,  risen,  and 
ascended  up  into  heaven,  with  relation  to  his  human  nature : 
he  is  also  said  to  be  in  'the  form  of  God,  to  have  created  all  ^['"j"^' 
things,  to  be  the  brightness  of  the  Fathers  glory,  and  the  Heb  i.  3." 
express  image  of  his  person/  with  relation  to  his  divine 
nature.  The  ideas  that  we  have  of  what  is  material,  and 
what  is  spiritual,  lead  us  to  distinguish  in  a  man  those  de- 
scriptions that  belong  to  his  body  from  those  that  belong  to 
his  mind;  so  the  different  apprehensions  that  we  have  of 
what  is  created  and  uncreated  must  be  our  thread  to  guide  us 
into  the  resolution  of  those  various  expressions  that  occur  in 
the  scriptures  concerning  Christ. 

The  design  of  the  definition,  that  was  made  by  the  church 
concerning  Christ's  having  one  person,  was  chiefly  to  distin- 
guish the  nature  of  the  indwelling  of  the  Godhead  in  him 
from  all  prophetical  inspirations.    The  Mosaical  degree  of 
prophecy  was  in  many  respects  superior  to  that  of  all  the 
subsequent  prophets :  yet  the  difference  is  stated  between 
Christ  and  Moses,  in  terms  that  import  things  quite  of  an- 
other nature;  the  one  being  mentioned  as  a  servant,  the 
other  as  the  Son  that  built  the  house.    It  is  not  said  that 
God  appeared  to  Christ,  or  that  he  spoke  to  him ;  but  God 
was  ever  with  him,  and  in  him;  and  while  'the  Word  was  John  i.  14. 
made  flesh,'  yet  still  'his  glory  was  as  the  glory  of  the  only-  Isai-  vi-  !» 
begotten  Son  of  God.'    The  glory  that  Isaiah  saw,  was  called  john^i & 
his  glory ;  and  on  the  other  hand,  God  is  said  to  have  pur-  41. 
chased  his  church  with  his  own  blood.    If  Nestorius,*  in  Actsxx.28. 

*  Nestorius,  a  man  of  some  learning  and  much  eloquence,  but  of  a  very  arro- 
gant and  overbearing  disposition,  was  a  native  of  Germany,  and  a  Presbyter  of 
Antioch.  On  the  death  of  Sisinius,  bishop  of  Constantinople,  he  was  sent  for  by 
the  emperor  Theodosius,  and  appointed  to  that  see.  He  so  persecuted  the  Arians, 
that  they  destroyed  by  fire  their  own  churches,  rather  than  suffer  them  to  fall  into 
his  hands.  But  although  so  zealous  against  heresy  and  heretics,  yet  he  does  not 
appear  to  have  been  much  influenced  by  the  truth  which  he  professed  to  uphold. 
He  brought  with  him  from  Antioch  a  certain  Presbyter,  named  Anastasius,  who 
declaimed  much  against  the  use  of  the  term  htroKn;  as  applied  to  the  Virgin  Mary, 
and  contended  that  she  ought  to  be  called  the  Mother  of  Christ,  and  not  the 
Mother  of  God.  Nestorius  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  Anastasius;  and  was 
accused  of  maintaining  that  in  Christ  the  divine  was  superadded  to  the  human 


64 


AX  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  opposing  this,  meant  only,  as  some  think  it  appears  by  many 
_  citations  out  of  him,  that  the  blessed  Virgin  was  not  to  be 
called  simply  the  Mother  of  God,  but  the  Mother  of  him  that 
was  God ;  and  if  that  of  making  two  persons  in  Christ  was 
only  fastened  on  him  as  a  consequence,  we  are  not  at  all 
concerned  in  the  matter  of  fact,  whether  Nestorius  was  mis- 
understood and  hardly  used,  or  not;  but  the  doctrine  here 
asserted  is  plain  in  the  scriptures,  that,  though  the  human 
nature  in  Christ  acted  still  according  to  its  proper  character, 
and  had  a  peculiar  will,  yet,  there  was  such  a  constant  pre- 
sence, indwelling,  and  actuation  on  it  from  the  eternal  Word. 
as  did  constitute  both  human  and  divine  nature  one  Person. 
As  these  are  thus  so  entirely  united,  so  they  are  never  to  be 
separated.  Christ  is  now  exalted  to  the  highest  degrees  of 
glory  and  honour ;  and  the  characters  of  blessing,  honour,  and 
glory,  are  represented,  in  St.  John's  visions,  as  offered  '  to 
Rev.v.  13.  the  Lamb  for  ever  and  ever.'  It  is  true,  St.  Paul  speaks  as 
if  Christ's  mediatory  office  and  kingdom  were  to  cease  after 
the  day  of  judgment,  and  that  then  he  was  to  deliver  up  all 
1  Cor.  xv.  to  the  Father.  For  though,  when  the  full  number  of  the  elect 
24—28.    shall  be  gathered,  the  full  end  of  his  death  will  be  attained ; 

and  when  these  saints  shall  be  glorified  with  him  and  by  him, 
his  office  as  Mediator  will  naturally  come  to  an  end  ;  yet  his 
own  personal  glory  shall  never  cease  :  and  if  every  saint  shall 
inherit  an  everlasting  kingdom,  much  more  shall  he  who  has 
merited  all  that  to  them,  and  has  conferred  it  on  them,  be  for 
ever  possessed  of  his  glory. 

The  fourth  branch  of  the  Article  is  concerning  the  truth  of 
Christ's  crucifixion,  his  death  and  burial.  The  matter  of  fact 
concerning  the  death  of  Christ  is  denied  by  no  Christian ; 
the  Jews  do  all  acknowledge  it ;  the  first  enemies  to  Chris- 
tianity did  all  believe  this,  and  reproached  his  followers  with 
it.  This  was  that  which  all  Christians  gloried  in  and  avowed ; 
so  that  no  question  was  made  of  his  death,  except  by  a  small 
number  called  Docetce,  who  were  not  esteemed  Christians,  till 
Mahomet  denied  it  in  his  Alcoran,  who  pretends  that  he  was 
withdrawn,  and  that  a  Jew  was  crucified  in  his  stead.  But 
this  corruption  of  the  history  of  the  gospel  came  too  late 
afterwards,  to  have  any  shadow  of  credit  due  to  it ;  nor  was 
there  any  sort  of  proof  offered  to  support  it.     So  this 

nature.  He  was  cited  before  the  third  general  Council  held  at  Ephesus,  a.d.  431, 
or,  according  to  some,  434.  Here,  writes  Socrates,  he  spoke  as  follows  : — '  I  verily 
will  not  consent  to  call  him  God  who  grew  to  man's  estate  by  two  months,  and 
three  months,  and  so  forth :  therefore  I  wash  my  hands  from  your  blood ;  and 
from  henceforth  I  will  no  more  come  into  your  company.'  When  he  saw  the  con- 
sequences of  this  speech  in  the  disorder  which  such  sentiments  created,  he  made 
a  recantation,  which,  not  being  considered  sincere,  was  not  received.  He  was 
therefore  condemned,  deposed,  and  banished,  by  order  of  the  council,  which  de- 
creed— '  That  Christ  was  one  divine  person,  in  whom  two  natures  were  most  closely 
and  intimately  united,  but  without  being  mixed  or  confounded  together.'  Nes- 
torius died  in  Oasis,  the  place  of  his  banishment,  and  after  his  death  hu  followers 
divided  into  different  parties. — [.Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


65 


doctrine  concerning  trie  death  of  Christ  is  to  he  received  as  ART. 

an  unquestionable  truth.    There  is  no  part  of  the  gospel  writ  *^ 

with  so  copious  a  particularity,  as  the  history  of  his  sufferings 
and  death ;  as  there  was  indeed  no  part  of  the  gospel  so  im- 
portant as  this  is. 

The  fifth  branch  of  the  Article  is,  that  he  was  a  true  sacri- 
fice to  reconcile  the  Father  to  us,  and  that  not  only  for  original, 
but  for  actual  sins.  The  notion  of  an  expiatory  sacrifice,  which 
was  then,  when  the  New  Testament  was  writ,  well  understood 
all  the  world  over,  both  by  Jew  and  Gentile,  was  this,  that 
the  sin  of  one  person  was  transferred  on  a  man  or  beast,  who 
was  upon  that  devoted  and  offered  up  to  God,  and  suffered  in 
the  room  of  the  offending  person  ;  and  by  this  oblation,  the 
punishment  of  the  sin  being  laid  on  the  sacrifice,  an  expiation 
was  made  for  sin,  and  the  sinner  was  believed  to  be  reconciled 
to  God.*  This,  as  appears  through  the  whole  book  of  Leviti- 
cus, was  the  design  and  effect  of  the  sin  and  tresspass  offerings 
among  the  Jews,  and  more  particularly  of  the  goat  that  was 
offered  up  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  people  on  the  day  of  Levit.  xvi. 
atonement.  This  was  a  piece  of  religion  well  known  both  to 
Jew  and  Gentile,  that  had  a  great  many  phrases  belonging  to 
it,  such  as  the  sacrifices  being  offered  for,  or  instead  of,  sin, 
and  in  the  name,  or  on  the  account,  of  the  sinner;  its  bearing 
of  sin,  and  becoming  sin,  or  the  sin-offering ;  its  being  the 
reconciliation,  the  atonement,  and  the  redemption,  of  the  sinner, 
by  which  the  sin  was  no  more  imputed,  but  forgiven,  and  for 

•  '  Of  the  several  sacrifices  under  the  law,  that  one,  which  seems  most  exactly 
to  illustrate  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  and  which  is  expressly  compared  with  it  by  the 
writer  to  the  Hebrews,  is  that  which  was  offered  for  the  whole  assembly  on  the 
solemn  anniversary  of  expiation.  The  circumstances  of  this  ceremony,  whereby 
atonement  was  to  be  made  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  Jewish  people,  seem  so 
strikingly  significant,  that  they  deserve  a  particular  detail.  On  the  day  appointed 
for  this  general  expiation,  the  priest  is  commanded  to  offer  a  bullock  and  a  goat, 
as  sin-offerings,  the  one  for  himself,  and  the  other  for  the  people  :  and,  having 
sprinkled  the  blood  of  these  in  due  form  before  the  mercy-seat,  to  lead  forth  a 
second  goat,  denominated  the  scape-goat :  and,  after  laying  both  his  hands  upon 
the  head  of  the  scape-goat,  and  confessing  over  him  all  the  iniquities  of  the  people, 
to  put  them  upon  the  head  of  the  goat,  and  to  send  the  animal  thus  bearing  the  sins  of 
the  people  away  into  the  wilderness  :  in  this  manner  expressing,  by  an  action  which 
cannot  be  misunderstood,  that  the  atonement,  which  it  is  directly  affirmed  was  to 
be  effected  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  sin-offering,  consisted  in  removing  from  the  people 
their  iniquities  by  a  symbolical  translation  to  the  animal.  For  it  is  to  be  remarked, 
that  the  ceremony  of  the  scape-goat  is  not  a  distinct  one ;  it  is  the  continuation  of 
the  process,  and  is  evidently  the  concluding  part,  and  symbolical  consummation,  of 
the  sin-offering.  So  that  the  transfer  of  the  iniquities  of  the  people  upon  the  head 
Of  the  scape-goat,  and  the  bearing  them  away  to  the  wilderness,  manifestly  imply, 
that  the  atonement  effected  by  the  sacrifice  of  the  sin-offering  consisted  in  the 
transfer  and  consequent  removal  of  those  iniquities.  What,  then,  are  we  taught  to 
infer  from  this  ceremony? — That,  as  the  atonement  under  the  law,  or  expiation  of 
the  legal  transgressions,  was  represented  as  a  translation  of  those  transgressions,  in 
the  act  of  sacrifice  in  which  the  animal  was  slain,  and  the  people  thereby  cleansed 
from  their  legal  impurities,  and  released  from  the  penalties  which  had  been  incurred  ; 
so,  the  great  atonement  for  the  sins  of  mankind  was  to  be  effected  by  the  sacrifice 
of  Christ,  undergoing,  for  the  restoration  of  men  to  the  favour  of  God,  that  death, 
which  had  been  denounced  against  sin  ;  and  which  he  suffered  in  like  manner  as 
if  the  sins  of  men  had  been  actually  transferred  to  him,  as  those  of  the  congregation 
had  been  symbolically  transferred  to  the  sin-offering  of  the  people."    Magee. — -[Ed.] 

F 


6f> 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.    which  the  sinner  was  accepted.    When  therefore  this  whole 
set  of  phrases,  in  its  utmost  extent,  is  very  often,  and  in  a 
great  variety,  applied  to  the  death  of  Christ,  it  is  not  possihle 
for  us  to  preserve  any  reverence  for  the  New  Testament,  or 
the  writers  of  it,  so  far  as  to  think  them  even  honest  men,  not  to 
say  inspired  men,  if  we  can  imagine,  that  in  so  sacred  and  impor- 
tant a  matter  they  could  exceed  so  much  as  to  represent  that  to 
be  our  sacrifice  which  is  not  truly  so  :  this  is  a  point  which  will 
not  bear  figures  and  amplifications;  it mustbe  treated  of  strictly, 
and  with  a  just  exactness  of  expression.    Christ  is  called  the 
l°!>e7  ti 9  '  Lamb  of  God  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world ;'  he 
24.   '  '   is  said  'to  have  borne  our  sins  in  his  own  body  ;  to  have  been 
2  Cor.  v.   made  sin  for  us    it  is  said,  that  '  he  gave  his  life  a  ransom  for 
Matt  xx    many  >'  that  ' ne  was  the  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
28.  '    '  world;'  and  that  "we  have  redemption  through  his  blood, 
Rom.  iii.   even  the  remission  of  our  sins.'    It  is  said,  that  '  he  hath 
I  John  ii  2  reconculed  us  to  bis  Father  in  his  cross,  and  in  the  body  of 
Eph.  i.7."  his  flesh  through  death :'  that  he  by  'his  own  blood  entered 
Col.  i.  14,  in  once  into  the  holy  place,  having  obtained  eternal  redemp- 
Hei>2  ix 22  ^on  ^or  us  :'  ' once  m  the  end  of  the  world  hath  he  ap- 

11, 12,  13,  peared  to  put  away  sin,  by  the  sacrifice  of  himself :'  that  -'he 
14.         was  once  offered  to  bear  the  sins  of  many:'  that  'we  are 
M^s*     sanctified  by  the  offering  of  the  body  of  Christ  once  for  all :' 
Heb  x.io,  and  that,  'after  he  had  offered  one  sacririce  for  sin,  he  sat 
12,14,  19,  down  for  ever  on  the  right  hand  of  God.'    It  is  said,  that 
??ei)  xiii   ' we  enter  mto  the  holiest  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  that  is  the 
12,  20.     blood  of  the  new  covenant,  by  which  we  are  sanctified :'  that 
'  he  hath  sanctified  the  people  with  his  own  blood :  and  was 
the  great  shepherd  of  his  people,  through  the  blood  of  the 
}  pett'''19*  everlasting  covenant:'  that  'we  are  redeemed  with  the  pre- 
24  e  "  '   cious  blood  of  Christ,  as  of  a  lamb  without  blemish  and  without 
l  Pet.  iii.  spot ;'  and,  that  '  Christ  suffered  once  for  sins,  the  just  for 
18-         the  unjust,  that  he  might  bring  us  to  God.'    In  these,  and  in 
a  great  many  more  passages  that  lie  spread  in  all  the  parts  of 
the  New  Testament,  it  is  as  plain,  as  words  can  make  any 
thing,  that  the  death  of  Christ  is  proposed  to  us  as  our  sacri- 
fice and  reconciliation,  our  atonement  and  redemption.    So  it 
is  not  possible  for  any  man  that  considers  all  this,  to  imagine, 
that  Christ's  death  was  only  a  confirmation  of  his  gospel,  a 
pattern  of  a  holy  and  patient  suffering  of  death,  and  a  neces- 
sary preparation  to  his  resurrection ;  by  which  he  gave  vis  a 
clear  proof  of  a  resurrection,  and  by  consequence  of  eternal 
life,  as  by  his  doctrine  he  had  shewed  us  the  way  to  it.  By 
this  all  the  high  commendations  of  his  death  amount  only  to 
this,  that  he  by  dying  has  given  a  vast  credit  and  authority  to 
his  gospel,  which  was  the  powerfullest  mean  possible  to  re- 
deem us  from  sin,  and  to  reconcile  us  to  God :  but  this  is  so 
contrary  to  the  whole  design  of  the  New  Testament,  and 
to  the  true  importance  of  that  great  variety  of  phrases,  in 
which  this  matter  is  set  out,  that,  at  this  rate  of  expounding 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


67 


scripture,  we  can  never  know  what  we  may  build  upon,  espe-  ART. 
cially  when  the  great  importance  of  this  thing,  and  of  our  "■ 
having  right  notions  concerning  it,  is  well  considered.    St.  ' 
Paul  does,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans,  state  an  opposition 
between  the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  sin  of  Adam ;  the  ill 
effects  of  the  one  being  removed  by  the  other :  but  he  plainly 
carries  the  death  of  Christ  much  farther  than  that  it  had  only 
healed  the  wound  that  was  given  by  Adam's  sin ;  'for  as  the  Rom.  v. 
judgment  was  of  one  (sin)  to  condemnation,  the  free  gift  is  of  12>  10  ,he 
many  offences  to  justification.'    But,  in  the  other  places  of en  ' 
the  New  Testament,  Christ's  death  is  set  forth  so  fully,  as  a 
propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world,  that  it  is  a  very  false 
way  of  arguing  to  infer,  that  because  in  one  place  that  is  set 
in  opposition  to  Adam's  sin,  that  therefore  the  virtue  of  it 
was  to  go  no  farther  than  to  take  away  that  sin.    It  has  indeed 
removed  that,  but  it  has  done  a  great  deal  more  besides. 

Thus  it  is  plain  that  Christ's  death  was  our  sacrifice :  the 
meaning  of  which  is  this  ;  that  God,  intending  to  reconcile  the 
world  to  himself,  and  to  encourage  sinners  to  repent  and  turn 
to  him,  thought  fit  to  offer  the  pardon  of  sin,  together  with 
the  other  blessings  of  his  gospel,  in  such  a  way  as  should 
demonstrate  both  the  guilt  of  sin,  and  his  hatred  of  it ;  and 
yet  with  that,  his  love  of  sinners,  and  his  compassions  towards 
them.  A  free  pardon  without  a  sacrifice  had  not  been  so 
agreeable  neither  to  the  majesty  of  the  great  Governor  of  the 
world,  nor  the  authority  of  his  laws,  nor  so  proper  a  method 
to  oblige  men  to  that  strictness  and  holiness  of  life  that  he 
designed  to  bring  them  to  :  and  therefore  he  thought  fit  to 
offer  his  pardon,  and  those  other  blessings,  through  a  Mediator, 
who  was  to  deliver  to  the  world  this  new  and  holy  rule  of  life, 
and  to  confirm  it  by  his  own  unblemished  life :  and  in  con- 
clusion, when  the  rage  of  wicked  men,  who  hated  him  for  the 
holiness  both  of  his  life  and  of  his  doctrine,  did  work  them  up 
into  such  a  fury  as  to  pursue  him  to  a  most  violent  and  igno- 
minious death,  he,  in  compliance  with  the  secret  design  of  his  Isai.  liii. 
Father,  did  not  only  go  through  that  dismal  series  of  suffer-  *0-  .. 
ings,  with  the  most  entire  resignation  to  his  Father's  will,  and  r»v  l'„; 
with  the  highest  charity  possible  towards  those  who  were  his  8. 
most  unjust  and  malicious  murderers ;  but  he  at  the  same 
time  underwent  great  agonies  in  his  mind ;  which  struck  him 
with  such  an  amazement  and  sorrow  even  to  the  death,  that 
upon  it  he  did  sweat  great  drops  of  blood,  and  on  the  cross 
he  felt  a  withdrawing  of  those  comforts,  that  till  then  had  ever 
supported  him,  when  he  cried  out,  '  My  God,  my  God,  why 
hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?'  It  is  not  easy  for  us  to  apprehend 
in  what  that  agony  consisted :  for  we  understand  only  the 
agonies  of  pain,  or  of  conscience,  which  last  arise  out  of  the 
horror  of  guilt,  or  the  apprehension  of  the  wrath  of  God.  It 
is  indeed  certain,  that  he  who  had  no  sin  could  have  no  such 
horror  in  him ;  and  yet  it  is  as  certain,  that  he  could  not  be 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  put  into  such  an  agony  only  through  the  apprehension  and 
_  fear  of  that  violent  death,  which  lie  was  to  suffer  next  day : 
therefore  we  ought  to  conclude,  that  there  was  an  inward  suf- 
fering in  his  mind,  as  well  as  an  outward  visible  one  in  his 
body.  We  cannot  distinctly  apprehend  what  that  was,  since 
he  was  sure  both  of  his  own  spotless  innocence,  and  of  his 
Father's  unchangeable  love  to  him.  We  can  only  imagine  a 
vast  sense  of  the  heinousness  of  sin,  and  a  deep  indignation 
at  the  dishonour  done  to  God  by  it,  a  melting  apprehension 
of  the  corruption  and  miseries  of  mankind  by  reason  of  sin, 
together  with  a  never-before- felt  withdrawing  of  those  consola- 
tions that  had  always  rilled  his  soul.  But  what  might  be  far- 
ther in  his  agony,  and  in  his  last  dereliction,  we  cannot  dis- 
tinctly apprehend ;  only  this  we  perceive,  that  our  minds  are 
capable  of  great  pain  as  well  as  our  bodies  are.  Deep  horror, 
with  an  inconsolable  sharpness  of  thought,  is  a  very  intolerable 
thing.  Notwithstanding  the  bodily  or  substantial  indwelling 
of  the  fulness  of  the  Godhead  in  him,  yet  he  was  capable  of 
feeling  vast  pain  in  his  body :  so  that  he  might  become  a  com- 
plete sacrifice,  and  that  we  might  have  from  his  sufferings  a 
very  full  and  amazing  apprehension  of  the  guilt  of  sin;  all  those 
emanations  of  joy,  with  which  the  indwelling  of  the  eternal 
Word  had  ever  till  then  filled  his  soul,  might  then,  when  he 
needed  them  most,  be  quite  withdrawn,  and  he  be  left  merely 
to  the  firmness  of  his  faith,  to  his  patient  resignation  to  the 
will  of  his  heavenly  Father,  and  to  his  willing  readiness  of 
drinking  up  that  cup  which  his  Father  had  put  in  his  hand  to 
drink. 

There  remains  but  one  thing  to  be  remembered  here,  though 
it  will  come  to  be  more  specially  explained,  when  other  Arti- 
cles are  to  be  opened  ;  which  is,  that  this  reconciliation,  which 
is  made  by  the  death  of  Christ,  between  God  and  man,  is  not 
absolute  and  without  conditions.  He  has  established  the 
covenant,  and  has  performed  all  that  was  incumbent  on  him, 
as  both  the  priest  and  the  sacrifice,  to  do  and  to  suffer ;  and 
he  offers  this  to  the  world,  that  it  may  be  closed  with  by  them, 
on  the  terms  on  which  it  is  proposed ;  and  if  they  do  not  ac- 
cept of  it  upon  these  conditions,  and  perform  what  is  enjoined 
them,  they  can  have  no  share  in  it. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


69 


ART. 
III. 

ARTICLE  III. 

Of  the  going  down  of  Christ  into  Hell. 

9te  Christ  totrtl  for  us  anlf  luas  burtrtf,  to  alsio  id  it  to  be  bflttbtK 
that  he  tocnt  tioton  into  %}tl\. 

This  was  much  fuller  when  the  Articles  were  at  first  prepared 
and  published  in  king  Edward's  reign ;  for  these  words  were 
added  to  it,  '  That  the  body  of  Christ  lay  in  the  grave  until  his 
resurrection  ;  but  his  spirit,  which  he  gave  up,  was  with  the  spi- 
rits which  were  detained  in  prison,  or  in  hell,  and  preached  to 
them,  as  the  place  in  St.  Peter  testifieth.'"  Thus  a  determined 
sense  was  put  upon  this  Article,  which  is  now  left  more  at 
large,  and  is  conceived  in  words  of  a  more  general  signification. 
In  order  to  the  explaining  this,  it  is  to  be  premised,  that  the 
article  in  the  Creed,  of  Christ's  descent  into  hell,  is  mentioned 
by  no  writer  before  Ruffin,*  who  in  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
century  does  indeed  speak  of  it :  but  he  tells  us,  that  it  was 
neither  in  the  symbol  of  the  Roman,  nor  of  the  Oriental 
churches ;  and  that  he  found  it  in  the  symbol  of  his  own 
church  at  Aquileia.  But  as  there  was  no  other  article  in  that 
symbol  that  related  to  Christ's  burial,  so  the  words  which  he 
gives  us,  descendit  ad  inferna,  'he  descended  to  the  lower 
parts,'  do  very  naturally  signify  burial,  according  to  these 
words  of  St.  Paul,  '  lie  ascended  ;  what  is  it,  but  that  he  also  Eph.  iv.  9. 
descended  first  to  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth  ?'  And  Ruffin 
himself  understood  these  words  in  that  sense. 

None  of  the  fathers  in  the  first  ages,  neither  Irenaeus,  Ter- 
tullian,  Clemens,  nor  Origen,  in  the  short  abstracts  that  they 
give  us  of  the  Christian  faith,  mention  any  thing  like  this : 
and  in  all  that  great  variety  of  Creeds,  that  was  proposed  by 
the  many  councils  that  met  in  the  fourth  century,  this  is  not 
in  any  one  of  them,  except  in  that  which  was  agreed  to  at 
Arimini,  and  was  pretended,  though  falsely,  to  have  been 
made  at  Sirmium :  in  that  it  is  set  down  in  a  Greek  word  that 
does  exactly  answer  Ruffin's  inferna,  Kuru\Q6via:  and  it  stood 
there  instead  of  burirtl.  When  it  was  put  in  the  Creed  that 
carries  Athanasius's  name,  though  made  in  the  sixth  or  seventh 
century,  the  word  was  changed  to  'A<cqc,  or  $?f U :  but  yet  it 
seems  to  have  been  understood  to  signify  Christ's  burial,  there 

*  '  Ituffinus,  a  Presbyter  of  Aquileia,  is  famovis  on  account  of  his  Latin  translations 
of  Origen,  and  other  Greek  writers — his  commentaries  on  several  passages  of  the 
Holy  Scriptures,  and  his  bitter  contest  with  Jerome.  He  would  have  obtained  a 
very  honourable  place  among  the  Latin  writers  of  this  century  (the  4th),  bad  it  not 
been  his  misfortune  to  have  had  the  powerful  and  foul-mouthed  Jerome  for  his  ad- 
versary.'—  Mosheim.  Ruffinus  first  published  the  Apostles'  creed,  as  the  creed  of 
the  church  of  Aquileia  [Ed.") 


70 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  being  no  other  word  put  for  it  in  that  Creed.    Afterwards  it 

 ™  was  put  into  the  symbol  of  the  western  church  :  that  was  done 

at  first  in  the  words  in  which  Ruffin  had  expressed  it,  as 
appears  by  some  ancient  copies  of  Creeds  which  were  pub- 
lished by  the  great  primate  Usher. 

We  are  next  to  consider  what  the  importance  of  these 
words  in  themselves  is ;  for  it  is  plain  that  the  use  of  them  in 
the  Creed  is  not  very  ancient  nor  universal.  We  have  a  most 
unquestionable  authority  for  this,  that  our  Saviour's  soul  was 
in  hell.  In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  St.  Peter,  in  the  first 
sermon  that  was  preached  after  the  wonderful  effusion  of  the 
Spirit  at  Pentecost,  applies  these  words  of  David  concerning 
Ps.xvi.  10. '  God's  not  leaving  his  soul  in  hell,  nor  suffering  his  Holy  One 
Acts  n.  27,  t0  see  corruption,'  to  the  resurrection  of  Christ.  Now  since, 
in  the  composition  of  a  man,  there  is  a  body  and  a  spirit,  and 
since  it  is  plain  that  the  raising  of  Christ  on  the  third  day 
was  before  that  his  body  in  the  course  of  nature  was  cor- 
rupted; the  other  branch  seems  to  relate  to  his  soul;  though 
it  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  that  in  the  Old  Testament  soul  in 
some  places  stands  for  a  dead  body.  But  if  that  were  the 
sense  of  the  word,  there  would  be  no  opposition  in  the  two 
parts  of  this  period ;  the  one  will  be  only  a  redundant  repeti- 
tion of  the  other :  therefore  it  is  much  more  natural  to  think 
that  this  other  branch  concerning  Christ's  soul  being  left  in 
hell,  must  relate  to  that  which  we  commonly  understand  by 
soul.  If  then  his  soul  was  not  to  be  left  in  hell,  then  from 
thence  it  plainly  follows  that  once  it  was  in  hell,  and,  by  con- 
sequence, that  Christ's  soul  descended  into  he.  I. 

Some  very  modern  writers  have  thought  that  this  is  to  be 
understood  figuratively  of  the  wrath  of  God  due  for  sin,  which 
Christ  bore  in  his  soul,  besides  the  torments  that  he  suffered 
in  his  body :  and  they  think  that  these  are  here  mentioned  by 
themselves,  after  the  enumeration  of  the  several  steps  of  his 
bodily  sufferings :  and  this  being  equal  to  the  torments  of 
hell,  as  it  is  that  which  delivers  us  from  them,  might  in  a  large 
way  of  expression  be  called  a  descending  into  hell.  But  as 
neither  the  word  descend,  nor  hell,  are  to  be  found  in  any  other 
place  of  scripture  in  this  sense,  nor  in  any  of  the  ancients, 
among  whom  the  signification  of  this  phrase  is  more  likely  to 
be  found  than  among  moderns  ;  so  this  being  put  after  buried, 
it  plainly  shews  that  it  belongs  to  a  period  subsequent  to  his 
burial :  there  is  therefore  no  regard  to  be  had  to  this  notion. 

Others  have  thought,  that  by  Christ's  descent  into  hell  is  to 
be  understood  his  continuing  in  the  state  of  the  dead  for  some 
time :  but  there  is  no  ground  for  this  conceit  neither,  these 
words  being  to  be  found  in  no  author  in  that  signification. 
Many  of  the  fathers  thought,  that  Christ's  soul  went  locally 
1  Pet.  iii.  into  hell,  and  preached  to  some  of  the  spirits  there  in  prison  ; 

that  there  he  triumphed  over  Satan,  and  spoiled  him,  and 
carried  some  souls  with  him  into  glory.    But  the  account 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


71 


that  the  scriptures  give  us  of  the  exaltation  of  Christ  begins  ART. 
it  always  at  his  resurrection  :  nor  can  it  be  imagined,  that  so  *™ 
memorable  a  transaction  as  this  would  have  been  passed  over 
by  the  three  first  evangelists,  and  least  of  all  by  St.  John,  who 
coming  after  the  rest,  and  designing  to  supply  what  was  want- 
ing in  them,  and  intending  particularly  to  magnify  the  glory 
of  Christ,  could  not  have  passed  over  so  wonderful  an  instance 
of  it.  We  have  no  reason  to  think,  that  such  a  matter  would 
have  been  only  insinuate^  in  general  words,  and  not  have  been 
plainly  related.  The  triumph  of  Christ  over  principalities  and 
powers  is  ascribed  by  St.  Paul  to  his  cross,  and  was  the  effect 
and  result  of  his  death.  The  place  of  St.  Peter  seems  to  relate 
to  the  preaching  to  the  Gentile  world,  by  virtue  of  that  in- 
spiration that  was  derived  from  Christ ;  which  was  therefore 
called  his  Spirit ;  and  the  spirits  in  prison  were  the  Gentiles, 
who  were  shut  up  in  idolatry  as  in  prison,  and  so  were  under 
the  power  of  the  'prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,'  who  is  Eph.ii  2. 
called  '  the  god  of  this  world  ;'  that  is,  of  the  Gentile  world :  \  Cor-  ,v- 
it  being  one  of  the  ends  for  which  Christ  was  anointed  of  his  ij.  ixi.  1. 
Father,  '  to  open  the  prisons  to  them  that  were  bound/  So 
then,  though  there  is  no  harm  in  this  opinion,  yet  it  not  being 
founded  on  any  part  of  the  history  of  the  gospel,  and  it  being 
supported  only  by  passages  that  may  well  bear  another  sense, 
we  may  lay  it  aside,  notwithstanding  the  reverence  we  bear  to 
those  that  asserted  it ;  and  that  the  rather,  because  the  first 
fathers  that  were  next  the  source  say  nothing  of  it. 

Another  conceit  has  had  a  great  course  among  some  of  the 
latest  fathers  and  the  schoolmen  :  they  have  fancied  that  there 
was  a  place  to  which  they  have  given  a  peculiar  name,  Limbus 
Patrum,  a  sort  of  a  partition  in  hell,  where  all  the  good  men 
of  the  old  dispensation,  that  had  died  before  Christ,  were  de- 
tained ;  and  they  hold  that  our  Saviour  went  thither,  and 
emptied  that  place,  carrying  all  the  souls  that  were  in  it  with 
him  to  heaven.  Of  this  the  scriptures  say  nothing;  not  a 
word  either  of  the  patriarchs  going  thither,  or  of  Christ's 
delivering  them  out  of  it:  and  though  there  are  not  in  the 
Old  Testament  express  declarations  and  promises  made  con- 
cerning a  future  state,  '  Christ  having  brought  life  and  immor- 
tality to  light  through  his  gospel ;'  yet  all  the  hints  given  of 
it  shew  that  they  looked  for  an  immediate  admission  to  blessed- 
ness after  death.  So  David,  'Thou  wilt  shew  me  the  path  of  Ps.wj.ll. 
life :  in  thy  presence  is  fulness  of  joy,  and  at  thy  right  hand  p"'"^^ 
are  pleasures  for  evermore.  Thou  shaft  guide  me  here  by  thy  24. 
counsel,  and  afterwards  receive  me  to  glory.'  Isaiah  says,  that  ls- lvli-  2- 
'the  righteous  when  they  die  enter  into  peace.'  In  the  New 
Testament  there  is  not  a  hint  given  of  this ;  for  though  some 
passages  may  seem  to  favour  Christ's  delivering  some  souls 
out  of  hell,  yet  there  is  nothing  that  by  any  management  can 
be  brought  to  look  this  way. 

There  is  another  sense  of  which  these  words  [descended  into 


72 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  helt]  are  capable  :  by  hell  may  be  meant  the  invisible  place  to 
ln-     which  departed  souls  are  carried  after  death :  for,  though  the 
See  Bishop  Greek  word  so  rendered  does  now  commonly  stand  for  the 
Pearson  on  place  of  the  damned,  and  for  many  ages  has  been  so  under- 
lie Creei!.  stood,  yet,  at  the  time  of  writing  the  New  Testament,  it  was 
among  Greek  authors  used  indifferently  for  the  place  of  all 
departed  souls,  whether  good  or  bad ;  and  by  it  were  meant 
the  invisible  regions  where  those  spirits  were  lodged :  so,  if 
these  words  are  taken  in  this  large  sense,  we  have  in  them  a 
clear  and  literal  account  of  our  Saviour's  soul  descending  into 
hell ;  it  imports  that  he  was  not  only  dead  in  a  more  common 
acceptation,  as  it  is  usual  to  say  a  man  is  dead,  when  there 
appear  no  signs  of  life  in  him ;  and  that  he  was  not  as  in  a 
deep  ecstasy  or  fit  that  seemed  death,  but  that  he  was  truly 
dead  ;  that  his  soul  was  neither  in  his  body,  nor  hovering  about 
it,  ascending  and  descending  upon  it,  as  some  of  the  Jews 
fancied  souls  did  for  some  time  after  death ;  but  that  his  soul 
was  really  removed  out  of  his  body,  and  carried  to  those  unseen 
regions  of  departed  spirits,  among  whom  it  continued  till  his 
resurrection.    That  the  regions  of  the  blessed  were  known  then 
to  the  Jews  by  the  name  of  Paradise,  as  hell  was  known  by  the 
Luke  xxiii.  nara6  of  Gehenna,  is  very  clear  from  Christ's  last  words,  '  To- 
43,  46.     day  thou  shalt  be  with  me  m  Paradise     and  '  Into  thy  hands 
do  I  commend  my  spirit.'    This  is  a  plain  and  full  account  of 
a  good  sense  that  may  be  well  put  on  the  words  ;  though,  after 
all,  it  is  still  to  be  remembered,  that,  in  the  first  Creeds  that 
have  this  article,  that  of  Christ's  burial  not  being  mentioned 
in  them,  it  follows  from  thence,  as  well  as  from  Ruffm's  own 
sense  of  it,  that  they  understood  this  only  of  Christ's  burial. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


73 


ART. 
IV. 

ARTICLE  IV. 

Of  the  Resurrection  of  Christ. 

Cljriat  tfttf  truli)  rise  again  from  Bcath,  anti  took  again  htsi  Solfp, 
tottl)  dfttsii),  iJonesi,  anB  all  things  appertaining  to  the  perfection 
of  plan's  feature,  toherrtoith  Ije  aSeenbeH  into  feeaben,  antf  there 
Stttcth,  until  he  return  to  jutjge  all  |tlen  at  tije  iLastt  2)ap. 

There  are  four  branches  of  this  Article:  the  first  is  con- 
cerning the  truth  of  Christ's  resurrection.  The  second  con- 
cerning the  completeness  of  it :  that  he  took  to  him  again  his 
whole  body.  The  third  is  concerning  his  ascension  and  con- 
tinuance in  heaven.  And  the  fourth  is  concerning  his  return- 
ing to  judge  all  men  at  the  last  day.  These  things  are  all  so 
expressly  affirmed,  and  that  in  so  particular  a  manner,  in  the 
New  Testament,  that  if  the  authority  of  that  book  is  once  well 
proved,  little  doubting  will  remain  concerning  them. 

It  is  punctually  told  in  it,  that  the  body  of  Christ  was  laid  in 
the  sepulchre  :  that  a  stone  was  laid  to  the  mouth  of  it :  that 
it  was  rolled  away,  and  upon  that  Christ  arose  and  left  the 
death-clothes  behind  him  :  that  those  who  viewed  the  sepul- 
chre, saw  no  body  there  :  that  in  the  same  body  Christ  shewed 
himself  to  his  disciples,  so  that  they  all  knew  him ;  he  talked 
with  them,  and  they  did  eat  and  drink  with  him,  and  he  made 
Thomas  feel  to  the  print  of  the  nails  and  spear.  It  is  as 
plainly  told,  that  the  apostles  looked  on,  and  saw  him  ascend 
up  to  heaven,  and  that  a  cloud  received  him  out  of  their  sight. 
It  is  also  said  very  plainly,  that  he  shall  come  again  at  the  last 
day,  and  judge  all  men  both  the  quick  and  the  dead.  So  that 
if  the  truth  of  the  gospel  is  once  fully  proved,  it  will  not  be 
necessary  to  insist  long  upon  the  special  proof  of  these  par- 
ticulars :  somewhat  will  only  be  necessary  to  be  said  in  ex- 
planation of  them. 

The  gospel  was  first  preached,  and  soon  after  put  in  writing ; 
in  which  these  particulars  are  not  only  delivered,  but  are  set 
forth  with  many  circumstances  relating  to  them.  The  credit 
of  the  whole  is  put  on  that  issue  concerning  the  truth  of 
Christ's  resurrection ;  so  that  the  overthrowing  the  truth  of 
that  was  the  overturning  the  whole  gospel,  and  struck  at  the 
f-redit  of  it  all.  This  was  transacted  as  well  as  first  published 
at  Jerusalem,  where  the  enemies  of  it  had  all  possible  advan- 
tages in  their  hands ;  their  interest  was  deeply  concerned,  as 
well  as  their  malice  was  much  kindled  at  it.  They  had  both 
power  and  wealth  in  their  hands,  as  well  as  credit  and  autho- 
rity among  the  people.    The  Romans  left  them  at  full  liberty, 


74 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  as  they  did  the  other  nations  whom  they  conquered,  to  order 
iV.  their  own  concerns  as  they  pleased.  And  even  the  Romans 
themselves  hegan  quickly  to  hate  and  persecute  the  Chris- 
tians :  they  hecamc  the  objects  of  popular  fury,  as  Tacitus 
tells  us.  The  Romans  looked  upon  Christ  as  one  that  set  on 
the  Jews  to  those  tun.ults  that  were  then  so  common  among 
them,  as  Suetonius  affirms :  which  shews  both  how  ignorant 
they  were  of  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  and  how  much  they  were 
prejudiced  against  it.  Yet  this  gospel  did  spread  itself,  and 
was  believed  by  great  multitudes  both  at  Jerusalem  and  in  all 
J  udea ;  and  from  thence  it  was  propagated  in  a  very  few  years 
to  a  great  many  remote  countries. 

Among  all  Christians  the  article  of  the  resurrection  and 
ascension  of  Christ  was  always  looked  on  as  the  capital  one 
upon  which  all  the  rest  depended.  This  was  attested  by  a 
considerable  number  of  men,  against  whose  credit  no  objection 
was  made  ;  who  affirmed,  that  they  all  had  seen  him,  and  con- 
versed frequently  with  him  after  his  resurrection ;  that  they 
saw  him  ascend  up  into  heaven  ;  and  that,  according  to  a  pro- 
mise he  had  made  them,  they  had  received  extraordinary 
powers  from  him  to  work  miracles  in  his  name,  and  to  speak 
in  divers  languages.  This  last  was  a  most  amazing  character 
of  a  supernatural  power  lodged  with  them,  and  was  a  thing  of 
such  a  nature,  that  it  must  have  been  evident  to  every  man 
whether  it  was  true  or  false :  so  that  the  apostles  relating  this 
so  positively,  and  making  such  frequent  appeals  to  it,  that  way 
of  proceeding  carries  a  strong  and  undeniable  evidence  of  truth 
in  it.  These  wonders  were  gathered  together  in  a  book,  and 
published  in  the  very  time  in  which  they  were  transacted  :  the 
'  Acts  of  the  Apostles'  were  writ  two  years  after  St.  Paul  was 
carried  prisoner  to  Rome  ;  and  St.  Luke  begins  that  book  with 
the  mention  of  the  gospel  that  he  had  formerly  writ,  as  that 
gospel  begins  with  the  mention  of  some  other  gospels  that 
were  writ  before  it.  Almost  all  the  Epistles  speak  of  the 
temple  of  Jerusalem  as  yet  in  being ;  of  the  Jews  as  then  in 
peace  and  prosperity,  hating  and  persecuting  the  Christians 
every  where  :  they  do  also  frequently  intimate  the  assurance 
they  had  of  a  great  deliverance  that  was  to  happen  quickly  to 
the  Christians,  and  of  terrible  judgments  that  were  to  be 
poured  out  on  the  Jews ;  which  was  soon  after  that  accom- 
plished in  the  most  signal  manner  of  any  thing  that  is  recorded 
in  history. 

These  things  do  clearly  prove  that  all  the  writings  of  the 
New  Testament  were  both  composed  and  published  in  the 
age  in  which  that  matter  was  transacted.  The  Jews,  who 
from  all  the  places  of  their  dispersion  went  frequently  to 
Jerusalem,  to  keep  the  great  festivities  of  their  religion  there, 
had  occasion  often  to  examine  upon  the  place  the  truth  of  the 
resurrection  and  ascension  of  Christ,  and  of  the  effusion  of 
the  Holy  Ghost :  yet,  even  in  that  infancy  of  Christianity,  in 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


75 


which  it  had  so  little  visible  strength,  no  proof  was  so  much  A  R  T. 
as  ever  pretended  in  opposition  to  those  great  and  essential  IV- 
points ;  which  being  matters  of  fact,  and  related  with  a  great 
variety  of  circumstances,  had  been  easily  confuted,  if  there 
had  been  any  ground  for  it.  The  great  darkness  at  the  time 
of  Christ's  death,  the  rending  the  vail  of  the  temple  in  two,  as 
well  as  what  was  more  public,  the  renting  of  the  rocks  at  his 
death :  his  bemg  laid  in  a  new  sepulchre,  and  a  watch  being 
set  about  it;  and  the  watchmen  reporting,  that  while  they 
slept,  the  body  of  Christ  was  carried  away:  the  apostles 
breaking  out  all  of  the  sudden  into  that  variety  of  tongues  on 
Pentecost ;  the  miracles  that  they  wrought,  and  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  sanhedrim  with  them ;  were  all  things  so  publicly 
done,  that  as  the  discovery  of  falsehood  in  any  one  of  these 
was  in  the  power  of  the  Jews,  if  any  such  was,  so  that  alone 
had  most  effectually  destroyed  the  credit  of  this  religion,  and 
stopped  its  progress. 

The  writings  of  the  New  Testament  were  at  that  time  no 
secrets,  they  were  in  all  men's  hands,  and  were  copied  out 
freely  by  every  one  that  desired  it.  We  find  within  a  hun- 
dred years  after  that  time,  both  by  the  Epistle  of  the  church 
of  Smyrna,  by  Justin,  and  Irenaeus,  not  to  mention  Clemens 
of  Rome,  who  lived  in  that  time,  or  Ignatius  and  Polycarp, 
who  lived  very  near  it,  that  the  authority  of  these  writings 
was  early  received  and  submitted  to ;  that  they  were  much 
read,  and  well  known ;  and  that  they  began  very  soon  to  be 
read  at  the  meetings  of  the  Christians  for  worship,  and  were 
esteemed  by  the  several  churches  as  the  great  trust  and  de- 
positum  that  was  lodged  with  them.  So  that  though,  by  the 
negligence  of  copiers,  some  small  variations  might  happen 
among  some  of  the  copies,  yet  as  they  do  all  agree  in  the 
main,  and  most  signally  in  those  particulars  that  are  men- 
tioned in  this  article;  so  it  was  not  possible  for  any  that 
should  have  had  the  wickedness  to  set  about  it,  to  have  cor- 
rupted the  New  Testament  by  any  additions  or  alterations  ;  it 
being  so  early  spread  into  so  many  hands,  and  that  in  so 
many  different  places. 

When  all  this  matter  is  laid  together,  it  appears  to  have 
as  full  an  evidence  to  support  it,  as  any  matter  of  fact  can 
possibly  have.  The  narration  gave  great  scope  to  a  variety 
of  inquiries  ;  it  raised  much  disputing,  opposition,  and  perse- 
cution ;  and  yet  nothing  was  ever  pretended  to  be  proved  that 
could  subvert  its  credit :  great  multitudes  received  this  doc- 
trine, and  died  for  it  in  the  age  in  which  the  matters  of  fact, 
upon  which  its  credit  was  built,  were  well  attested,  and  in 
which  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  them  might  have  been  easily 
known ;  which  it  is  reasonable  to  believe  that  all  men  would 
carefully  examine,  before  they  embraced  and  assented  to 
that  which  was  likely  to  draw  on  them  sufferings  that  would 
}  robably  end  in  death.    Those  who  did  spread  this  doctrine, 


76 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  as  well  as  those  who  first  received  it,  had  no  interest  beside 
IV-  that  of  truth  to  engage  them  to  it.  They  could  expect 
neither  wealth  nor  greatness  from  it :  they  were  obliged  to 
travel  much,  and  to  labour  hard ;  to  wrestle  through  great 
difficulties,  and  to  endure  many  indignities.  They  saw  others 
die  on  the  account  of  it,  and  had  reason  to  look  for  the  like 
usage  themselves. 

The  doctrine  that  they  preached  related  either  to  the  facts 
concerning  the  person  of  Christ,  or  to  the  rules  of  life  which 
they  delivered.  These  were  all  pure,  just,  and  good ;  they 
tended  to  settle  the  world  upon  the  foundations  of  truth  and 
sincerity,  and  that  sublime  pitch  of  righteousness,  of  doing  as 
they  would  be  done  by ;  they  tended  to  make  men  sober  and 
temperate,  chaste  and  modest,  meek  and  humble,  merciful 
and  charitable :  so  that  from  thence  there  was  no  colour  given 
for  suspecting  any  fraud  or  design  in  it.  The  worship  of  God 
in  this  religion  was  pure  and  simple,  free  from  cost  or  pomp, 
from  theatrical  shows,  as  well  as  idolatrous  rites,  and  had  in 
it  all  possible  characters  becoming  the  purity  of  the  Supreme 
Mind.  When  therefore  so  much  concurs  to  give  credit  to  a 
religion,  there  ought  to  be  evident  proofs  brought  to  the  con- 
trary, before  it  can  be  disbelieved  or  rejected.  So  many  men 
forsaking  the  religion  in  which  they  were  born  and  bred, 
which  has  always  a  strong  influence  even  upon  the  greatest 
minds ;  and  there  being  so  many  particular  prejudices  both 
upon  Jews  and  Gentiles,  by  the  opinions  in  which  they  had 
been  bred,  and  the  impressions  which  had  gone  deep  in  them, 
it  could  be  no  slight  matter  that  could  overcome  all  that. 

The  Jews  expected  a  conqueror  for  their  Messias,  who 
should  have  raised  both  the  honour  of  their  law  and  their 
nation,  and  so  were  much  possessed  against  one  of  a  mean 
appearance;  and  when  they  saw  that  their  law  was  to  be 
superseded,  and  that  the  Gentiles  were  to  be  brought  into 
equal  privileges  with  themselves,  they  could  not  but  be 
deeply  prejudiced  both  against  the  person  and  doctrine  of 
Christ. 

The  philosophers  despised  divine  inspiration,  and  secret 
assistances,  and  had  an  ill  opinion  of  miracles ;  and  the  herd 
among  the  Gentiles  were  so  accustomed  to  pomp  and  show  in 
their  religious  performances,  that  they  must  have  nauseated 
the  Christian  simplicity,  and  the  corruption  of  their  morals 
must  have  made  them  uneasy  at  a  religion  of  so  much  strict- 
ness. All  sorts  of  men  lay  under  very  strong  prejudices 
against  this  religion ;  nor  was  there  any  one  article  or 
branch  of  it,  that  flattered  any  of  the  interests,  appetites, 
passions,  or  vanities  of  men,  but  all  was  very  much  to  the 
contrary.  They  were  warned  to  prepare  for  trials  and  crosses, 
and,  in  particular,  for  a  severe  and  fiery  trial  that  was  speeddy 
to  come  upon  them. 

There  was  nothing  of  the  way  or  manner  of  impostors  that 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


11 


appeared  in  the  methods  in  which  the  gospel  was  propagated.  ART. 

When  the  apostles  saw  that  some  were  endeavouring  to  IV- 

lessen  them  and  their  authority,  they  took  no  fawning  ways : 

they  neither  flattered  nor  spared  those  churches  that  were 

under  their  care :  they  charged  them  home  with  their  faults, 

and  asserted  their  own  character  in  a  strain  that  shewed  they 

were  afraid  of  no  discoveries.    They  appealed  to  the  miracles 

that  they  had  wrought,  and  to  those  gifts  and  divine  virtues 

of  which  they  were  not  only  possessed  themselves,  but  which 

were  by  their  ministry  conferred  on  others.    The  '  demonstra-  l  Cor.ii.4. 

tion  of  the  Spirit,'  or  inspiration  that  was  in  them,  appeared  in 

the  power,  that  is,  in  the  miracles  which  accompanied  it,  and 

those  they  wrought  openly  in  the  sight  of  many  witnesses. 

An  uncontested  miracle  is  the  fullest  evidence  that  can  be 

given  of  a  divine  commission. 

A  miracle  is  a  work  that  exceeds  all  the  known  powers  of 
nature,  and  that  carries  in  it  plain  characters  of  a  power 
superior  to  any  human  power.  We  cannot  indeed  fix  the 
bounds  of  the  powers  of  nature ;  but  yet  we  can  plainly  ap- 
prehend what  must  be  beyond  them.  For  instance,  we  do 
not  know  what  secret  virtues  there  may  be  in  plants  and 
minerals ;  but  we  do  know  that  bare  words  can  have  no 
natural  virtue  in  them  to  cure  diseases,  much  less  to  raise  the 
dead :  we  know  not  what  force  imagination  or  credulity  may 
have  in  critical  diseases ;  but  we  know  that  a  dead  man  has 
no  imagination :  we  know  also,  that  blindness,  deafness,  and 
an  inveterate  palsy,  cannot  be  cured  by  conceit:  therefore 
such  miracles  as  the  giving  sight  to  a  man  born  blind,  speech 
to  the  deaf  and  dumb,  and  strength  to  the  paralytic ;  but 
most  of  all,  the  giving  life  to  the  dead,  and  that  not  only  to 
persons  laid  out  as  dead,  but  to  one  that  was  carried  out  to 
be  buried,  and  to  another  that  had  been  four  days  dead,  and 
in  his  grave  ;  all  this  was  done  with  a  bare  word,  without  any 
sort  of  external  application  :  this,  I  say,  as  it  is  clearly  above 
the  force  of  imagination,  so  it  is  beyond  the  powers  of  nature. 

These  things  were  not  done  in  the  dark,  nor  in  the  presence 
of  a  few,  in  whom  a  particular  confidence  was  put;  but  in 
full  day-light,  and  in  the  sight  of  great  numbers,  enemies  as 
well  as  friends,  and  some  of  those  enemies  were  both  the 
most  enraged,  and  the  most  capable  of  making  all  possible 
exceptions  to  what  was  done.  Such  were  the  rulers  of  the 
synagogues,  and  the  Pharisees  in  our  Saviour's  time  :  and  yet 
they  could  neither  deny  the  facts,  nor  pretend  that  there  was 
any  deceit  or  jugglery  in  them.  We  have  in  this  all  possible 
reason  to  conclude,  that  both  the  things  were  truly  done  as 
they  are  related,  and  that  no  just  exception  was,  or  could  be, 
made  to  them. 

If  it  is  pretended,  that  those  wonderful  things  were  done 
by  the  power  of  an  evil  spirit,  that  does  both  acknowledge 
the  truth  of  the  relation,  and  also  its  being  supernatural. 


78 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T  This  answer,  taken  from  the  power  of  evil  spirits,  is  some- 
n '  times  to  be  made  use  of,  when  extraordinary  things  are  well 
attested,  and  urged  in  proof  of  that  which  upon  other  reasons 
we  are  assured  is  false.  It  is  certain,  that  as  we  have  a  great 
power  over  vast  quantities  of  gross  and  heavy  matter,  which 
by  the  motion  of  a  very  subtile  body,  our  animal  spirits,  Ave 
can  master  and  manage :  so  angels,  good  or  bad,  may,  by 
virtue  of  subtile  bodies,  in  which  they  may  dwell,  or  which 
upon  occasion  they  may  assume,  do  many  things  vastly  above 
either  our  force  to  do,  or  our  imagination  to  apprehend  how 
it  is  done  by  them.  Therefore  an  action,  that  exceeds  all  the 
known  powers  of  nature,  may  yet  be  done  by  an  evil  spirit 
that  is  in  rebellion  against  its  Maker,  and  that  designs  to  im- 
pose upon  us  by  such  a  mighty  performance.  But  then  the 
measure,  by  which  we  must  judge  of  this,  is  by  considering 
what  is  the  end  or  design  driven  at  in  such  a  wonderful  work: 
if  it  is  a  good  one,  if  it  tends  to  reform  the  manners  of  men, 
and  to  bring  them  off  from  magic,  idolatry,  and  superstition, 
to  the  worship  of  one  pure  and  eternal  Mind ;  and  if  it  tends 
to  reform  their  actions,  as  well  as  their  speculations  and  their 
worship;  to  turn  them  from  immorality,  falsehood,  and 
malice,  to  a  pure,  a  sincere,  and  a  mild  temper ;  if  it  tends  to 
regulate  society,  as  well  as  to  perfect  the  nature  and  faculties 
of  every  single  man;  then  we  may  well  conclude,  that  no  evil 
spirit  can  so  far  depart  from  its  own  nature,  as  to  join  its 
ratt.^xu.  forces,  and  co-operate  in  such  a  design :  for  then,  the  king- 
'  '  dom  of  Satan  could  not  stand,  if  he  were  thus  divided  against 
himself  according  to  what  our  Saviour  said,  when  this  was 
objected  against  the  miracles  that  he  wrought. 

These  are  all  the  general  considerations  that  concur  to 
prove  the  truth  of  the  history  of  the  gospel,  of  which  the 
resurrection  and  ascension  of  Christ  are  the  two  main  arti- 
cles ;  for  they,  being  well  proved,  give  authority  to  all  the 
rest.  As  to  the  resurrection  in  particular,  it  is  certain  the 
apostles  could  not  be  deceived  in  that  matter :  they  saw 
Christ  frequently  after  he  rose  from  the  dead ;  they  met  him 
once  with  a  great  company  of  five  hundred  with  them  :  they 
heard  him  talk  and  argue  with  them ;  he  opened  the  scrip- 
tures to  them  with  so  peculiar  an  energy,  that  they  felt  their 
hearts  set  on  fire,  even  when  they  did  not  yet  perceive  that  it 
was  he  himself :  they  did  not  at  first  either  look  for  his  resur- 
rection, nor  believe  those  who  reported  him  risen :  they 
made  all  due  inquiry,  and  some  of  them  went  beyond  ail 
reasonable  bounds  in  their  doubting :  so  far  were  they  from 
an  easy  and  soon-imposed-on  credulity.  His  sufferings  and 
their  own  fears  had  so  amazed  them,  that  they  were  con- 
triving how  to  separate  and  disperse  themselves  when  he  at 
first  appeared  to  them.  Men  so  full  of  fear,  and  so  far  from 
all  hope,  are  not  apt  to  be  easy  in  believing.  So  it  must  be 
concluded,  that  either  the  account  which  the  apostles  gave 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


the  world  of  Christ's  resurrection  is  true  :  or  they  were  gross  A  R  T. 
impostors  ;  since  it  is  clear,  that  the  circumstances  and  num-  IV- 
bers,  mentioned  in  that  history,  shew  there  could  be  no 
deception  in  it.  And  it  is  as  little  possible  to  conceive  that 
there  could  be  any  imposture  in  it :  for,  not  to  repeat  again 
what  has  been  already  said,  that  they  were  under  no  tempta- 
tions to  set  about  any  such  deceit,  but  very  much  to  the 
contrary ;  and  that  there  is  no  reason  to  think  they  were 
either  bad  enough  to  enter  upon  such  a  design,  or  capable 
and  skilful  enough  to  manage  it ;  they  being  many  of  them 
illiterate  fishermen  of  Galilee,  who  had  no  acquaintance  at 
Jerusalem  to  furnish  them  with  that  which  might  be  neces- 
sary for  executing  such  a  contrivance :  the  circumstances  of 
that  transaction  are  to  be  well  examined,  and  then  it  will 
appear  that  no  number  of  bold  and  dexterous  men,  furnished 
with  all  advantages  whatsoever,  could  have  effected  this 
matter. 

Great  numbers  had  been  engaged  in  the  procuring  our 
Saviour  to  be  crucified :  the  whole  sanhedrim,  besides  mul- 
titudes of  the  people,  who  upon  all  occasions  are  easily  drawn 
in  to  engage  in  tumultuary  commotions  :  all  these  were  con- 
cerned to  examine  the  event  of  this  matter.  He  was  buried  in 
a  new  sepulchre  lately  hewed  out  of  a  rock,  so  that  there  was 
no  coming  at  it  by  any  secret  ways :  a  watch  was  set :  and  all 
this  at  a  time  in  which  the  full-moon  gave  a  great  light  all  the 
night  long:  and  Jerusalem  being  very  full  of  people  who  were 
then  there  in  great  numbers  to  keep  the  passover,  that  being 
the  second  night  of  so  vast  a  rendezvous,  it  is  reasonable  to 
think  that  great  numbers  were  walking  in  the  fields,  or  at  least 
might  be  so,  some  later,  and  some  earlier.  Now,  if  an  imposture 
was  to  be  set  about,  the  guard  was  to  be  frighted  or  mastered, 
which  could  not  be  done  without  giving  the  alarm,  and  that 
must  have  quickly  brought  a  multitude  upon  them.  Christ's 
body  must  have  been  disposed  of :  some  other  tomb  was  to 
be  looked  for  to  lodge  it  in :  the  wounds  that  were  in  it  would 
have  made  it  to  be  soon  known  if  found. 

H  ere  a  bold  attempt  was  to  be  undertaken,  by  a  company 
of  poor  irresolute  men,  who  must  trust  one  another  entirely, 
otherways  they  knew  all  might  soon  be  discovered.  One  of 
their  number  had  betrayed  Christ  a  few  days  before;  an- 
other had  forsworn  him,  and  all  had  forsaken  him ;  and  yet 
these  men  are  supposed  all  of  the  sudden  so  firm  in  them- 
selves, and  so  sure  of  one  another,  as  to  venture  on  the  most 
daring  thing  that  was  ever  undertaken  by  men,  when  not  a 
circumstance  could  ever  be  found  out  to  fix  upon  them  the 
least  suspicion.  The  priests  and  the  Pharisees  must  be 
thought  a  strange  stupid  sort  of  creatures,  if  they  did  not  ex- 
amine where  the  apostles  were  all  that  night :  besides  many 
other  particulars,  which  might  have  been  a  thread  to  lead 
them  into  strict  inquiries,  unless  it  was  because,  they  believed 


80 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  the  report  that  the  watch  had  brought  them  of  Christ's  rising 
Iv-  again.  When  they  had  this  certain  reason  to  believe  it,  and 
yet  resolved  to  oppose  it,  the  only  thing  they  could  do  was  to 
seem  to  neglect  the  matter,  and  only  to  decry  it  in  general  as 
an  imposture,  without  going  into  particulars  :  which  certainly 
they  would  not  have  done,  if  they  themselves  had  not  been 
but  too  sure  of  the  truth  of  it. 

When  all  this  is  laid  together,  it  is  the  most  unreasonable 
thing  imaginable  to  think  that  there  was  an  imposture  in  this 
matter,  when  no  colour  nor  shadow  of  it  ever  appeared,  and 
when  all  the  circumstances,  and  not  only  probabilities,  but 
even  moral  possibilities,  are  so  full  to  the  contrary. 

The  ascension  of  Christ  has  not  indeed  so  full  a  proof :  nor 
is  it  capable  of  it,  neither  does  it  need  it;  for  the  resurrec- 
tion, well  proved,  makes  that  very  credible.  For  this  we 
have  only  the  testimony  of  the  apostles,  who  did  all  attest 
that  they  saw  it,  being  all  together  in  an  open  field :  when 
Christ  was  walking  and  discoursing  with  them,  and  when  he 
was  blessing  them,  he  was  parted  from  them :  they  saw  him 
ascend,  till  a  cloud  received  him,  and  took  him  out  of  their 
sight.  And  then  two  angels  appeared  to  them,  and  assured 
Acts i.  ll.  them  that  'he  should  come  again  in  like  manner  as  they  had 
seen  him  ascend.'  Here  is  a  very  particular  relation,  with 
many  circumstances  in  it,  in  which  it  was  not  possible  for  the 
apostles  to  be  mistaken ;  so  that,  there  being  no  reason  to 
suspect  their  credit,  this  rests  upon  that  authority.  But  ten 
days  after,  it  received  a  much  clearer  proof ;  when  the  Holy 
Ghost  was  poured  out  on  them  in  so  visible  a  manner,  and 
with  most  remarkable  effects.  Immediately  upon  it  they 
spoke  with  divers  tongues,  and  wrought  many  miracles,  and  all 
in  the  name  of  Christ.  They  did  often  and  solemnly  disclaim 
their  doing  any  of  those  wonderful  things  by  any  power  of 
Actsiii.  12,  their  own:  they  owned  that  all  they  had  or  did  was  derived 
16,  to  them  from  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  of  whose  resurrection  and 
ascension  they  were  appointed  to  be  the  witnesses. 

Christ's  coming  again  to  judge  the  world  at  the  last  day  is 
so  often  affirmed  by  himself  in  the  gospel,  and  is  so  frequently 
mentioned  in  the  writings  of  his  apostles,  that  this  is  a  main 
part  of  his  doctrine ;  so  that  his  resurrection,  ascension,  to- 
gether with  the  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  having  in  general 
proved  his  mission,  and  his  whole  doctrine,  this  is  also  proved 
by  them.  Enough  seems  to  be  said  in  proof  of  all  the  parts 
of  this  Article;  it  remains  only  that  somewhat  should  be 
added  in  explanation  of  them. 

As  to  the  resurrection,  it  is  to  little  purpose  to  inquire, 
whether  our  Saviour's  body  was  kept  all  the  while  in  a 
complete  organization,  that  so  by  this  miracle  it  might  be 
preserved  in  a  natural  state,  for  his  soul  to  re-enter  it :  or 
whether  bv  the  course  of  nature  the  vast  number  of  the 
inward  conveyances  that  were  in  the  body  were  stopped; 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


81 


and  if  all  of  a  sudden,  when  the  time  of  the  resurrection  came,  ART. 

all  was  again  put  in  a  vital  state,  fit  to  be  animated  by  his  IV' 

soul.  There  must  have  been  a  miracle  either  way :  so  it  is 
to  little  purpose  to  inquire  into  it.  The  former,  though  a 
continued  miracle,  yet  seems  to  agree  more  fully  to  these 
words,  'Thou  wilt  not  suffer  thy  Holy  One  to  see  corrup-  Ps.xvi.  10. 
tion.'  It  is  to  as  little  purpose  to  inquire  how  our  Saviour's 
new  body  was  supplied  with  blood,  since  he  had  lost  the 
greatest  part  of  it  on  the  cross  :  whether  that  was  again  by 
the  power  of  God  brought  back  into  his  veins ;  or  whether, 
as  he  himself  had  formerly  said,  that  f  man  lives  not  by  bread  Deut.  viii. 
alone,  but  by  every  word  that  proceeds  out  of  the  mouth  of  3. 
God,'  blood  was  supplied  by  miracle:  or  whether  his  body,  Matt,IV-*- 
that  was  then  of  the  nature  of  a  glorified  body,  though  yet  on 
earth,  needed  the  supplies  of  blood  to  furnish  new  spirits  for 
serving  the  natural  functions ;  he  eating  and  drinking  so 
seldom,  that  we  may  well  believe  it  was  done  rather  to  satisfy 
his  apostles,  than  to  answer  the  necessities  of  nature ;  these 
are  curiosities  that  signify  so  little,  if  we  could  certainly 
resolve  them,  that  it  is  to  no  purpose  to  inquire  about  them, 
since  we  cannot  know  what  to  determine  in  them.  This  in 
general  is  certain,  that  the  same  soul  returned  back  to  the 
same  body ;  so  that  the  same  man  who  died,  rose  again ;  and 
that  is  our  faith.  We  need  not  trouble  ourselves  with  inquir- 
ing how  to  make  out  the  three  days  of  Christ's  being  in  the 
grave ;  days  stand,  in  the  common  acceptation,  for  a  portion 
of  a  day.  We  know  the  Jews  were  very  exact  to  the  rest  on 
the  sabbath,  so  the  body  was  without  question  laid  in  the 
grave  before  the  sun-set  on  Friday  ;  so  that  was  the  first  day ; 
the  sabbath  was  a  complete  one;  and  a  good  part  of  the  third 
day,  that  is,  the  night,  with  which  the  Jews  began  to  count 
the  day,  was  over  before  he  was  raised  up. 

As  for  his  stay  on  earth  forty  days,  we  cannot  pretend  to 
give  an  account  of  it ;  whether  his  body  was  passing  through 
a  slow  and  physical  purification,  to  be  meet  for  ascending; 
or  whether  he  intended  to  keep  a  proportion  between  his 
gospel  and  the  law  of  Moses ;  that  as  he  suffered  at  the  time 
of  their  killing  the  passover,  so  the  effusion  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  was  fixed  for  Pentecost,  and  that  therefore  he  would 
stay  on  earth  till  that  time  was  near,  not  to  put  his  apostles 
upon  too  long  an  expectation  without  his  presence ;  which 
might  be  necessary  to  animate  them,  till  they  should  be  en- 
dued with  power  from  on  high.  As  to  the  manner  of  his 
ascension,  it  is  also  questioned  whether  the  body  of  Christ,  as 
it  ascended,  was  so  wonderfully  changed,  as  to  put  on  the 
subtilty  and  purity  of  an  ethereal  body  ;  or  whether  it  retains 
still  the  same  form  in  heaven  that  it  had  on  earth ;  or  if  it 
put  on  a  new  one  :  it  is  more  probable  that  it  did ;  and  that 
the  wonderful  glory  that  appeared  in  his  countenance  and 
whole  person  at  his  transfiguration,  was  a  manifestation  of 

G 


82 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.    that  more  permanent  glory,  to  which  it  was  to  be  afterwards 
Iv-     exalted.    It  seems  probable  from  what  St.  Paul  says,  ('that 
j  Cor  xy  flesh  and  blood  shall  not  inherit  the  kingdom  of  God,5  which 
50.         relates  to  our  glorified  bodies,  when  4  we  shall  bear  the  image 
of  the  second  and  the  heavenly  Adam,')  that  Christ's  body 
has  no  more  the  modifications  of  flesh  and  blood  in  it ;  and 
that  the  glory  of  the  celestial  body  is  of  another  nature  and 
Ver.  -»0.    texture  than  that  of  the  terrestrial.    It  is  easily  imagined 
how  this  may  be,  and  yet  the  body  to  be  numerically  the 
same  :  for,  all  matter  being  uniform,  and  capable  of  all  sort  of 
motion,  and  by  consequence  of  being  either  much  grosser  or 
much  purer,  the  same  portion  of  matter  that  made  a  thick 
and  heavy  body  here  on  earth,  may  be  put  into  that  purity 
and  fineness  as  to  be  no  longer  a  fit  inhabitant  of  this  earth, 
or  to  breathe  this  air,  but  to  be  meet  to  be  transplanted  into 
ethereal  regions. 

Christ  as  he  went  up  into  heaven,  so  he  had  the  whole 
government  of  this  world  put  into  his  hands,  and  the  whole 
ministry  of  angels  put  under  his  command,  even  in  his  human 
27C28  *V  nature.    So  that  '  all  things  are  now  in  subjection  to  him.' 

All  power  and  authority  is  derived  from  him,  and  he  does 
Colos.i.l9.  whatsoever  he  pleases  both  in  heaven  and  earth.    '  In  him  all 
"*9-        fulness  dwells.'    And  as,  the  Mosaical  tabernacle  being  filled 
with  glory,  the  emanations  of  it  did  by  the  Urim  and  Thum- 
mim  enlighten  and  direct  that  people,  so,  out  of  that  fulness, 
that  dwelt  bodily  in  Christ,  there  is  a  constant  emanation  of 
Rom.  viii.  his  grace  and  spirit  descending  on  his  church.    He  does  also 
?4'         intercede  for  us  at  his  Father's  right  hand,  where  he  is  pre- 
2.  paring  a  place  for  us.     ihe  meaning  of  all  which  is  this,  that 

as  he  is  vested  with  an  unconceivably  high  degree  of  glory, 
even  as  man,  so  the  merit  of  his  death  is  still  fresh  and 
entire ;  and  in  the  virtue  of  that,  the  sins  of  all  that  come  to 
God  through  him,  claiming  to  his  death  as  to  their  sacrifice, 
Eph.i.  13,  and  obeying  his  gospel,  are  pardoned,  and  they  are  'sealed 
14-         by  his  Spirit  until  the  day  of  redemption.'    In  conclusion, 
when  all  God's  design  with  this  world  is  accomplished,  it 
shall  be  set  on  fire,  and  all  the  great  parts  of  which  it  is 
2  Pet.  iii.  composed,  as  of  elements,  shall  be  melted  and  burnt  down  ; 
10, 12.     aucj  ^en  when  by  that  fire  probably  the  portions  of  matter, 
which  was  in  the  bodies  of  all  who  have  lived  upon  earth, 
shall  be  so  far  refined  and  fixed,  as  to  become  both  incorrup- 
tible and  immortal,  then  they  shall  be  made  meet  for  the 
souls  that  formerly  animated  them,  to  re-enter  every  one  into 
Dan.vii.  9,  his  own  body,  which  shall  be  then  so  moulded  as  to  be  a 
|^ev  j  7   habitation  fit  to  give  it  everlasting  joy  or  everlasting  torment. 
Matt.  xxv.     Then  shall  Christ  appear  visibly  in  some  very  conspicuous 
31.         place  in  the  clouds  of  heaven,  where  every  eye  shall  see  him  : 
he  shall  appear  in  his  '  own  glory,'  that  is,  in  his  human 
glorified  body :  he  shall  appear  in  the  '  glory  of  his  angels/ 
having  vast  numbers  of  these  about  him,  attending  on  him : 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


83 


but,  which  is  above  all,  he  shall  appear  in  'his  Father's  ART. 
glory;'  that  is,  there  shall  be  then  a  most  wonderful  mani-  *v- 
testation  of  the  eternal  Godhead  dwelling  in  him  ;  and  then  j  uke  ix< 
shall  he  pass  a  final  sentence  upon  all  that  ever  lived  upon  26. 
earth,  according  to  all  that  they  have  done  in  the  body,  I?om-  xiv* 
whether  it  be  good  or  bad.    The  righteous  shall  ascend  as  he  Matt.xxv. 
did,  and  shall  meet  him  in  the  clouds,  and  be  for  ever  with  31—46. 
him ;  and  the  wicked  shall  sink  into  a  state  of  darkness  and  j0Cor"  v" 
misery,  of  unspeakable  horror  of  mind,  and  everlasting  pain  i  fhes.  iv. 
and  torment.  17. 

Dan.xii.2. 
Malt.  xxv. 
46. 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART. 

v. 

ARTICLE  V. 

Of  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Wt)t  &oIp  ©host  proceeding;  from  the  dfatljer  anil  the  £on,  tst  of  out 
Substance,  lilajcdtj),  and  ©lory,  luith  tlje  dfathjr  anil  tlje  ^on, 
beru  antr  eternal  4Sotl. 

In  order  to  the  explaining  this  Article,  we  must  consider,  first, 
the  importance  of  the  term  Spirit,  or  Holy  Spirit ;  secondly, 
his  procession  from  the  Father  and  the  Son ;  and,  thirdly,  that 
he  is  truly  God,  of  the  same  substance  with  the  Father  and  the 
Son.  Spirit  signifies  wind  or  breath,  and  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment it  stands  frequently  in  that  sense :  the  Spirit  of  God,  or 
wind  of  God,  stands  sometimes  for  a  high  and  strong  wind ; 
but  more  frequently  it  signifies  a  secret  impression  made  by 
God  on  the  mind  of  a  prophet :  so  that  the  Spirit  of  God  and 
the  spirit  of  prophecy  are  set  in  opposition  to  the  vain  imagina- 
tions, the  false  pretences,  or  the  diabolical  illusions,  of  those 
who  assumed  to  themselves  the  name  and  the  authority  of  a 
prophet,  without  a  true  mission  from  God.  But  when  God 
made  representations  either  in  a  dream  or  in  an  ecstasy  to  any 
person,  or  imprinted  a  sense  of  his  will  on  their  minds,  toge- 
ther with  such  necessary  characters  as  gave  it  proof  and  autho- 
rity, this  was  an  illapse  from  God,  as  a  breathing  from  him  on 
the  soul  of  the  prophet. 

In  the  New  Testament  this  word  Holy  Ghost  stands  most 
commonly  for  that  wonderful  effusion  of  those  miraculous  vir- 
tues that  was  poured  out  at  Pentecost  on  the  apostles ;  by 
which  their  spirits  were  not  only  exalted  with  extraordinary 
degrees  of  zeal  and  courage,  of  authority  and  utterance,  but 
they  were  furnished  with  the  gifts  of  tongues  and  of  miracles. 
And  besides  that  first  and  great  effusion,  several  Christians 
received  particular  talents  and  inspirations,  which  are  most 
commonly  expressed  by  the  word  Spirit  or  inspiration.  Those 
inward  assistances,  by  which  the  frame  and  temper  of  men's 
minds  are  changed  and  renewed,  are  likewise  called  the  Spirit, 
John  Ui.  3,  or  the  Holy  Spirit,  or  Holy  Ghost.    So  Christ  said  to  Nicode- 
6'  6-       mus,  that  '  except  a  man  was  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit, 
Luke  xi.    he  cannot  see  the  kingdom  of  God ;'  and  that  his  '  heavenly 
13.         Father  would  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  every  one  that  asked 
him.'    By  these  it  is  plain,  that  extraordinary  or  miraculous 
inspirations  are  not  meant,  for  these  are  not  every  Christian's 
portion ;  there  is  no  question  made  of  all  this. 

The  main  question  is,  whether  by  Spirit,  or  Holy  Spirit,  we 
are  to  understand  one  person,  that  is  the  fountain  of  all  those 
gifts  and  operations ;  or  whether  by  one  Spirit  is  only  to  be 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


85 


meant  the  power  of  God  flowing  out  and  shewing  itself  in  ART. 
many  wonderful  operations.    The  adversaries  of  the  Trinity  V- 
will  have  the  Spirit,  or  Holy  Spirit,  to  signify  no  person,  but  ~~ 
only  the  divine  gifts  or  operations.    But  in  opposition  to  this  John  xiv. 
it  is  plain,  that  in  our  Saviour's  last  and  long  discourse  to  his  16,  26- 
disciples,  in  which  he  promised  to  send  them  his  Spirit,  he 
calls  him  another  Comforter,  to  be  sent  in  his  stead,  or  to  sup- 
ply his  absence ;  and  the  whole  tenor  of  the  discourse  runs  on 
him  as  a  person :  1  He  shall  abide  with  you :  he  shall  guide  John  xvi. 
you  into  all  truth;  and  shew  you  things  to  come.    He  shall  8—13. 
bring  all  things  into  your  remembrance  :  he  shall  convince  the 
world  of  sin,  of  righteousness,  and  of  judgment.'    In  all  these 
places  he  is  so  plainly  spoken  of,  not  as  a  quality  or  operation, 
but  as  a  person ;  and  that  without  any  key  or  rule  to  under- 
stand the  words  otherwise,  that  this  alone  may  serve  to  deter- 
mine the  matter  now  in  dispute.    Christ's  commission  to 
preach  and  baptize  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost,  does  plainly  make  him  a  person,  since  it  cannot 
be  said  that  we  are  to  be  called  by  the  name  of  a  virtue  or 
operation.    St.  Paul  does  also,  in  a  long  discourse  upon  the  l  Cor.  xii. 
diversity  of  gifts,  administrations,  and  operations,  ascribe  them       9* l1, 
all  to  one  Spirit,  as  their  author  and  fountain :  of  whom  he 
speaks  as  of  a  person,  distributing  these  in  order  to  several 
ends,  and  in  different  measures.    He  speaks  of  the  Spirit's  l  Cor.  ii. 
'  searching  all  things,'  of  his  '  interceding  for  us,'  of  our  }{0^ 
'grieving  the  Spirit,  by  which  we  are  sealed.'    This  is  the  lan-  26. 
guage  used  concerning  a  person,  not  a  quality.    £  All  these,'  J"-Hn- 
says  he,  'worketh  that  one  and  the  self-same  Spirit,  dividing  30- 
to  every  man  severally  as  he  will.'    Now  it  is  not  to  be  con- 
ceived, how  that  both  our  Saviour  and  his  apostles  should  use 
the  phrase  of  a  person  so  constantly  in  speaking  of  the  Spirit, 
and  should  so  critically  and  in  the  way  of  argument  pursue 
that  strain,  if  he  is  not  a  person :  they  not  only  insist  on  it, 
and  repeat  it  frequently,  but  they  draw  an  argument  from  it 
for  union  and  love,  and  for  mutual  condescension  and  sympa- 
thy.   Upon  all  these  grounds  it  is  evident,  that  the  Holy  Spi- 
rit is  in  the  scripture  proposed  to  us  as  a  person,  under  whose 
economy  all  the  various  gifts,  administrations,  and  operations, 
that  are  in  the  church,  are  put. 

The  second  particular  relating  to  this  Article  is,  the  pro- 
cession of  this  Spirit  from  the  Father  and  the  Son.  The  word 
procession,  or,  as  the  schoolmen  term  it,  spiration,  is  only  made 
use  of  in  order  to  the  naming  this  relation  of  the  Spirit  to  the 
father  and  Son,  in  such  a  manner  as  may  best  answer  the 
sense  of  the  word  Spirit :  for  it  must  be  confessed  that  we  can 
frame  no  explicit  idea  of  this  matter :  and  therefore  we  must 
speak  of  it  either  strictly  in  scripture  words,  or  in  such  words 
as  arise  out  of  them,  and  that  have  the  same  signification  with 
them.  It  is  therefore  a  vain  attempt  of  the  schoolmen  to 
undertake  to  give  a  reason  why  the  second  person  is  said  to 


86 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  be  generated,  and  so  is  called  Son,  and  the  third  to  proceed, 
v-  and  so  is  called  Spirit.  All  these  subtilties  can  have  no 
foundation,  and  signify  nothing  towards  the  clearing  this 
matter,  which  is  rather  darkened  than  cleared  by  a  pretended 
illustration.  In  a  word,  as  we  should  never  have  believed  this 
mystery,  if  the  scripture  had  not  revealed  it  to  us,  so  we  un- 
derstand nothing  concerning  it,  besides  what  is  contained  in 
the  scriptures  :  and  therefore,  if  in  any  thing,  we  must  think 
soberly  upon  those  subjects.  The  scriptures  call  the  second, 
Son,  and  the  third,  Spirit ;  so  generation  and  procession  are 
words  that  may  well  be  used,  but  they  are  words  concerning 
which  we  can  form  no  distinct  conception.  We  only  use  them 
because  they  belong  to  the  words  Son  and  Spirit.  The  Spirit, 
in  things  that  we  do  undei  jtand,  is  somewhat  that  proceeds, 
and  the  Son  is  a  person  begotten  ;  we  therefore,  believing  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  is  a  person,  apply  the  word  procession  to  the 
manner  of  his  emanation  from  the  Father ;  though  at  the  same 
time  we  must  acknowledge  that  we  have  no  distinct  thought 
concerning  it.  So  much  in  general  concerning  procession.  It 
has  been  much  controverted  whether  the  Holy  Spirit  proceeds 
from  the  Father  only,  or  from  the  Father  and  the  Son. 

In  the  first  disputes  concerning  the  divinity  of  the  Holy 
Ghost  with  the  Macedonians,  who  denied  it,  there  was  no  other 
contest  but  whether  he  was  truly  God  or  not.  When  that 
was  settled  by  the  council  of  Constantinople,  it  was  made  a 
part  of  the  Creed  ;  but  it  was  only  said  that  he  proceeded  from 
the  Father :  and  the  council  of  Ephesus  soon  after  that  fixed 
on  that  Creed,  decreeing  that  no  additions  should  be  made  to 
it :  yet  about  the  end  of  the  sixth  century,  in  the  western 
church  an  addition  was  made  to  the  article,  by  which  the  Holy 
Ghost  was  affirmed  to  proceed  from  the  Son,  as  well  as  from 
the  Father.  And  when  the  eastern  and  western  churches,  in 
the  ninth  century,  fell  into  an  humour  of  quarrelling  upon  the 
account  of  jurisdiction,  after  some  time  of  anger,  in  which  they 
seem  to  be  searching  for  matter  to  reproach  one  another  with, 
they  found  out  this  difference :  the  Greeks  reproached  the 
Latins  for  thus  adding  to  the  faith,  and  corrupting  the  ancient 
symbol,  and  that  contrary  to  the  decree  of  a  general  council. 
The  Latins,  on  the  other  hand,  charged  them  for  detracting 
from  the  dignity  of  the  Son  :  and  this  became  the  chief  point 
in  controversy  between  them. 

Here  was  certainly  a  very  unhappy  dispute ;  inconsiderable 
in  its  original,  but  fatal  in  its  consequences.  We  of  this 
church,  though  we  abhor  the  cruelty  of  condemning  the  eastern 
churches  for  such  a  difference,  yet  do  receive  the  Creed  accord- 
ing to  the  usage  of  the  western  churches  :  and  therefore,  though 
we  do  not  pretend  to  explain  what  procession  is,  we  believe 
according  to  the  Article,  that  the  Holy  Ghost  proceeds  both 
from  the  Father  and  the  Son :  because  in  that  discourse  of 
our  Saviour's  that  contains  the  promise  of  the  Spirit,  and  that 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


87 


long  description  of  him  as  a  person,  Christ  not  only  says,  that  ART. 
'  the  Father  will  send  the  Spirit  in  his  name,'  hut  adds,  that  v- 
£he  will  send  the  Spirit;'  and  though  he  says  next,  'who  pro-  |ohn  xiv- 
ceedeth  from  the  Father,'  yet  since  he  sends  him,  and  that  he  26. 
was  to  supply  his  room,  and  to  act  in  his  name,  this  implies  a  ^l,n 
relation,  and  a  sort  of  subordination  in  the  Spirit  to  the  Son. 
Thii  may  serve  to  justify  our  adhering  to  the  Creeds,  as  they 
had  been  for  many  ages  received  in  the  western  church :  but 
we  are  far  from  thinking  that  this  proof  is  so  full  and  explicit, 
as  to  justify  our  separating  from  any  church,  or  condemning 
it,  that  should  stick  exactly  to  the  first  Creeds,  and  reject  this 
addition. 

The  third  branch  of  the  Article  is,  that  this  Holy  Ghost  or 
person,  thus  proceeding,  is  truly  God,  of  the  same  substance 
with  the  Father  and  the  Son.    That  he  is  God,  was  formerly 
proved  by  those  passages  in  which  the  whole  Trinity  in  all  the 
three  persons  is  affirmed :  but  besides  that,  '  the  lying  to  the  Acts  v.  34. 
Holy  Ghost'  by  Ananias  and  Sapphira,  is  said  to  be  'a  lying 
not  unto  men,  but  to  God :'  his  being  called  '  another  Com-  John  xiv. 
forter;  his  teaching  all  things;  his  guiding  into  all  truth;  his  16.26.  wi. 
telling  things  to  come  ;  his  searching  all  things,  even  the  deep  x  ,'.or 
things  of  God;'  his  being  called  'the  Spirit  of  the  Lord,'  in  10.  U. 
opposition  to  'the  spirit  of  a  man;  his  making  intercession  "oni-  v"'- 
for  us ;  his  changing  us  into  the  same  image  with  Christ,'  are  2  cor 
all  such  plain  characters  of  his  being  God,  that  those  who  deny  17,  18. 
that,  are  well  aware  of  this,  that,  if  it  is  once  proved  that  he 
is  a  person,  it  will  follow  that  he  must  be  God  ;  therefore  all 
that  was  said  to  prove  him  a  person  is  here  to  be  remembered 
as  a  proof  that  he  is  trulv  God.    So  that  though  there  is  not 
such  a  variety  of  proofs  for  this,  as  there  was  for  the  divinity 
of  the  Son,  yet  the  proof  of  it  is  plain  and  clear.    And  from 
what  was  said  upon  the  first  Article  concerning  the  unity  of 
God,  it  is  also  certain,  that  if  he  is  God,  he  must  be  of  one 
substance,  majesty,  and  glory,  ivith  the  Father  and  the  Son. 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART. 
VI 


ARTICLE  VI. 


Of  the  Sufficiency  of  Holy  Scriptures  for  Salvation. 

Holp  Scripture  eontatncth  all  things  ncccSSarp  to  ^albatton :  So 
thatluhatsocbcris  not  rcatf  therein,  nor  map  be  probrtf  thcrebp,  is 
not  to  be  rrqutrctl  of  am?  ;filan,  that  it  Shoulo"  be  belicbell  as  an 
Article  of  dfatth,  or  to  be  thought  requisite  or  ncccSSarp  to  &alba* 
tion.  h\  the  name  of  the  $?o!p  Scripture  foe  fco  untirrStano'  those 
Canonical  33oohS  of  the  <©ITJ  anfc  fit\a  Testament,  of  whose 
Suthoritp  was  neber  anp  toubt  in  the  Church. 

Of  the  Names  and  Number  of  the  Canonical  Books. 


Genesis 

Exodus 

Leviticus 

Numbers 

Deuteronomy 

Joshua 

Judges 

Ruth 

The  First  Book  of  Samuel 
The  Second  Book  of  Samuel 
The  First  Book  of  Kings 
The  Second  Book  of  Kings 


The  First  Book  of  Chronicles 
The  Second  Book  of  Chronicles 
The  First  Book  of  Esdras 
The  Second  Book  of  Esdras 
The  Book  of  Esther 
The  Book  of  Job 
The  Psalms 
The  Proverbs 
Ecclesiasles  or  Preacher 
Canlica  or  Song  of  Solomon 
Four  Prophets  the  greater 
Twelve  Prophets  the  less. 


flnti  the  otljer  Jooofcs  (as  Hierom  saith)  the  Church  ifoth  reafc  for 
Crrample  of  Eife,  anto  finstructton  of  fHannerS  ;  but  pet  it  tJoth 
not  applp  them  to  establish  anJ?  Soctrtnc.  Jhtch  are  these  fol* 
lowing : 

Baruch  the  Prophet 
The  Song  of  the  Three  Children 
The  History  of  Susanna 
Of  Bel  and  the  Dragon 
The  Prayer  of  Manasses 
The  First  Book  of  Maccabees 
The  Second  Book  of  Maccabees. 


The  Third  Book  of  Esdras 
The  Fourth  Book  of  Esdras 
The  Book  of  Tobias 
The  Book  of  Judith 
The  rest  of  the  Book  of  Esther 
The  Book  of  Wisdom 
Jesus  the  Son  of  Syrach 


2W  the  33oohs  of  the  Jlcfo  CeStament  as  thep  are  romntonlp  rerctbeo*, 
toe  So  reccibe,  anH  account  them  Canonical.* 

•  The  following  is  the  new  canon  of  scripture  first  set  forth  by  the  council  of 
Trent,  and  afterwards  confirmed  and  declared  necessary  to  be  received,  with  other 
articles  of  faith,  by  the  bull  of  Pope  Pius  IV.,  A.D.  1564. 

'  Sacrosancta  oecumenica  etgeneralis  tridentina  synodus,  in  Spiritu  Sancto  legitime 
congregata,  praesidentibus  in  ea  eisdem  tribus  apostolicae  sedis  legatis,  hoc  sibi  per- 
petuo  ante  oculos  proponens,  ut  sublatis  erroribus,  puritas  ipsa  evangelii  in  ecclesia 
conservetur  quod  promissum  ante  prophetas  in  scripturas  Sanctis,  Dominus  noster 
Jesus  Christus  Dei  Filius,  proprio  ore  primum  promulgavit :  deinde  per  suos  apo»- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


89 


In  this  Article  there  are  two  important  heads,  and  to  each  of  ART. 
them  a  proper  consequence  does  belong.  The  first  is,  that  the  VI- 
holy  scriptures  do  contain  all  things  necessary  to  salvation : 
the  negative  consequence  that  ariseth  out  of  that  is,  that  no 
article  that  is  not  either  read  in  it,  or  that  may  not  be  proved 
by  it,  is  to  be  required  to  be  believed  as  an  article  of  faith,  or 
to  be  thought  necessary  to  salvation.  The  second  is,  the 
settling  the  canon  of  the  scripture  both  of  the  Old  and  New 
Testament ;  and  the  consequence  that  arises  out  of  that  is,  the 
rejecting  the  books  commonly  called  Apocryphal,  which,  though 
they  may  be  read  by  the  church  for  example  of  life,  and  instruc- 
tion of  manners,  yet  are  no  part  of  the  canon,  nor  is  any  doc- 
trine to  be  established  by  them.* 


tolos  tanquam  fontcm  omnis  et  salutaris  veritatis,  ct  morum  discipline,  omni  creatures 
praedicari  jussit:  perspiciensque  hanc  veritatcm  et  disciplinam  contineri  in  libris 
scriptis,  et  sine  scripto  traditionibus,  quae  ipsius  Christi  ore  ab  apostolis  acceptae, 
aut  ab  ipsis  apostolis,  Spiritu  sancto  dictante,  quasi  per  manus  traditae,  ad  nos  usque 
pervenerunt ;  orthodoxorum  patrum  exempla  secuta,  omnes  libros  tam  veteris  quam 
novi  Testamenti,  cum  utriusque  unus  Deus  sit  auctor,  necnon  traditiones  ipsas,  turn 
ad  fidem,  turn  ad  mores  pertinentes,  tanquam  vel  ore  tcnus  a  Christo,  vel  a  Spiritu 
sancto  dictatas,  et  continua  successione  in  ecclesia  catholica  conservatas,  pari  pietatis 
affectu  ac  reverentia  suscipit,  et  veneratur.  Sacrorum  vero  librorum  indicem  huic 
Jci  i  adscribendum  censuit;  ne  cui  dubitatio  suboriri  possit,  quinam  suit,  qui  ab 
ipsa  synodo  suscipiuntur.  Sunt  vero  infra  scripti ;  Testamenti  veteris,  quinque 
Moysi,  id  est,  Genesis,  Exodus,  Leviticus,  Numeri,  Deuteronomium  :  Josue,  Judicum, 
Ruth,  quatuor  Regura,  duo  Paralipomenon,  Esdrae  primus  et  secundus  qui  dicitur 
Nehcmias ;  Tobias,  Judith,  Esther,  Job,  Psalterium  Davidicum  centum  quinquagenta 
psalmorum,  Parabolas,  Ecclcsiastes,  Canticum  canticorum,  Sapientia,  Ecclesiasticus, 
Isaias,  Jeremias  cum  Baruch,  Ezechiel,  Daniel ;  duodecim  prophetae  minores,  id  est, 
Osea,  Joel,  Amos,  Abdias,  Jonas,  Michaeas,  Nahum,  Habacuc,  Sophonias,  Aggaeus, 
Zacharias,  Malachias  ;  duo  Machabaeorum,  primus  et  secundus.  Testamenti  novi, 
quatuor  Evangelia,  secundum  Matthaeum,  Marcum,  Lucam  et  Joannum,  Actus 
Apostolorum  a  Luca  evangelista  conscripti  :  quatuordecim  Epistolae  Pauli  apostoli, 
ad  Romanos,  duae  ad  Corinthios,  ad  Galatas,  ad  Ephesios,  ad  Philippenses,  ad 
Colossenses,  duae  ad  Thessaloniccnses,  duae  ad  Timotheum,  ad  Titum,  ad  Philemo- 
nem,  ad  Hebraeos  :  Petri  apostoli  duae,  Joannis  apostoli  tres,  Jacobi  apostoli  una, 
Judae  apostoli  una,  et  Apocalypsis  Joannis  apostoli.  Si  quis  autem  libros  ipsos 
integros  cum  omnibus  suis  partibus,  prout  in  ecclesia  catholica  legi  consueverunt, 
et  in  veteri  vulgata  Latina  editione  habentur,  pro  sacris  et  canonicis  ncn  susceperit, 
et  traditiones  praedictas  sciens  et  prudens  contempserit ;  anathema  sit.' — Cone. 
Trid.  Sess.  iv. 

'  Caatera  item  omnia  a  sacris  canonibus,  et  oecumenicis  conciliis,  ac  prascipue  a 
8acrosancta  Tridentina  synodo  tradita,  definita,  et  declarata,  indubitanter  recipio 
atque  profiteor ;  simulque  contraria  omnia,  atque  haereses,  quascumque  ab  ecclesia 
damnatas,  rcjectas,  et  anathematizatas,  ego  pariter  damno,  rejicio  et  anathematizo. 
Hanc  veram  catholicam  fidem  extra  quam  nemo  salvus  esse  potest,  quam  in  praesenti 
sponte  profiteor  et  veraciter  teneo,  eamdem  integram  et  inviolatam  usque  ad  extre- 
mum  vitae  spiritum  eonstantissime,  Deo  adjuvante,  retinere  et  confitcri,  atque  a 
meis  subditis,  vel  illis  quorum  cura  ad  me  in  munere  meo  spectabit,  teneri,  doceri, 
et  praedicari,  quantum  in  me  erit,  curaturum,  ego  idem  N.  spondeo,  voveo,  ac  juro. 
Sic  me  Deus  adjuvet  et  haec  sancta  Dei  Evangelia.'  Bulla  Pii  IV.  sup.  form  jur. 
prof.Jid — [Ed.] 

*  The  books  not  admitted  into  the  canon  of  scripture  were  called  Apocryphal  

a  word  derived  from  aveic^ vrra,  '  to  hide,'  because  of  their  not  being  submitted  to 
public  inspection  as  the  inspired  books  were :  or,  according  to  others,  from  utc  rut 
Kgwrrti!,  because  they  were  not  admitted  into  the  ark,  the  place  where  the  canoni- 
cal books  were  deposited. 

'  Concerning  the  books  that  belong  to  the  New  Testament,  there  is  not  any 
difference  between  us  and  other  churches  about  them.  For  though  some  few  par- 
ticular  and  private  persons  have  both  of  late  and  heretofore, either  out  of  their  error 


90 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  After  the  main  foundations  of  religion  in  general,  in  the 
*  belief  of  a  God,  or  more  specially  of  the  Christian  religion  in 
the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  and  of  the  death,  resurrection, 
and  ascension  of  Christ,  are  laid  down ;  the  next  point  to  be 
settled  is,  what  is  the  inle  of  this  faith,  where  is  it  to  be 
found,  and  with  whom  is  it  lodged  ?  The  church  of  Rome 
and  we  do  both  agree,  that  the  scriptures  are  of  divine  inspira- 
tion :  those  of  that  communion  acknowledge,  that  every  thing 
which  is  contained  in  scripture  is  true,  and  comes  from  God  ; 
but  they  add  to  this,  that  the  books  of  the  New  Testament 


rejected,  or  out  of  their  curiosity  (more  than  befitted  them)  debated,  the  canonical 
authority  of  the  Epistle  of  St.  Paul  to  the  Hebrews,  the  Epistle  of  St.  J.-.mes,  the 
Second  Epistle  of  St.  Peter,  the  Second  and  Third  of  St.  John,  the  Epistle  of  St.  Jude, 
and  the  Apocalypse,  besides  some  other  lesser  parts  of  the  gospels  ;  yet  can  it  never 
be  shewed,  that  any  entire  church,  nor  that  any  national  or  provincial  council,  nor 
that  any  multitude  of  men  in  their  confessions  or  catechis.ns,  or  other  such  public 
writings,  have  rejected  them,  or  made  any  doubt  of  them  at  all.  Indeed,  Luther, 
and  some  certain  men  that  lived  with  him  in  Germany  (no  great  number  nor  partv 
of  them),  were  other  whiles  of  that  mind,  that  the  Epistle  of  St.  James,  &c,  might 
be  called  into  question,  whether  they  were  canonical,  or  no ;  but  afterwards  they 
amended  their  judgment,  and  persisted  no  longer  in  that  error,  wherein  seme  others 
of  the  Latin  church  (but  never  any  considerable  number  or  eminent  persons  there) 
had  been  involved  before  them.  And  at  this  day  all  the  churches  of  Christendom 
are  at  one  accord  for  the  books  of  the  New  Testament.  But  for  the  Old  Testament 
they  are  not  so.  For  herein  the  canon  of  the  council  at  Trent  hath  made  the  Roman 
church  to  differ  both  from  itself  (considered  as  it  was  in  former  ages)  and  from  all 
other  churches  besides,  by  adding  to  the  old  Canon  (strictly  and  properly  so  taken) 
six  entire  books  which  were  never  in  it  before,  that  is  to  say,  Tobit,  Ecclesiasticus, 
Wisdom,  Judith,  the  First  and  the  Second  of  the  Maccabees,  together  w  ith  certain  other 
pieces  of  Baruch,  Esther,  and  Daniel ;  all  which  before  the  time  of  this  new  council 
(where  the  Pope  and  his  partisans,  both  in  this  and  in  many  other  divine  matters  be- 
sides, took  a  most  enormous  liberty  to  define  what  they  pleased)  were  wont  to  be 
severed,  even  among  themselves,  from  the  true  canonical  scriptures.  To  the  body 
whereof  they  have  now  not  only  annexed  them,  and  made  the  one  to  be  of  equal 
authority  with  the  other,  but  they  have  likewise  added  this  above  all,  That  whoso- 
ever shall  not  receive  them,  as  they  do,  and  believe  them  to  be  as  good  canonical 
scriptures  as  the  rest  (that  is,  all  equally  inspired  by  God,  and  delivered  over  to 
his  church  for  such,  ever  since  they  were  first  written),  must  undergo  the  curse  of 
their  unhallowed  sentence,  and  be  made  incapable  of  eternal  salvation.  The  capa- 
citv  and  assured  hope  whereof,  though  (thanks  be  to  God)  it  never  was,  nor  never 
will  be,  in  their  power  to  take  from  us,  yet  have  they  laid  their  most  unchristian 
anathema  upon  all  other  churches  and  persons  of  the  world,  and  excluded  them 
from  all  possibility  of  being  saved,  unless  their  new  decree  in  this  particular,  and  the 
Pope's  new  creed  in  this  and  many  other  particulars  (as  unsound  and  as  false  as  this), 
be  first  received  and  believed  for  the  true  articles  of  our  Christian  faith.  By  which 
their  unsufferable  and  inexcusable  determination  in  that  council,  they  have  given 
the  world  sufficient  cause  to  reject  the  council,  if  there  were  no  other  reasons  to  be 
brought  against  it  (as  many  and  very  many  other  there  be)  but  this  alone — that 
herein  against  the  common  faith,  and  the  catholic  canon  of  the  church  of  God,  they 
have  gone  about  to  bind  all  men's  consciences  to  theirs,  and  given  no  more  iaith  or 
reverence  to  the  true  and  infallible  scriptures  of  God,  than  they  do  to  other  addi- 
tional books  and  w  ritings  of  men. 

'  For  the  w  hole  current  of  antiquity  runs  against  them.  And  the  universal  church 
of  Christ,  as  well  under  the  Old  as  the  New  Testament,  did  never  so  receive  these 
books,  which  are  now  by  us  termed  Apocryphal ;  nor  ever  acknowledged  them  to 
be  of  the  same  order,  authority,  or  reverence,  with  the  rest,  which  both  they  and  we 
call  strictly  and  properly  canonical. 

'  In  proof  whereof  we  shall  here  recite  the  testimony  of  the  church  in  every  age 
concerning  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  books  that  belong  thereunto. 
Where  the  question  will  not  be.  First,  Whether  those  Apocryphal  books  either  have 
oeen  heretofore,  or  may  still  be,  read  in  the  church,  for  the  better  instruction  and 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


91 


were  occasionally  written,  and  not  with  the  design  of  making  A  R 

them  the  full  rule  of  faith,  but  that  many  things  were  de-  ][* 

livered  orally  by  the  apostles,  which,  if  they  are  faithfully 
transmitted  to  us,  are  to  be  received  by  us  with  the  same 
submission  and  respect  that  we  pay  to  their  writings  :  and 
they  also  believe,  that  these  traditions  are  conveyed  down 
infallibly  to  us,  and  that  to  distinguish  betwixt  true  and  false 
doctrines  and  traditions,  there  must  be  an  infallible  authority 
lodged  by  Christ  with  his  church.  We,  on  the  contrary, 
affirm  that  the  scriptures  are  a  complete  rule  of  faith.*  and 


edifying  of  the  people  in  many  good  precepts  of  life  :  Second,  Nor  whether  they 
mav  be  joined  together  in  one  common  volume  with  the  Bible,  and  comprehended 
under  the  general  name  of  Holy  Scripture,  as  that  name  is  largely  and  improperly 
taken  :  Third,  Nor  whether  the  moral  rules,  and  profitable  histories  and  examples, 
therein  contained,  may  be  set  forth  and  cited  in  a  sermon  or  other  treatise  of  reli- 
gion :  Fourth,  Nor  whether  the  ancient  fathers  thought  these  books  (at  least  many 
passages  in  them)  worthy  of  their  particular  consideration  both  for  the  elucidation  of 
divers  places  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  for  the  better  enabling  of  tliem  to  get  a  more 
perfect  understanding  of  the  ecclesiastical  story  :  Fifth,  Nor  yet,  whether,  in  the 
very  articles  of  faith,  some  certain  sayings  that  are  found  in  those  books  (agreeable 
herein  to  the  others  that  are  canonicall  may  not  be  brought  for  the  more  abundant 
explaining  and  clearing  of  them.  Foi  all  this  we  grant,  and  to  all  these  purposes 
there  inav  be  good  use  made  of  an  apocryphal  book.  But  the  question  only  is, 
whether  all  or  any  of  those  books  be  purely,  positively,  and  simply  divine  scripture, 
or  to  all  purposes,  and  in  all  senses,  sacred  and  canonical,  so  as  that  they  may  be 
said  (or  ever  were  so  accounted)  to  be  of  the  same  equal  and  sovereign  authority 
with  the  rest,  for  the  establishing  and  determining  of  any  matter  of  faith,  or  con- 
troversies in  religion,  no  less  than  the  true  and  undoubted  canonical  books  of  scrip- 
ture themselves.' — Cosln. 

Bishop  Cosin,  then,  in  his  unanswerable  '  Scholastical  history  of  the  canon  of  scrip- 
ture,' brings  forward  the  testimonies  of  every  age  to  the  sixteenth  century  in  support 
of  ours,  and  consequently  against  the  new  canon  of  the  church  of  Rome. 

The  reader  may  on  this  important  article  consult  with  much  advantage  Sir  H. 
Lynde,  who  proves  that  'the  entire  canon  of  scriptures  which  we  profess  (without 
the  apocryphal  additions)  is  confirmed  by  pregnant  testimonies  in  all  ages,  from 
the  first  to  the  sixteenth,  and  most  of  them  acknowledged  by  the  Romanists  them- 
selves.' And  also  answers  'our  adversaries'  pretences,  from  the  authorities  of 
fathers,  and  councils,  to  prove  the  Apocryphal  books  canonical.'  Via  Devia,  sec- 
tions v.  and  vi  [Ed.] 

*  When  the  holy  scriptures  are  called  the  rule  of  faith,  we  are  to  understand, 
the  rule  whereby  to  judge  of  controversies  in  matters  of  faith — the  rule  whereby 
that  which  is  according  to  the  faith  may  be  made  manifest,  and  heresy  detected. 
The  rule  is  one  thing :  that  whereby  we  decide  what  is,  or  is  not,  according  to  the 
rule,  another.  Tlie  question  of  the  judge  must  therefore  be  ever  considered  apart 
from  that  of  the  rule  itself.  '  Every  man,'  observes  Chillingworth,  'is  to  judge  for 
himself  with  the  judgment  of  discretion,  and  to  choose  either  his  religion  first,  and 
then  his  church,  as  we  say  ;  or,  as  you  say  (addressing  the  Romanist),  his  church  first, 
and  then  his  religion.'  To  exclude  men  from  exercising  their  reason  would  make 
their  faith  in  the  first  place  irrational,  because  they  could  have  no  reason  to  be- 
lieve ;  and  in  the  second  place,  '  altogether  uncertain,  and  its  object  may  as  well  be 
a  falsehood,  as  a  truth ;  because  if  I  have  no  reason  why  I  believe  it  true,  then  I 
have  no  certainty,  but  it  may  be  false ;  for  the  only  certainty  I  can  have  that  my 
belief  is  not  false,  is  because  I  have  rational  grounds  to  evidence  it  true,  which 
when  removed,  what  certainty  can  1  have  that  I  do  not  err?'  Besides,  when  any 
man  embraces  the  communion  of  the  papal  church,  he  has  reason  for  so  doing,  or  he 
has  not.  If  he  has  not,  then  his  belief  is  '  irrational,  uncertain,  and  absurd  :  if  he 
hath,  then  he  believes  the  Romish  church  infallible,  because  his  reason  judgeth  it 
to  be  so ;  and  so  the  church  is  beholden  to  the  judgment  of  his  private  reason  for 
his  belief  of  her  infallibility.'  If  it  be  objected  by  the  Romanists,  that  reason  is 
not  a  sure  guide,  we  again  answer  with  Whitby :  — '  Can  you  conduct  me  to  a  surer 
guide  than  reason?    Yes,  you  will  answer,  to  the  church.    But  if  my  reason, 


92  AN  EXPOSITION  OF 

ART.   that  the  whole  Christian  religion  is  contained  in  them,  and 

 no  where  else ;  and  although  we  make  great  use  of  tradition, 

especially  that  which  is  most  ancient  and  nearest  the  source, 
to  help  us  to  a  clear  understanding  of  the  scriptures ;  vet  as 
to  matters  of  faith  we  reject  all  oral  tradition,  as  an  incom- 
petent mean  of  conveying  down  doctrines  to  us,  and  we 
refuse  to  receive  any  doctrine,  that  is  not  either  expressly 
contained  in  scripture,  or  clearly  proved  from  it. 

Ex.  xyii.  In  order  to  the  opening  and  proving  of  this,  it  is  to  be 
u.  xxiv.  4.  considered,  what  God's  design,  in  first  ordering  Moses,  and 

|  )f.  j   XX  VI]  ■  •  ■  ™  j 

8.  xxxi.  9^  after  hi™  *U  inspired  persons,  to  put  things  in  writing,  could 
19,  22,  24  be :  it  could  be  no  other  than  to  free  the  world  from  the  un- 
"T26-  .    certainties  and  impostures  of  oral  tradition.    All  mankind 

Jos.  XXIV.    ,     .  .      .        .   -  1 

26,  being  derived  irom  one  common  source,  it  seems  it  was  much 
Is.  viii.  l.  easier  in  the  first  ages  of  the  world  to  preserve  the  tradition 
y\.  8.  pure,  than  it  could  possibly  be  afterwards  :  there  were  onlv  a 
2,28— 32! ^ew  things  then  to  be  delivered  concerning  God;  as,  that  he 
Hab.  ii.  2.  was  one  spiritual  Being,  that  he  had  created  all  things,  that 
Luk.1.3,4.  jje  aione  was  to  be  worshipped  and  served  ;  the  rest  relating 

John  xx.  ii?  o 

31.   

2Pet.i.l5, 

I?'  .  1  being  fallible,  may  misguide  me,  why  may  it  not  when  it  conducts  me  to  the 
1Qev' church ;  especially  as  you  yourselves  profess  to  believe  the  church's  infallibility 
.  xxi.  0.  Upon  prudential  motives?'  The  judge  then  is  the  same  in  both  churches,  and 
must  be  kept  quite  distinct  from  the  rule  itself.  Hence  is  evident  the  folly  of 
Romanists,  who.  when  they  would  assail  our  rule  of  faith,  spend  all  their  time  in 
exposing  the  errors  and  absurdities  into  which  men's  private  fancies  have  carried 
them:  whereas  such  errors  arise  from  men  making  something  else,  their  own 
private  spirit  or  their  traditions,  to  be  either  a  substitute  for,  or  supplement  to,  the 
only  unerring  rule — the  written  word  of  God.f 

The  rule  to  which  all  questions  of  religion  must  be  brought  is  the  lei  scripta — 
the  written  word ;  '  and  if  this  word.'  observes  Chillingworth,  '  be  sufficient  to  in- 
form us  what  is  the  faith,  it  must  of  necessity  be  sufficient  to  teach  us  what  is 
heresy  ;  seeing  heresy  is  nothing  but  a  manifest  deviation  from,  and  an  oppo- 
sition to,  the  faith.  That  which  is  straight  will  plainly  teach  us  what  is  crooked  ; 
and  one  contrary  cannot  but  manifest  the  other.'  But  if  the  scriptures  be  not  the 
rule,  how  then  shall  '  the  notes  of  the  church,'  which  the  Romanist  is  bound  to 
examine  before  he  can  join  or  remain  in  his  own  communion,  be  determined?  And 
if  the  scriptures  be  a  sufficient  rule  whereby  to  try  these,  why  not  so  for  the 
trying  of  other  questions — why  not  of  all  ?  The  scriptures  then  are  not  the  judge, 
but  only  a  sufficient  rule  for  those  to  judge  by  who  believe  them  to  be  the  word  of 
God. 

This  distinction  is  all-important — indeed,  the  observance  of  it  is  indispensable  in 
this  controversy.  By  thus  keeping  questions,  which  have  no  necessary  connexion, 
in  their  proper  place,  the  champions  of  the  papal  system  are  at  once  deprived  of 
the  use  of  those  weapons,  which  rhey  have  sometimes  wielded  with  so  much  ap- 
parent success  against  Protestants  ;  while  they  themselves  are  involved  in  inextri- 
cable difficulties  if  compelled  to  attack  the  sufficiency  and  completeness  of  the 
scriptures  as  a  rule  whereby  to  determine  questions  of  religion  ;  for  how  shall  the 
question  of  the  church  be  determined  but  by  that  rule  which  we  adopt — the 
written  word  ?  Thus  in  the  chief  of  questions  are  they  compelled  to  have  recourse 
to  our  rule. 

In  order  to  fully  understand  this  point,  the  reader  must  study  Chillingworth, 
chap.  ii.  '  Scripture  the  only  rule  whereby  to  judge  of  controversies.' — Ed. 


f  The  reader  will  see  this  particular  point  ably  handled  by  Bishop  Taylor — 1  Of 
the  sufficiency  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  to  salvation.' 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


93 


to  the  history  of  the  world,  and  chiefly  of  the  first  man  that  ART. 
was  made  in  it.  There  were  also  great  advantages  on  the  ^ 
side  of  oral  tradition;  the  first  men  were  very  long-lived,  and 
they  saw  their  own  families  spread  extremely,  so  that  they 
had  on  their  side  both  the  authority  which  long  life  always 
has,  particularly  concerning  matters  of  fact,  and  the  credit 
that  parents  have  naturally  with  their  own  children,  to  secure 
tradition.  Two  persons  might  have  conveyed  it  down  from 
Adam  to  Abraham ;  Methuselah  lived  above  three  hundred 
years  while  Adam  was  yet  alive,  and  Sem  was  almost  a  hun- 
dred when  he  died,  and  he  lived  much  above  a  hundred  years 
in  the  same  time  with  Abraham,  according  to  the  Hebrew. 
Here  is  a  great  period  of  time  filled  up  by  two  or  three  per- 
sons :  and  yet  in  that  time  the  tradition  of  those  very  few 
things  in  which  religion  was  then  comprehended,  was  so  uni- 
versally and  entirely  corrupted,  that  it  was  necessary  to  cor- 
rect it  by  immediate  revelation  to  Abraham:  God  intending  Gen.xn.  l 

•  •  •  •  Jos.  XXIV* 

to  have  a  peculiar  people  to  himself  out  of  his  posterity,  com-  2,  3. 
manded  him  to  forsake  his  kindred  and  country,  that  he 
might  not  be  corrupted  with  an  idolatry,  that  we  have  reason 
to  believe  was  then  but  beginning  among  them.  We  are  Gen.  xxxi 
sure  his  nephew  Laban  was  an  idolater :  and  the  danger  of  19>  30- 
mixing  with  the  rest  of  mankind  was  then  so  great,  that  God 
ordered  a  mark  to  be  made  on  the  bodies  of  all  descended 
from  him,  to  be  the  seal  of  the  covenant,  and  the  badge  and 
cognizance  of  his  posterity  :  by  that  distinction,  and  by  their 
living  in  a  wandering  and  unfixed  manner,  they  were  pre- 
served for  some  time  from  idolatry ;  God  intending  after- 
wards to  settle  them  in  an  instituted  religion.  But  though 
the  beginnings  of  it,  I  mean  the  promulgation  of  the  law  on 
mount  Sinai,  was  one  of  the  most  amazing  things  that  ever 
happened,  and  the  fittest  to  be  orally  conveyed  down,  the  law 
being  very  short,  and  the  circumstances  in  the  delivery  of  it 
most  astonishing;  and  though  there  were  many  rites  and 
several  festivities,  appointed  chiefly  for  the  carrying  down  the 
memory  of  it ;  though  there  was  also  in  that  dispensation  the 
greatest  advantage  imaginable  for  securing  this  tradition,  all 
the  main  acts  of  their  religion  being  to  be  performed  in  one 
place,  and  by  men  of  one  tribe  and  family ;  as  they  were  also 
all  the  inhabitants  of  a  small  tract  of  ground,  of  one  language, 
and  by  their  constitutions  obliged  to  maintain  a  constant 
commerce  among  themselves :  they  having  farther  a  continu- 
ance of  signal  characters  of  God's  miraculous  presence  among 
them,  such  as  the  operation  of  the  water  of  jealousy,  the 
plenty  of  the  sixth  year  to  supply  them  all  the  sabbatical  year, 
and  till  the  harvest  of  the  following  year :  together  with  a 
succession  of  prophets  that  followed  one  another,  either  in  a 
constant  course,  or  at  least  soon  after  one  another  ;  but  above 
all,  the  presence  of  God  which  appeared  in  the  cloud  of 
glory,  and  in  those  answers  that  were  given  by  the  Urim  and 


94 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  II T.  Thummim  ;  all  which  must  be  confessed  to  be  advantages  on 
VI-  the  side  of  tradition,  vastly  beyond  any  that  can  be  pretended 
E*.  xxv.  to  have  been  in  the  Christian  church;  yet  notwithstanding 
22.  xxix.  all  these,  Gad  commanded  Moses  to  write  all  their  law,  as 
l  Sa  xx'i"  '^en  Commandments  were,  by  the  immediate  power  or 
9_l'2.  '  finger  of  God,  writ  on  tables  of  stone.  When  all  this  is  laid 
Ex.  xxiv.  together  and  well  considered,  it  will  appear  that  God  by  a 
12,  particular  economy  intended  them  to  secure  revealed  religion 
from  the  doubtfulness  and  uncertainties  of  oral  tradition. 

It  is  much  more  reasonable  to  believe,  that  the  Christian 
religion,  which  was  to  be  spread  to  many  remote  regions, 
among  whom  there  could  be  little  communication,  should 
have  been  fixed  in  its  first  beginnings  by  putting  it  in  writ- 
ing, and  not  left  to  the  looseness  of  reports  and  stories.  We 
do  plainly  see,  that  though  the  methods  of  knowing  and 
communicating  truth  are  now  surer  and  better  fixed  than  they 
have  been  in  most  of  the  ages  which  have  passed  since  the 
beginnings  of  this  religion ;  yet  in  every  matter  of  fact  such 
additions  are  daily  made,  as  it  happens  to  be  reported,  and 
every  point  of  doctrine  is  so  variously  stated,  that  if  religion 
had  not  a  more  assured  bottom  than  tradition,  it  could  not 
have  that  credit  paid  to  it  that  it  ought  to  have.  If  we  had 
no  greater  certainty  for  religion  than  report,  we  could  not 
believe  it  very  firmly,  nor  venture  upon  it :  so  in  order  to  the 
giving  this  doctrine  such  authority  as  is  necessary  for  attain- 
ing the  great  ends  proposed  in  it,  the  conveyance  of  it  must 
be  clear  and  unquestionable ;  otherwise  as  it  would  grow  to 
be  much  mixed  with  fable,  so  it  would  come  to  be  looked  on 
as  all  a  fable.  Since  then  oral  tradition,  when  it  had  the 
utmost  advantages  possible  of  its  side,  failed  so  much  in  the 
conveyance  both  of  natural  religion,  and  of  the  Mosaical,  we 
see  that  it  cannot  be  relied  on  as  a  certain  method  of  pre- 
serving the  truths  of  revealed  religion. 

In  our  Saviour's  time,  tradition  was  set  up  on  many  occa- 
sions against  him,  but  he  never  submitted  to  it :  on  the  con- 
trary he  reproached  the  Jews  with  this,  that  they  had  made 
Matt.  xv.  'the  laws  of  God  of  no  effect  by  their  traditions;'  and  he  told 
3.6,  9.  them,  that  they  '  worshipped  God  in  vain,  when  they  taught 
for  doctrines  the  commandments  of  men.'  In  all  his  disputes 
with  the  Pharisees,  he  appealed  to  Moses  and  the  prophets ; 
he  bade  them  '  search  the  scriptures ;  for  in  them,'  said  he, 
John  v.  39.  <  ye  think  ye  have  eternal  life,  and  they  testify  of  me.'  Ye 
think  is,  by  the  phraseology  of  that  time,  a  word  that  does 
not  refer  to  any  particular  conceit  of  theirs ;  but  imports, 
that  as  they  thought,  so  in  them  they  had  eternal  life.  Our 
Saviour  justifies  himself  and  his  doctrine  often  by  words  of 
scripture,  but  never  once  by  tradition.  We  see  plainly,  that 
in  our  Saviour's  time  the  tradition  of  the  resurrection  was  so 
doubtful  among  the  Jews,  that  the  Sadducees,  a  formed  party 
among  them,  did  openly  deny  it.    The  authority  of  tradition 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


95 


had  likewise  imposed  two  very  mischievous  enors  upon  the  ART. 
strictest  sect  of  the  Jews  that  adhered  the  most  firmly  to  it :  V1- 
the  one  was,  that  they  understood  the  prophecies  concerning 
the  Messias  sitting  on  the  'throne  of  David'  literally:  they 
thought  that,  in  imitation  of  David,  he  was  not  only  to  free 
his  own  country  from  a  foreign  yoke,  but  that  he  was  to  sub- 
due, as  David  had  done,  all  the  neighbouring  nations.  This 
was  to  them  a  stone  of  stumbling,  and  a  rock  of  offence  ;  so 
their  adhering  to  their  traditions  proved  their  ruin  in  all 
respects.  The  other  error,  to  which  the  authority  of  tradition 
led  them,  was  their  preferring  the  rituals  of  their  religion  to 
the  moral  precepts  that  it  contained :  this  not  only  corrupted 
their  own  manners,  while  they  thought  that  an  exactness  of 
performing,  and  a  zeal  in  asserting,  not  only  the  ritual  pre- 
cepts that  Moses  gave  their  fathers,  but  those  additions  to 
them  which  they  had  from  tradition,  that  were  accounted 
hedges  about  the  law :  that  this,  I  say,  might  well  excuse  or 
atone  for  the  most  heinous  violations  of  the  rules  of  justice 
and  mercy  :  but  this  had  yet  another  worse  effect  upon  them, 
while  it  possessed  them  with  such  prejudices  against  our 
Saviour  and  his  apostles,  when  they  came  to  see  that  they  set 
no  value  on  those  practices  that  were  recommended  by  tra- 
dition, and  that  they  preferred  pure  and  sublime  morals  even 
to  Mosaical  ceremonies  themselves,  and  set  the  Gentiles  at 
liberty  from  those  observance?.  So  that  the  ruin  of  the  Jews, 
their  rejecting  the  Messias,  and  their  persecuting  his  follow- 
ers, arose  chiefly  from  this  principle  that  had  got  in  among 
them,  of  believing  tradition,  and  of  being  guided  by  it. 

The  apostles,  in  all  their  disputes  with  the  Jews,  make  their 
appeals  constantly  to  the  scriptures  ;  they  set  a  high  character 
on  those  of  Berea  for  examining  them,  and  comparing  the  Acts  xvii. 
doctrine  that  they  preached  with  them.  In  the  Epistles  to  u' 
the  Romans,  Galatians,  and  Hebrews,  in  which  they  pursue  a 
thread  of  argument,  with  relation  to  the  prejudices  that  the 
Jews  had  taken  up  against  Christianity,  they  never  once  argue 
from  tradition,  but  always  from  the  scriptures ;  they  do  not 
pretend  only  to  disparage  modern  tradition,  arid  to  set  up  that 
which  was  more  ancient :  they  make  no  such  distinction,  but 
hold  close  to  the  scriptures.  When  St.  Paul  sets  out  the  ad- 
vantages that  Timothy  had  by  a  religious  education,  he  men- 
tions this,  '  that  of  a  child  he  had  known  the  holy  scriptures,  2  Tim.  iii. 
which  were  able  to  make  him  wise  unto  salvation,  through  15>  16» 17 
faith  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus  :'  that  is,  the  belief  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  was  a  key  to  give  him  a  right  understanding  of 
the  Old  Testament ;  and  upon  this  occasion  St.  Paul  adds, 
'  all  scripture  (that  is,  the  whole  Old  Testament)  is  given  by 
divine  inspiration  f  or  (as  others  render  the  words)  e  all  the 
divinely  inspired  scripture  is  profitable  for  doctrine,  for  reproof, 
for  correction,  for  instruction  in  righteousness,  that  the  man 
of  God  may  be  perfect,  throughly  furnished  unto  all  good 


96 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  works.'  The  New  Testament  was  writ  on  the  same  design 
^  1  with  the  Old  ;  that,  as  St.  Luke  expresses  it,  '  we  might  know 
Luke  i.  4.  the  certainty  of  those  things  wherein  we  have  been  instructed : 
John  xx.  These  things  were  written/  saith  St.  John,  'that  ye  might 
3,1  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  be- 
lieving ye  might  have  life  through  his  name.'  When  St.  Peter 
knew  by  a  special  revelation  that  he  was  near  his  end,  he  writ 
his  Second  Epistle,  that  they  might  have  that  as  a  mean  of 
2Pet.i.  15.  keeping  '  those  things  always  in  remembrance  after  his  death.' 
Nor  do  the  apostles  give  us  any  hints  of  their  having  left  any 
thing  with  the  church,  to  be  conveyed  down  by  an  oral  tradi- 
tion, which  they  themselves  had  not  put  in  writing  :  they  do 
sometimes  refer  themselves  to  such  things  as  they  had  deli- 
vered to  particular  churches  ;  but  by  tradition  in  the  apostles' 
days,  and  for  some  ages  after,  it  is  very  clear,  that  they  meant 
only  the  conveyance  of  the  faith,  and  not  any  unwritten  doc- 
trines :  they  reckoned  the  faith  was  a  sacred  depositum  which 
was  committed  to  them ;  and  that  was  to  be  preserved  pure 
among  them.  But  it  were  very  easy  to  shew  in  the  continued 
succession  of  all  the  first  Christian  writers,  that  they  still 
appealed  to  the  scriptures,  that  they  argued  from  them,  that 
they  condemned  all  doctrines  that  were  not  contained  in  them ; 
and  when  at  any  time  they  brought  human  authorities  to 
justify  their  opinions  or  expressions,  they  contented  them- 
selves with  a  very  few,  and  those  very  late,  authorities :  so 
that  their  design  in  vouching  them  seems  £o  be  rather  to  clear 
themselves  from  the  imputation  of  having  innovated  any  thing 
in  the  doctrine,  or  in  the  ways  of  expressing  it,  than  that  they 
thought  those  authorities  were  necessary7  to  prove  them  by. 
For  in  that  case  they  must  have  taken  a  great  deal  more  pains 
than  they  did,  to  have  followed  up,  and  proved,  the  tradition 
much  higher  than  they  went. 

We  do  also  plainly  see  that  such  traditions  as  were  not 
founded  on  scripture  were  easily  corrupted,  and  on  that  ac- 
count were  laid  aside  by  the  succeeding  ages.    Such  were  the 
opinion  of  Christ's  reign  on  earth  for  a  thousand  years ;  the 
saints  not  seeing  God  till  the  resurrection ;  the  necessity  of 
giving  infants  the  eucharist ;  the  divine  inspiration  of  the 
seventy  interpreters ;  besides  some  more  important  matters, 
which  in  respect  to  those  times  are  not  to  be  too  much  descanted 
upon.    It  is  also  plain,  that  the  Gnostics,  the  ValentinianS;  and 
other  heretics,  began  very  early  to  set  up  a  pretension  to  a 
tradition  delivered  by  the  apostles  to  some  particular  persons, 
as  a  key  for  understanding  the  secret  meanings  that  might  be 
Iret).  l.iii.  m  scripture;  in  opposition  to  which,  both  Irenaeus,  Tertullian, 
c.  h  2, 3,  an(j  others,  make  use  of  two  sorts  of  arguments :  the  one  is 
Tertul.  de  the  authority  of  the  scripture  itself,  by  which  they  confuted 
Presc.cap  their  errors;  the  other  is  a  point  of  fact,  that  there  was  no 
27  28  25'  sucn  tradition.   In  asserting  this,  they  appeal  to  those  churches 
which  had  been  founded  by  the  apostles,  and  in  which  a  sue- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


97 


cession  of  bishops  had  been  continued  down.  They  say,  in  ART. 
these  we  must  search  for  apostolical  tradition.  This  was  not  VI- 
said  by  them  as  if  they  had  designed  to  establish  tradition,  as 
an  authority  distinct  from,  or  equal  to,  the  scriptures :  but 
only  to  shew  the  falsehood  of  that  pretence  of  the  heretics, 
and  that  there  was  no  such  tradition  for  their  heresies  as  they 
gave  out. 

When  this  whole  matter  is  considered  in  all  its  part's,  such 
as,  1st,  That  nothing  is  to  be  believed  as  an  article  of  faith, 
unless  it  appears  to  have  been  revealed  by  God.  2dly,  That 
oral  tradition  appears,  both  from  the  nature  of  man,  and  the 
experience  of  former  times,  to  be  an  incompetent  conveyer  of 
truth.  3dly,  That  some  books  were  written  for  the  convey- 
ance of  those  matters,  which  have  been  in  all  ages  carefully 
preserved  and  esteemed  sacred.  4thly,  That  the  writers  of 
the  first  ages  do  always  argue  from,  and  appeal  to,  these  books  : 
and,  5thly,  That  what  they  have  said  without  authority  from 
them  has  been  rejected  in  succeeding  ages ;  the  truth  of  this 
branch  of  our  article  is  fully  made  out. 

If  what  is  contained  in  the  scripture  in  express  words  is  the 
object  of  our  faith,  then  it  will  follow,  that  whatsoever  may  be 
proved  from  thence,  by  a  just  and  lawful  consequence,  is  also 
to  be  believed.  Men  may  indeed  err  in  framing  these  conse- 
quences and  deductions,  they  may  mistake  or  stretch  them 
too  far :  but  though  there  is  much  sophistry  in  the  world,  yet 
there  is  also  true  logic,  and  a  certain  thread  of  reasoning.  And 
the  sense  of  every  proposition  being  the  same,  whether  ex- 
pressed always  in  the  same  or  in  different  words  ;  then  whatso- 
ever appears  to  be  clearly  the  sense  of  any  place  of  scripture, 
is  an  object  of  faith,  though  it  should  be  otherwise  expressed 
than  as  it  is  in  scripture,  and  every  just  inference  from  it  must 
be  as  true  as  the  proposition  itself  is  :  therefore  it  is  a  vain 
cavil  to  ask  express  words  of  scripture  for  every  article.  That 
was  the  method  of  all  the  ancient  heretics :  Christ  and  his 
apostles  argued  from  the  words  and  passages  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, to  prove  such  things  as  agreed  with  the  true  sense  of 
them,  and  so  did  all  the  fathers  ;  and  therefore  so  may  we  do. 

The  great  objection  to  this  is,  that  the  scriptures  are  dark, 
that  the  same  place  is  capable  of  different  senses,  the  literal 
and  the  mystical :  and  therefore,  since  we  cannot  understand 
the  true  sense  of  the  scripture,  we  must  not  argue  from  it,  but 
seek  for  an  interpreter  of  it,  on  whom  we  may  depend.  All 
sects  argue  from  thence,  and  fancy  that  they  find  their  tenets 
in  it:  and  therefore  this  can  be  no  sure  way  of  finding  out 
sacred  truth,  since  so  many  do  err  that  follow  it.    In  answer  Dent  vi.3, 
to  this,  it  is  to  be  considered,  that  the  Old  Testament  was  frfvf1' 
delivered  to  the  whole  nation  of  the  Jews ;  that  Moses  was  read  xxxj.  n_ 
in  the  synagogue,  in  the  hearing  of  the  women  and  children ;  13. 
that  whole  nation  was  to  take  their  doctrine  and  rules  from  it :  32L35' 
all  appeals  were  made  to  the  law  and  to  the  prophets  among 

H 


98 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  ft  T.   them :  and  though  the  prophecies  of  the  Old  Testament  were 

*  '•  in  their  style  and  whole  contexture  dark,  and  hard  to  be  un- 

2  Ki.  xx. li.  derstood;  yet  when  so  great  a  question  as  this,  Who  was  the 
2,21,24.  true  Messias?  came  to  be  examined,  the  proofs  urged  for  it 
—8  18  1  were  Passages  in  the  Old  Testament.    Now  the  question  was, 
Is.  vMi.io.  now  these  were  to  be  understood  ?    No  appeal  was  here  made 
ixxiv.  16.  to  tradition,  or  to  church-authority,  but  only  by  the  enemitF. 
Mimi.  ii.  4  0f  our  Saviour.    Whereas  he  and  his  disciples  urge  these  pas- 
L  1c  iv.  16  sages  in  their  true  sense,  and  in  the  consequences  that  arose 
—21.  wi.  out  of  them.    They  did  in  that  appeal  to  the  rational  faculties 
xxi72^5—  °^  tnose  t0  whom  they  spoke.    The  Christian  religion  was  at 
27  '  "  ~~  6rst  delivered  to  poor  and  simple  multitudes,  who  were  both 
Acts  nii.  illiterate  and  weak :  the  Epistles,  which  are  by  much  the 
283 '       hardest  to  be  understood  of  the  whole  New  Testament,  were 
23'     '  ''  addressed  to  the  whole  churches,  to  all  the  faithful  or  saints ; 
that  is,  to  all  the  Christians  in  those  churches.    These  were 
afterwards  read  in  all  their  assemblies.    Upon  this  it  may  rea- 
sonably be  asked,  were  these  writings  clear  in  that  age,  or  were 
they  not  ?    If  they  were  not,  it  is  unaccountable  why  they 
were  addressed  to  the  whole  body,  and  how  they  came  to  be 
received  and  entertained  as  they  were.    It  is  the  end  of 
speech  and  writing,  to  make  things  to  be  understood;  and  it 
is  not  supposable,  that  men  inspired  by  the  Holy  Ghost  either 
could  not  or  would  not  express  themselves  so  as  that  they 
should  be  clearly  understood.    It  is  also  to  be  observed,  that 
the  new  dispensation  is  opposed  to  the  old,  as  light  is  to  dark- 
ness, an  open  face  to  a  vailed,  and  substance  to  shadows.  Since 
then  the  Old  Testament  was  so  clear,  that  David,  both  in  the 
19th,  and  most  copiously  in  the  119th  Psalm,  sets  out  very 
fully  the  light  which  the  laws  of  God  gave  them  in  that  darker 
state,  we  have  much  more  reason  to  conclude,  that  the  new 
dispensation  should  be  much  brighter.    If  there  was  no  need 
of  a  certain  expounder  of  scripture  then,  there  is  much  less 
now.    Nor  is  there  any  provision  made  in  the  new  for  a  sure 
guide ;  no  intimations  are  given  where  to  find  one :  from  all 
which  we  may  conclude,  that  the  books  of  the  New  Testament 
were  clear  in  those  days,  and  might  well  be  understood  by 
those  to  whom  they  were  at  first  addressed.    If  thev  were 
clear  to  them,  they  may  be  likewise  clear  to  us :  for  though 
we  have  not  a  full  history  of  that  time,  or  of  the  phrases  and 
customs,  and  particular  opinions,  of  that  age,  yet  the  vast 
industry  of  the  succeeding  ages,  of  these  two  last  in  particular, 
has  made  such  discoveries,  besides  the  other  collateral  advan- 
tages which  learning  and  a  niceness  in  reasoning  has  given  us, 
that  we  may  justly  reckon,  that  though  some  hints  in  the 
Epistles,  which  relate  to  the  particulars  of  that  time,  may  be 
so  lost,  that  we  can  at  best  but  make  conjectures  about  them ; 
yet,  upon  the  whole  matter,  we  may  well  understand  all  that 
is  necessary  to  salvation  in  the  scripture. 

We  may  indeed  fall  into  mistakes  as  well  as  into  sins; 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


99 


and  into  errors  of  ignorance,  as  well  as  into  sins  of  ignorance.  ART. 
God  has  dealt  with  our  understandings  as  he  hath  dealt  with  vt 
our  wills  :  he  proposes  our  duty  to  us,  with  strong  motives  to 
obedience ;  he  promises  us  inward  assistances,  and  accepts  of 
our  sincere  endeavours  ;  and  yet  this  does  not  hinder  many 
from  perishing  eternally,  and  others  from  falling  into  great 
sins,  and  so  running  great  danger  of  eternal  damnation  ;  and 
all  this  is  because  God  has  left  our  wills  free,  and  does  not 
constrain  us  to  be  good.  He  deals  with  our  understandings 
in  the  same  manner ;  he  has  set  his  will  and  the  knowledge  of 
salvation  before  us,  in  writings  that  are  framed  in  a  simple 
and  plain  style,  in  a  language  that  was  then  common,  and  is 
still  well  understood,  that  were  at  first  designed  for  common 
use  ;  they  are  soon  read,  and  it  must  be  confessed  that  a  great 
part  of  them  is  very  clear :  so  we  have  reason  to  conclude, 
that  if  a  man  reads  these  carefully  and  with  an  honest  mind  ; 
if  he  prays  to  God  to  direct  him,  and  follows  sincerely  what 
he  apprehends  to  be  true,  and  practises  diligently  those  duties 
that  do  unquestionably  appear  to  be  bound  upon  him  by 
Ihein,  that  then  he  shall  find  out  enough  to  save  his  soul; 
and  that  such  mistakes  as  lie  still  upon  him,  shall  either  be 
cleared  up  to  him  by  some  happy  providence,  or  shall  be  for- 
given him  by  that  infinite  mercy,  to  which  his  sincerity  and 
diligence  is  well  known.  That  bad  men  should  fall  into 
grievous  errors,  is  no  more  strange,  than  that  thev  should 
commit  heinous  sins:  and  the  errors  of  good  men,  in  which 
they  are  neither  wilful  nor  insolent,  will  certainly  be  forgiven, 
as  well  as  their  sins  of  infirmity.  Therefore  all  the  ill  use 
that  is  made  of  the  scripture,  and  all  the  errors  that  are  pre- 
tended to  be  proved  by  it,  do  not  weaken  its  authority  or 
clearness.  This  does  only  shew  us  the  danger  of  studying 
them  with  a  biassed  or  corrupted  mind,  of  reading  them  too 
carelessly,  of  being  too  curious  in  going  farther  than  as  they 
open  matters  to  us  ;  and  in  being  too  implicit  in  adhering  to 
our  education,  or  in  submitting  to  the  dictates  of  others. 

So  far  I  have  explained  the  first  branch  of  this  Article, 
The  consequence  that  arises  out  of  it  is  so  clear,  that  it  needs 
not  be  proved :  That  therefore  nothing  ought  to  be  esteemed 
an  article  of  faith,  but  ivhat  may  be  found  in  it,  or  proved 
from  it.  If  this  is  our  rule,  our  entire  and  only  rule,  then 
such  doctrines  as  are  not  in  it  ought  to  be  rejected ;  and  any 
church  that  adds  to  the  Christian  religion,  is  erroneous  for 
making  such  additions,  and  becomes  tyrannical  if  she  imposes 
them  upon  all  her  members,  and  requires  positive  declarations, 
subscriptions,  and  oaths,  concerning  them.  In  so  doing  she 
forces  such  as  cannot  have  communion  with  her,  but  by 
affirming  what  they  believe  to  be  false,  to  withdraw  from  that 
which  cannot  be  had  without  departing  from  the  truth.  So 
all  the  additions  of  the  five  sacraments — :>f  the  invocation  cf 
angels  and  saints;  of  the  worshipping  of  images,  crosses,  and 

n  2 


100 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


AKT  relics;  of  the  corporal  presence  in  the  eucharist;  of  the 
v1,  sacrifice  offered  in  it  for  the  dead  as  well  as  for  the  living ; 
together  with  the  adoration  offered  to  it;  with  a  great  many 
more — are  certainly  errors,  unless  they  can  be  proved  from 
scripture ;  and  they  are  intolerable  errors,  if  as  the  scripture 
is  express  in  opposition  to  them,  so  they  defile  the  worship  of 
Christians  with  idolatry:  but  they  become  yet  most  intole- 
rable, if  they  are  imposed  upon  all  that  are  in  that  commu- 
nion, and  if  creeds  or  oaths  in  which  they  are  affirmed  are 
required  of  all  in  their  communion.  Here  is  the  main  ground 
of  justifying  our  forming  ourselves  into  a  distinct  body  from 
the  Roman  church,  and  therefore  it  is  well  to  be  considered.* 
The  farther  discussing  of  this  will  come  properly  in,  when 
other  particulars  come  to  be  examined. 

From  hence  I  go  to  the  second  branch  of  this  Article, 
which  gives  us  the  canon  of  the  scripture.  Here  I  shall  be- 
gin with  the  New  Testament ;  for  though  in  order  the  Old 
Testament  is  before  the  New,  yet  the  proof  of  the  one  being 
more  distinctly  made  out  by  the  concurring  testimonies  of 
other  writers,  than  can  possibly  be  pretended  for  the  other, 
and  the  New  giving  an  authority  to  the  Old  by  asserting  it  so 

•  This  question  of  separation  is  ably  unfolded  in  the  following-  extract: — 

*  If  therefore  the  church  of  Rome  did  thrust  the  Protestants  from  her  commu- 
nion, for  doing  nothing  but  w  hat  became  them  as  members  of  the  catholic  church, 
then  that  must  be  the  schismatical  party,  and  not  the  Protestants.  For,  supposing  any 
church  (though  pretending  to  be  never  so  catholic)  doth  restrain  her  communion 
within  such  narrow  and  unjust  bounds,  that  she  declares  such  excommunicate,  who 
do  not  approve  all  such  errors  in  doctrine,  and  corruptions  in  practice,  which  the 
communion  of  such  a  church  may  be  liable  to,  the  cause  of  that  division  which 
follows,  falls  upon  that  church  which  exacts  these  conditions  from  the  members  of 
her  communion  .  that  is,  when  the  errors  and  corruptions  are  such  as  are  dan- 
gerous to  salvation.  For  in  this  case,  that  church  hath  first  divided  herself  from 
the  catholic  church ;  for,  the  communion  of  that  lying  open  and  free  to  all,  upon 
the  necessary  conditions  of  Christian  communion,  whatever  church  takes  upon  her 
to  limit  and  enclose  the  bounds  of  the  catholic,  becomes  thereby  divided  from  the 
communion  of  the  catholic  church  :  and  all  such  w  ho  disown  such  an  unjust  enclo- 
sure, do  not  so  much  divide  from  the  communion  of  that  church  so  enclosing,  as 
return  to  the  communion  of  the  primitive  and  universal  church.  The  catholic 
church  therefore  lies  open  and  free,  like  a  common  field  to  all  inhabitants;  now  if 
any  particular  number  of  these  inhabitants  should  agree  together,  to  enclose  part 
of  it,  without  consent  of  the  rest,  and  not  to  admit  any  others  to  their  right  of 
common,  without  consenting  to  it,  which  of  these  two  parties,  those  who  dony  to 
yield  their  consent,  or  such  who  deny  their  rights  if  they  will  not,  are  guilty  of 
the  violation  of  the  public  and  common  rights  of  the  place?  Now,  this  is  plainly 
the  case  between  the  church  of  Rome  and  ours  ;  the  communion  of  the  catholic 
church  lies  open  to  all  such  who  own  the  fundamentals  of  Christian  faith,  and  are 
willing  to  join  in  the  profession  of  them :  now  to  these  your  church  adds  many 
particular  doctrines,  which  have  no  foundation  in  scripture,  or  the  consent  of  the 
primitive  church — these,  and  many  superstitious  practices,  are  enjoined  by  her  as 
conditions  of  her  communion,  so  that  all  those  are  debarred  any  right  of  commu- 
nion with  her,  who  will  not  approve  of  them  ;  by  which  it  appears  your  church  is 
guilty  of  the  first  violation  of  the  union  of  the  catholic  ;  and  whatever  number  of 
men  are  deprived  of  your  communion,  for  not  consenting  to  your  usurpations,  do 
not  divide  themselves  from  you  any  farther  than  you  have  first  separated  your- 
selves from  the  catholic  church.  And  when  your  church  by  this  act  is  already 
separated  from  the  communion  of  the  catholic  church,  the  disowning  of  those 
things  wherein  your  church  is  become  schismatical  cannot  certainly  be  any  cul- 
pable separation.  For,  whatever  is  so,  must  be  from  a  church  so  far  as  it  is 
catholic  ;  but  in  our  case  it  is  from  a  church  su  far  only  as  it  is  not  catholic,  i.e. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


101 


expressly,  I  shall  therefore  prove  first  the  canon  of  the  New  ART. 

Testament.     I  will  not  urge  that  of  the  testimony  of  the   ^ 

Spirit,  which  many  have  had  recourse  to :  this  is  only  an 
argument  to  him  that  feels  it,  if  it  is  one  at  all ;  and  therefore 
it  proves  nothing  to  another  person  :  besides  the  utmost  that 
with  reason  can  be  made  of  this  is,  that  a  good  man  feeling 
the  very  powerful  effects  of  the  Christian  religion  on  his  own 
heart,  in  the  reforming  his  nature,  and  the  calming  his  con- 
science, together  with  those  comforts  that  arise  out  of  it, 
is  convinced  in  general  of  the  whole  of  Christianity,  by  the 
happy  effects  that  it  has  upon  his  own  mind :  but  it  does  not 
from  this  appear  how  he  should  know  that  such  books  and 
such  passages  in  them  should  come  from  a  divine  original,  or 
that  he  should  be  able  to  distinguish  what  is  genuine  in  them 
from  what  is  spurious.  To  come  therefore  to  such  arguments 
as  may  be  well  insisted  upon  and  maintained. 

The  canon  of  the  new  Testament,  as  we  now  have  it,  is 
fully  proved  from  the  quotations  out  of  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament  by  the  writers  of  the  first  and  second  centuries ; 
such  as  Clemens,  Ignatius,  Justin,  Irenaeus,  and  several 


so  far  as  it  hath  divided  herself  from  the  belief  and  communion  of  the  universal 
church  

4  For  which  we  must  farther  consider,  that  although  nothing  separates  a  church 
properly  from  the  catholic,  but  what  is  contrary  to  the  being  of  it ;  yet  a  church 
may  separate  herself  from  the  communion  of  the  catholic,  by  taking  upon  her  to 
make  such  things  the  necessary  conditions  of  her  communion,  which  never  were 
the  conditions  of  communion  with  the  catholic  church.  As  for  instance,  though 
we  should  grant,  adoration  of  the  cucharist,  invocation  of  saints,  and  veneration 
of  images,  to  be  only  superstitious  practices  taken  up  without  sufficient  grounds  in 
the  church;  yet  since  it  appears  that  the  communion  of  the  catholic  church  was 
free  for  many  hundred  years,  without  approving  or  using  these  things ;  that 
church  which  shall  not  only  publicly  use,  but  enjoin,  such  things  upon  pain  of 
excommunication  from  the  church,  doth,  as  much  as  in  her  lies,  draw  the  bounds  of 
catholic  communion  within  herself,  and  so  divides  herself  from  the  true  catholic 
church.  For  whatever  confines  must  likewise  divide  the  church ;  for  by  that  con- 
finement a  separation  is  made  between  the  part  confined,  and  the  other,  which 
separation  must  be  made  by  the  party  so  limiting  Christian  communion.  As  it  was 
the  ease  of  the  Donatists,  who  were  therefore  justly  charged  with  schism,  because 
they  confined  the  catholic  church  within  their  own  bounds :  and  if  any  other 
church  doth  the  same  which  they  did,  it  must  be  liable  to  the  same  charge  which 
they  were.  The  sum  of  this  discourse  is,  that  the  being  of  the  catholic  church  lies 
in  essentials;  that  for  a  particular  church  to  disagree  from  all  other  particular 
churches  in  some  extrinsical  and  accidental  things,  is  not  to  separate  from  the 
catholic  church  so  as  to  cease  to  be  a  church ;  but  still  whatever  church  makes 
such  extrinsical  things  the  necessary  conditions  of  communion,  so  as  to  cast  men 
out  of  the  church  who  yield  not  to  them,  is  schismatical  in  so  doing ;  for  it  thereby 
divides  itself  from  the  catholic  church ;  and  the  separation  from  it  is  so  far  from 
being  schism,  that  being  cast  out  of  the  church  on  these  terms  only  returns  them 
to  the  communion  of  the  catholic  church.  On  which  grounds  it  will  appear  that 
yours  is  the  schismatical  church,  and  not  ours.  For  although,  before  this  imposing 
humour  came  into  particular  churches,  schism  was  defined  by  the  fathers,  and 
o:hers,  to  be  a  voluntary  departure  out  of  the  church,  yet  that  cannot  in  reason  be 
understood  of  any  particular,  but  the  true  catholic  church  ;  for  not  only  persons  but 
churches  may  depart  from  the  catholic  church ;  and  in  such  cases,  not  those  who 
depart  from  the  communion  of  such  churches,  but  those  churches  which  departed 
from  the  catholic,  arc  guilty  of  the  schism.' — StillinvHeei. 

The  reader  ought  also  to  consult  Chillingwortn.  cnap.  v.  '  Separation  of  Pruta- 
tanti  from  the  church  of  Rome,  not  guilty  of'scnitm.  — 'IEd.", 


102 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T    others.    Papias,  who  conversed  with  the  disciples  of  the 
v  '•     apostles,  is  cited  by  Eusebius  i  1  confirmation  of  St.  Matthew's 
LjU  :~     Gospel,  which  he  says  was  writ  by  him  in  Hebrew  :  he  is 
Mist. c.39.  also  cited  to  prove  that  St.  Mirk  writ  his  Gospel  from  St. 
j.,2;,j  ..    Peter's  preaching;  which  is  also  confirmed  by  Clemens  of 
HUt. c.  15  Alexandria;  not  to  mention  later  writers.    Ireneeus  says  St. 
Luke  writ  his  Gospel  according  to  St.  Paul's  preaching; 
which  is  supported  by  some  words  in  St.  Paul's  Epistles  that 
relate  to  passages  in  that  Gospel :  yet  certainly  he  had  likewise 
other  vouchers;  those  'who  from  the  beginning  were  eye-wit- 
nesses and  ministers  of  the  word;'  though  the  whole  might 
receive  its  full  authority  from  St.  Paul's  approbation.  St.  John 
writ  later  than  the  other  three;  so  the  testimonies  concerning 
Lib.  iii.     his  Gospel  are  the  fullest  a  id  the  most  particular.  Irenaeus  has 
cap.  11.    laboured  the  pronf  of  this  matter  with  mush  care  and  atten- 
tion :  he  lived  within  a  hundred  years  of  St.  John,  and  knew 
TerfAiv.  Polycarp  that  wis  one  of  his  disciples:  after  him  come  Ter- 
p°n'*jMar'  tullian  and  Origen,  who  speak  very  copiously  of  the  four 
ih\>.  ami  l  Gospels ;  and  from  them  all  the  ecclesiastical  writers  have 

Eus.Wi.vi.  without  any  doubting  or  controversy  acknowledged  and  cited 
cap.  25.      the(11;  w 

ithout  the  least  shadow  of  any  opposition,  except 
what  was  made  by  Marcion  and  the  Manichees. 

Next  to  these  authorities  we  appeal  to  the  catalogues  of 
the  books  of  the  New  Testament,  that  are  given  us  in  the 
third  and  fourth  centuries  by  Origen,  a  man  of  great  industry, 
and  that  had  examined  the  state  of  many  churches ;  by  St. 
Aihan.  in  Athanasius,  by  the  council  of  Laodicea  and  Carthage  ;  and 
Svnnps.     after  these  we  have  a  constant  succession  of  testimonies,  that 
Cone."1*'  d°  deliver  these  as  the  canon  universally  received.    All  this 
Laod.      laid  together  does  fully  prove  this  point;  and  that  the  more 
C "  h°     clearly,  when  these  particulars  are  considered.    1st,  That  the 
can.  47.    books  of  the  New  Testament  were  read  in  all  their  churches, 
and  at  all  their  assemblies,  so  that  this  was  a  point  in  which 
it  was  not  easy  for  men  to  mistake.    2dly,  That  this  was  so 
near  the  fountain,  that  the  originals  themselves  of  the  apostles 
were  no  doubt  so  long  preserved.    3dly,  That  both  the  Jews, 
Dial,  cum  as  appears  from  Justin  Martyr,  and  the  Gentiles,  as  appears 
Ir;  pho.    by  Celsus,  knew  that  these  were  the  books  in  which  the  faitli 
of  the  Christians  was  contained.    4thly,  That  some  question 
was  made  touching  some  >f  them,  because  there  was  not  that 
clear  or  general  knowledge  concerning  them,  that  there  was 
concerning  the  others ;  yet  upon  fuller  inquiry  all  acquiesced 
in  them.   No  doubt  was  ever  made  about  thirteen  of  St.  Paul's 
Tertul.  .le  Epistles ;  because  there  were  particular  churches  or  persons, 
Presc.cap.  to  wnom       originals  0f  them  were  directed:  but  the  strain 
and  design  of  that  to  the  Hebrews  being  to  remove  their  pre- 
judices, that  high  one,  which  they  had  taken  up  against  St. 
Paul  as  an  enemy  to  their  nation,  was  to  be  kept  out  of  view, 
that  it  might  not  blast  the  good  effects  which  were  intended 
by  it ;  yet  it  is  cited  oftener  than  once  by  Clemens  of  Rome : 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


103 


and  though  the  ignorance  of  many  of  the  Roman  church,  who  ART. 
thought  that  some  passages  in  it  favoured  the  severity  of  the  Vl- 
Novatians,  that  cut  off  apostates  from  the  hopes  of  repent-  ()ri?  |7p~ 
ance,  made  them  question  it,  of  which  mention  is  made  both  adAlji.-»n. 
by  Origen,  Eusebius,  and  Jerome,  who  frequently  affirm,  that '  tvl' 
the  Latin  church,  or  the  Roman,  did  not  receive  it;  yet  Kn^i».iiV 
Athanasius  reckons  both  this  and  the  seven  general  Epistles  liii.vi.r  u. 
among  the  canonical  writings.    Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  who  had  ^,l"nn  KP' 
occasion  to  be  well  informed  about  it,  says,  that  he  delivers  Cyr.Caiec] 
his  catalogue  from  the  church,  as  she  had  received  it  from  iv. 
the  apostles,  the  ancient  bishops,  and  the  governors  of  the 
church ;  and  reckons  up  in  it  both  the  seven  general  Epistles, 
and  the  fourteen  of  St.  Paul.    So  does  Ruffin,  and  so  do  the 
councils  of  Laodicea  and  Carthage  ;*   the  canons  of  the 
former  being  received  into  the  body  of  the  Canomsb  of  the 
Universal  Church.    Irenreus,  Origen,  and  Clemens  of  Alex- 
andria,0 cite  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  frequently.  Some 
question  was  made  of  the  Epistle  of  St.  James,  the  Second  of 
St.  Peter,  the  Second  and  Third  of  St.  John,  and  St.  Jude's 
Epistle.    But  both  Clemens  of  Rome,d  Ignatius,  and  Origen, 
cite  St.  James's  Epistle ;  Eusebius*  says  it  was  known  to 
most,  and  read  in  most  Christian  churches :  the  like  is  testi- 
fied by  St.  Jerome/    St.  Peter's  Second  Epistle,  is  cited  by 
Origen  and  Firmilian;8  and  Eusebius1'  says  it  was  held  very 
useful  even  by  those  who  held  it  not  canonical ;  but  since  the 
First  Epistle  was  never  questioned  by  any,  the  Second  that 
carries  so  many  characters  of  its  genuineness,  such  as  St. 
Peter's  name  at  the  head  of  it,  the  mention  of  the  transfigura- 
tion, and  of  his  being  an  eye-witness  of  it,  are  evident  proofs 
of  its  being  writ  by  him.   The  Second  and  Third  Epistles  of  St. 
John  are  cited  by  Irenaeus,  Clemens  and  Dennis  of  Alexandria, 
and  by  Tertullian.1    The  Epistle  of  St.  Jude  is  also  cited 
by  Tertullian.*   Some  of  those  general  Epistles  were  not  ad- 
dressed to  any  particular  body,  or  church,  that  might  have 
preserved  the  originals  of  them,  but  were  sent  about  in  the 
nature  of  circular  letters ;  so  that  it  is  no  wonder  if  they  were 
not  received  so  early,  and  with  such  an  unanimity,  as  we  find 
concerning  the  four  Gospels,  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and 
thirteen  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles.    These,  being  first  fixed  upon 

*  Apud  Hicron. 

b  Can.  60.  Can.  47. 

c  Ireu.  1  iii.  c.  38.    Orig.  1.  iii.  et  vii.  cont.  Cels.  Dial.  con.  Marc,  et  Ep.  ad 
ATi  ic.  Oom.  Alex.  Strom,  lib.  ii. — iv.  ct  vi. 
J  1 2 1»  t.  Ep.  ad  Eph.  Orig.  Horn.  13.  in  Gones. 
«  Eus.  Hi=t.  1.  ii.  c.  23.  1.  hi.  c.  25. 
f  H  rron.  Prof,  in  Ep.  Jac. 

if  Oi-ig.  cont.  Martion.  Firmil  inter  Epist.  Cyprian.  Ep.  75.  p.  226.  Oxon.  1682. 
11  Eus.  Hist.  1.  iii.  c.  3. 

1  Iron.  1.  i.  c.  13.  Clem.  Alex.  Strom.  2.  Tertul.  de  Carne  Chr.  c.  24.  Eu3. 
Hist.  I.  vi.  c.  25  Tertul.  dc  cultu  foem. 

•  The  reader  will  find  these  writers  quoted  at  length  in  '  Lardncr's  Credibi- 
lity,' &c— [Ec] 


104 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   by  an  unquestioned  and  undisputed  tradition,  made  that  here 
VI-     was  a  standard  once  ascertained  to  judge  the  better  of  the 
rest :  so  when  the  matter  was  strictly  examined,  so  near  the 
fountain  that  it  was  very  possible  and  easy  to  find  out  the 
certainty  of  it,  then  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  the 
canon  was  settled,  and  universally  agreed  to.    The  style  and 
matter  of  the  Revelation,  as  well  as  the  designation  of  Divine 
given  to  the  author  of  it,  gave  occasion  to  many  questions 
Clem,  ki    about  it :  Clemens  of  Rome  cites  it  as  a  prophetical  book  :* 
Ep  adCor.  justju  ^rartyr  savs  it  was  writ  by  John,  one  of  Christ's  twelve 
Justin. con.  •        *      „    .     -     _  *    ,    ,  *      <•  o     t  1        i  j- 

Tryphon.  apostles ;  Irenaeus  calls  it  the  Revelation  ot  ot.  John,  the  dis- 

Iren.  1.  v.  ciple  of  our  Lord,  writ  almost  in  our  own  age,  in  the  end  of 
c^ixm.  6c  Domitian's  reign.  Melito  writ  upon  it :  Theophilus  of  An- 
Eus.  Hist,  tioch,  Hippolytus,  Clemens  and  Dennis  of  Alexandria,  Tertul- 
1.  iv.c.  24,  ban,  Cyprian,  and  Origen,  do  cite  it.  And  thus  the  canon  of 
\6y  c  18  ^e  New  Testament  seems  to  be  fully  made  out  by  the  con- 
1.  vii.  c.  25.  current  testimony  of  the  several  churches  immediately  after 
the  apostolical  time. 

Here  it  is  to  be  observed,  that  a  great  difference  is  to  made 
between  all  this  and  the  oral  tradition  of  a  doctrine,  in  which 
there  is  nothing  fixed  or  permanent,  so  that  the  whole  is  only 
report  carried  about  and  handed  down.  Whereas  here  is  a 
book,  that  was  only  to  be  copied  out  and  read  publicly,  and 
by  all  persons,  between  which  the  difference  is  so  vast,  that  it 
is  as  little  possible  to  imagine  how  the  one  should  continue 
pure,  as  how  the  other  should  come  to  be  corrupted.  There 
was  never  a  book  of  which  we  have  that  reason  to  be  assured 
that  it  is  genuine,  that  we  have  here.  There  happened  to  be 
constant  disputes  among  Christians  from  the  second  century 
downward,  concerning  some  of  the  most  important  parts  of 
this  doctrine ;  and  by  both  sides  these  books  were  appealed 
to :  and  though  there  might  be  some  variations  in  readings 
and  translations,  yet  no  question  was  made  concerning  the 
canon,  or  the  authenticalness  of  the  books  themselves  ;  unless 
it  were  by  the  Manichees,  who  came  indeed  to  be  called  Chris- 
tians, by  a  very  enlarged  way  of  speaking ;  since  it  is  justly 
strange  how  men  who  said  that  the  Author  of  the  universe, 
and  of  the  Mosaical  dispensation,  was  an  evil  God ;  and  who 
held  that  there  were  two  supreme  Gods,  a  good  and  an  evil 
one ;  how  such  men,  I  say,  could  be  called  Christians. 

•  This  citation  of  the  book  of  Revelation  by  Clemens  of  Rome  is  not  noticed 
by  Lardner,  Paley,  or  Mr.  Home  in  his  '  Introduction,'  &c.  Tomline  savs,  '  The 
earliest  author  now  extant,  who  mentions  this  book,  is  Justin  Martyr,  who  lived 
about  sixty  years  after  it  was  written,  and  he  ascribes  it  to  St.  John.'  Mr.  Home, 
however,  following  Lardner,  mentions  Hermas,  Ignatius,  and  Polycarp,  who  lived 
before  the  time  of  Justin  Martyr,  as  having  referred  to  this  book.  NVe  have  taken 
some  pains  to  discover  Burnet's  grounds  for  his  statement  respecting  Clemens  of 
Rome,  and  think  it  probable  that  the  following  is  the  passage  from  Clemens  which 
he  had  in  view,  and  which  appears  to  be  a  reference  to  Rev.  xxii.  12  :  '  For  from 
him  are  all  things ;  and  thus  he  speaks  to  us  beforehand :  "  Behold  ;he  Lord 
cometh,  and  his  reward  is  before  his  face,  to  render  to  every  man  according  to  bis 
work."  * — [Eu-1 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


105 


The  authority  of  those  books  is  not  derived  from  any  judg-  ART. 
ment  that  the  church  made  concerning  them ;  but  from  this,  vt- 
that  it  was  known  that  they  were  writ,  either  by  men  who  were 
themselves  the  apostles  of  Christ,  or  by  those  who  were  their 
assistants  and  companions,  at  whose  order,  or  under  whose 
direction  and  approbation,  it  was  known  that  they  were  written 
and  published.  These  books  were  received  and  known  for 
such,  in  the  very  apostolical  age  itself;  so  that  many  of  the 
apostolical  men,  such  as  Ignatius  and  Polycarp,  lived  long 
enough  to  see  the  canon  generally  received  and  settled.  The 
suffering  and  depressed  state  of  the  first  Christians  wTas  also 
such,  that  as  there  is  no  reason  to  suspect  them  of  imposture, 
so  it  is  not  at  all  credible  that  an  imposture  of  this  kind  could 
have  passed  upon  all  the  Christian  churches.  A  man  in  a 
corner  might  have  forged  the  Sibylline  oracles,  or  some  other 
pieces  which  were  not  to  be  generally  used ;  and  they  might 
have  appeared  soon  after,  and  credit  might  have  been  given 
too  easily  to  a  book  or  writing  of  that  kind :  but  it  cannot  be 
imagined,  that  in  an  age  in  which  the  belief  of  this  doctrine 
brought  men  under  great  troubles,  and  in  which  miracles  and 
other  extraordinary  gifts  were  long  continued  in  the  church, 
that,  1  say,  either  false  books  could  have  been  so  early  ob- 
truded on  the  church  as  true,  or  that  true  books  could  have 
been  so  vitiated  as  to  lose  their  original  purity,  while  they 
were  so  universally  read  and  used ;  and  that  so  soon ;  or  that 
the  writers  of  that  very  age  and  of  the  next  should  have  been 
so  generally  and  so  grossly  imposed  upon,  as  to  have  cited 
spurious  writings  for  true.  These  are  things  that  could  not  be 
believed  in  the  histories  or  records  of  any  nation  :  though  the 
value  that  the  Christians  set  upon  these  books,  and  the  con- 
stant use  they  made  of  them,  reading  a  parcel  of  them  every 
Lord's  day,  make  this  much  less  supposable  in  the  Christian 
religion,  than  it  could  be  in  any  other  sort  of  history  or  record 
whatsoever.  The  early  spreading  of  the  Christian  religion  to 
so  many  remote  countries  and  provinces,  the  many  copies  of 
these  books  that  lay  in  countries  so  remote,  the  many  transla- 
tions of  them  that  were  quickly  made,  do  all  concur  to  make 
the  impossibility  of  any  such  imposture  the  more  sensible. 
Thus  the  canon  of  the  New  Testament  is  fixed  upon  clear  and 
sure  grounds. 

From  thence,  without  any  farther  proof,  we  may  be  con- 
vinced of  the  canon  of  the  Old  Testament.  Christ  does  fre- 
quently cite  Moses  and  the  prophets ;  he  appeals  to  them ; 
and  though  he  charged  the  Jews  of  that  time,  chiefly  their 
teachers  and  rulers,  with  many  disorders  and  faults,  yet  he 
never  once  so  much  as  insinuated  that  they  had  corrupted  their 
law,  or  other  sacred  books ;  which,  if  true,  had  been  the  great- 
est of  all  those  abuses  that  they  had  put  upon  the  people. 
Our  Saviour  cited  their  books  according  to  the  translation  that 
was  then  in  credit  and  common  use  amongst  them.  When 


106 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ATU'.    one  asked  him  which  was  the  great  commandment,  he  an- 
'      swered,  '  How  readest  thou  ?'    And  he  proved  the  chief  things 

Luke  xxiv.  relating  to  himself,  his  death  and  resurrection,  from  the  pro- 

25—27.  phecies  that  had  gone  hefore ;  which  ought  to  have  been  ful- 
filled in  him  :  he  also  cites  the  Old  Testament,  by  a  threefold 

Luke  xxiv.  division  of  the  'law  of  Moses,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Psalms  ;' 

44>  according  to  the  three  orders  of  books  into  which  the  Jews 
had  divided  it.  The  Psalms,  which  was  the  first  among  the 
holy  writings,  being  set  for  that  whole  volume,  St.  Paul  says, 

Rom.iii.2.  that  'to  the  Jews  were  committed  the  oracles  of  God:'  he 
reckons  that  among  the  chief  of  their  privileges,  but  he  never 
blames  them  for  being  unfaithful  in  this  trust ;  and  it  is  cer- 
tain that  the  Jews  have  not  corrupted  the  chief  of  those  pas- 
sages that  are  urged  against  them  to  prove  Jesus  to  have  been 
the  Christ.  So  that  the  Old  Testament,  at  least  the  transla- 
tion of  the  LXX  interpreters,  which  was  in  common  use  and 
in  high  esteem  among  the  Jews  in  our  Saviour's  time,  was,  as 
to  the  main,  faithful  and  uncorrupted.  This  might  be  farther 
urged  from  what  St.  Paul  says  concerning  those  scriptures  which 

2  Tim.  iii.  Timothy  had  learned  of  a  child  ;  these  could  be  no  other  than 

15-  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament.  Thus  if  the  writings  of  the 
New  Testament  are  acknowledged  to  be  of  divine  authority, 
the  full  testimony,  that  they  give  to  the  books  of  the  Old 
Testament,  does  sufficiently  prove  their  authority  and  genuine- 
ness likewise.    But  to  carry  this  matter  yet  farther : 

Moses  wrought  such  miracles  both  in  Egypt,  in  passing 
through  the  Red  Sea,  and  in  the  wilderness,  that,  if  these  are 
acknowledged  to  be  true,  there  can  be  no  question  made  of 
his  being  sent  of  God,  and  authorized  by  him  to  deliver  his 
will  to  the  Jewish  nation.  The  relation  given  of  those  miracles 
represents  them  to  be  such  in  themselves,  and  to  have  been 
acted  so  publicly,  that  it  cannot  be  pretended  they  were 
tricks,  or  that  some  bold  asserters  gained  a  credit  to  them  by 
affirming  them.  They  were  so  publicly  transacted,  that  the 
relations  given  of  them  are  either  downright  fables :  or  they 
were  clear  and  uncontested  characters  of  a  prophet  authorized 
of  God.  Nor  is  the  relation  of  them  made  with  any  of  those 
arts  that  are  almost  necessary  to  impostors.  The  Jewish  na- 
tion is  all  along  represented  as  froward  and  disobedient,  apt 
to  murmur  and  rebel.  The  laws  it  contains,  as  to  the  political 
part,  are  calculated  to  advance  both  justice  and  compassion, 
to  awaken  industry,  and  yet  to  repress  avarice.  Liberty  and 
authority  are  duly  tempered  ;  the  moral  part  is  pure,  and  suit- 
able to  human  nature,  though  with  some  imperfections  and 
tolerances  which  were  connived  at,  but  yet  regulated  :  and  for 
the  religious  part,  idolatry,  magic,  and  all  human  sacrifices, 
were  put  away  by  it.  When  we  consider  what  remains  are 
left  us  of  the  idolatry  of  the  Egyptians,  and  what  was  after- 
ward among  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  who  were  polite  and 
well  constituted  as  to  their  civil  laws  and  rules,  and  may  be 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


107 


es*aemcd  the  most  refined  pieces  of  heathenism,  we  do  find  a  ART. 
simplicity  and  purity,  a  majesty  and  gravity,  a  modesty  with      ^  *• 
a  decency^  in  the  Jewish  rituals,  to  which  the  others  can  in  no 
sort  he  compared. 

In  the  books  of  Moses,  no  design  for  himself  appears;  his 
posterity  were  hut  in  the  crowd,  Levites  without  any  character 
of  distinction  ;  and  ne  spares  neither  himself  nor  his  hrother, 
when  there  was  occasion  to  mention  their  faults,  no  more  than 
he  does  the  rest  of  his  countrymen.  It  is  to  he  farther  con- 
sidered, that  the  laws  and  policy  appointed  by  Moses  settled 
many  rules  and  rights  that  must  have  perpetuated  the  remem- 
brance of  them.  The  land  was  to  be  divided  by  lot,  and  every 
share  was  to  descend  in  an  inheritance ;  the  frequent  assem- 
blies at  Jerusalem  on  the  three  great  festivals,  the  sabbaths, 
the  new  mo;ms,  the  sabbatical  year,  and  the  great  jubilee,  the 
law  of  the  double;  tithe,  the  sacrifices  of  so  many  different 
kinds,  the  distinctions  of  meats,  the  prohibition  of  eating  blood, 
together  with  many  other  particulars,  were  all  founded  upon 
it.  Now  1st  it  be  a  little  considered,  whether  the  foundation 
of  all  this,  I  mean  the  five  books  of  Moses,  could  be  a  forgery 
or  not.  If  the  Pentateuch  was  delivered  by  Moses  himself  to 
the  Jews,  and  received  by  them  as  the  rule  both  of  their  reli- 
gion and  policy,  then  it  is  not  possible  to  conceive,  but  that 
the  recital  of  all  that  is  contained  from  the  book  of  Exodus  to 
the  end  of  Deuteronomy  was  known  by  them  to  be  true ;  and 
this  establishes  the  credit  of  the  whole.  But  if  this  is  not 
admitted,  then  let  it  be  considered  in  what  time  it  can  possibly 
be  supposed  that  this  imposture  could  have  appeared.  There 
is  a  continued  series  of  books  of  their  history,  that  goes  down 
to  the  Babylonish  captivity ;  so  if  there  was  an  imposture  of 
this  sort  set  on  foot  in  that  time,  all  that  history  must  have 
been  made  upon  it,  and  an  account  must  have  been  given  of 
the  discovery  of  those  books ;  otherwise  the  imposture  must 
have  been  too  weak  to  have  gained  credit.  Whereas,  on  the 
contrary,  the  whole  thread  of  their  history  represents  these 
books  to  have  been  always  amongst  them. 

The  discovery  made  in  the  reign  of  Josias  cannot  be  sup- 
posed to  be  of  this  sort ;  since  how  much  disorder  soever  the 
long  and  wicked  reign  of  Manasses  might  have  brought  them 
under,  and  what  havoc  soever  might  have  been  made  of  the 
writings  that  were  held  sacred  among  them,  yet  it  was  impos- 
sible that  a  series  of  forged  laws  and  histories  could  have  been 
put  upon  them ;  of  which  there  was  still  a  continued  memory 
preserved  among  them ;  and  that  they  could  be  brought  to 
believe  that  a  book  and  a  law  full  of  so  much  history,  and  of 
so  many  various  and  unusual  rites  founded  upon  it,  had  been 
held  sacred  among  them  for  many  ages ;  if  it  was  but  a  new 
invention.  Therefore  this  is  an  extravagant  conceit :  so  that  2  Chron. 
the  book,  that  was  then  found  in  the  temple,  was  either  the  xxxiv- 14* 
original  of  the  law  written  by  Moses's  own  hand ;  for  so  the 


108 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  words  may  be  rendered :  or  it  may  be  understood  of  some  of 
VI-  the  last  chapters  of  Deuteronomy,  which  seem  by  the  tenor 
Ch.  xTviT  °f  tnem  to  have  been  at  first  a  book  by  themselves,  though 
\6.  to  the  afterwards  joined  to  the  rest  of  Deuteronomy;  and  in  the 
end  of  collection  that  Josias  was  making,  these  might  be  wanting  at 
Deu.xxviii.  nrs^  5  an<^  m  tbese  there  are  such  severe  threatenings,  that  it 
from  36.  to  was  no  wonder  if  a  heart  so  tender  as  Josias's  was  very  much 
the  end.    affected  at  the  reading  them. 

Upon  the  whole  matter,  there  is  no  period  in  the  whole  his- 
tory of  the  Jews,  to  which  any  suspicion  of  such  an  imposture 
can  be  fastened  before  the  Babylonish  captivity :  so  it  must 
be  laid  either  upon  the  times  of  the  captivity,  or  soon  after 
their  return  out  of  it.  Now,  not  to  observe  that  men  in  such 
circumstances  are  seldom  capable  of  things  of  that  nature,  can 
it  be  imagined  that  a  series  of  books,  that  run  through  many 
ages,  could  have  been  framed  so  particularly,  and  yet  so  ex- 
actly, that  nothing  in  any  concurrent  history  could  ever  be 
brought  to  disprove  any  part  of  it  ?  That  such  a  thing  could 
pass  in  so  short  a  time  upon  a  whole  nation,  while  so  many 
men  remembered,  or  might  well  remember,  what  they  had 
been  before  the  captivity,  if  they  had  not  all  known  that  it 
was  true,  is  a  most  inconceivable  thing.  These  books  were  so 
far  from  being  disputed,  though  we  see  their  neighbours  the 
Samaritans  were  inclined  enough  to  contest  every  thing  with 
them,  that  all  acquiesced  in  them,  and  in  that  second  begin- 
ning of  their  being  a  state,  as  it  is  opened  in  the  books  of 
Esdras  and  Nehemiah,  and  in  Daniel,  and  the  three  prophets 
of  the  second  temple,  all  the  other  books  were  received  among 
them  without  dispute  :  and  their  law  was  in  such  high  esteem, 
that  about  two  hundred  years  after  that,  the  king  of  Egypt 
did  with  much  entreaty,  and  at  a  vast  charge,  procure  a  trans- 
lation of  it  to  be  made  in  Greek. 

The  Jewish  nation,  as  they  live  much  within  themselves, 
where  it  is  safe  for  them  to  profess  their  religion,  so  they  have 
had  the  divine  authority  of  their  books  so  deeply  infused  into 
them  from  age  to  age,  that  now  above  sixteen  hundred  years, 
though  it  is  not  possible  for  them  to  practise  the  main  parts 
of  their  religion,  and  though  they  suffer  much  for  professing 
it,  yet  they  do  still  adhere  to  it,  and  practise  as  much  of  it  as 
they  can  by  the  law  itself,  which  ties  the  chief  performances 
of  that  religion  to  one  determinate  place.  This  is  a  firmness 
which  has  never  yet  appeared  in  any  other  religion  besides  the 
Jewish  and  the  Christian :  for  all  the  several  shapes  of  hea- 
thenism have  often  changed,  and  they  all  went  off  as  soon  as 
the  government  that  supported  them  fell,  and  that  another 
came  in  its  place.  Whereas  these  have  subsisted  long,  not 
only  without  the  support  of  the  civil  power,  but  under  many 
severe  persecutions  :  which  is  at  least  a  good  moral  argument 
to  prove,  that  these  religions  had  another  foundation,  and  a 
deeper  root,  than  any  other  religion  could  ever  pretend  to.  Yet, 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


109 


after  all,  it  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  tbat  in  the  collection  that  A  R  T. 

was  made  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  after  the  capti-  vl- 

vity,  by  Ezra  and  others,  or  after  that  burning  of  many  of  the 
books  of  their  law  under  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  mentioned  in 
the  book  of  Maccabees,  that  some  disorder  might  happen ;  1  Maccab. 
that  there  might  be  such  regard  had  to  some  copies,  as  not  to  '■ 56- 
alter  some  manifest  faults  that  were  in  them,  but  that,  instead 
of  that,  they  might  have  marked  on  the  margin  that  which 
was  the  true  reading ;  and  a  superstitious  conceit  might  have 
afterwards  crept  in,  and  continued  in  after-ages,  of  a  mystery 
in  that  matter,  upon  their  first  letting  these  faults  continue  in 
the  text  with  the  marginal  annotation  of  the  correction  of  them. 
There  might  be  also  other  marginal  annotations  of  the  modern 
names  of  places  set  against  the  ancient  ones,  to  guide  the 
reader's  judgment ;  and  afterwards  the  modern  name  might 
have  been  writ  instead  of  the  ancient  one.  These  are  things 
that  might  naturally  enough  happen  ;  and  will  serve  to  resolve 
many  objections  against  the  texts  of  the  Old  Testament.  All 
the  numbers  of  persons  as  well  as  of  years  might  also  have  been 
writ  in  numerical  letters,  though  afterwards  they  came  all  to 
be  set  down  in  words  at  large  :  and  while  they  were  in  letters, 
as  some  might  have  been  worn  out,  and  lost  in  ancient  copies, 
so  others  were,  by  the  resemblance  of  some  letters,  very  like 
to  be  mistaken :  nor  could  men's  memories  serve  them  so  well 
to  correct  mistakes  in  numbers  as  in  other  matters.  This  may 
shew  a  way  to  reconcile  many  seeming  differences  between 
the  accounts  that  are  variously  stated  in  some  of  the  books  of 
the  Bible,  and  between  the  Hebrew  and  the  Septuagint.  In 
these  matters  our  church  has  made  no  decision ;  and  so  di- 
vines are  left  to  a  just  freedom  in  them. 

In  general,  we  may  safely  rely  upon  the  care  and  providence 
of  God,  and  the  industry  of  men,  who  are  naturally  apt  to 
preserve  things  of  that  kind  entire,  which  are  highly  valued 
among  them.  And  therefore  we  conclude,  that  the  books  of 
the  Old  Testament  are  preserved  pure  down  to  us,  as  to  all 
those  things  for  which  they  were  written  ;  that  is,  in  every 
thing  that  is  either  an  object  of  faith,  or  a  rule  of  life ;  and  as  to 
lesser  matters  which  visibly  have  no  relation  to  either  of  these, 
there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  every  copier  was  so  divinely 
guided  that  no  small  error  might  surprise  him.  In  fact,  we 
know  that  there  are  many  various  readings,  which  might  have 
arisen  from  the  haste  and  carelessness  of  copiers,  from  their 
guessing  wrong  that  which  appeared  doubtful  or  imperfect  in 
the  copy,  and  from  a  superstitious  adhering  to  some  apparent 
faults,  when  they  found  them  in  copies  of  a  venerable  antiquity. 
But  when  all  those  various  readings  are  compared  together,  it 
appears  that  as  they  are  inconsiderable,  so  they  do  not  con- 
cern our  faith  nor  our  morals  ;  the  setting  which  right  was  the 
main  end  of  revelation.  The  most  important  diversity  relates 
to  chronology :  but  the  account  of  time,  especially  in  the  first 


110 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  ages,  is  of  no  consequence  to  our  believing  right,  or  to  our  liv- 
V1"  ing  well:  and  therefore,  if  some  errors  or  mistakes  should 
appear  to  be  among  those  different  readings,  these  give  no  just 
cause  to  doubt  of  the  whole.  And  indeed,  considering  the 
many  ages  through  which  those  books  have  passed,  we  have 
much  more  reason  to  wonder,  that  they  are  brought  down  to 
us  so  entire,  and  so  manifestly  genuine  in  all  their  main  and 
important  parts,  than  that  we  should  see  some  prints  of  the 
frailty  of  those  who  copied  and  preserved  them. 

It  remains  only  upon  this  head  to  consider  what  inspiration 
and  an  inspired  book  is,  and  how  far  that  matter  is  to  be 
carried.  When  we  talk  with  one  another,  a  noise  is  made  in 
the  air  that  strikes  with  such  vibrations  on  the  ears  of  others, 
that,  by  the  motion  thereby  made  on  the  brain  of  another,  we 
do  convey  our  thoughts  to  another  person :  so  that  the  im- 
pression made  on  the  brain  is  that  which  communicates 
our  thoughts  to  another.  By  this  we  can  easily  apprehend 
how  God  may  make  such  impressions  on  men's  brains,  as 
may  convey  to  them  such  things  as  he  intends  to  make  known 
to  them. 

This  is  the  general  notion  of  inspiration :  in  which  the  man- 
ner and  degree  of  the  impression  may  make  it  at  the  least 
as  certain  tiiat  the  motion  comes  from  God,  as  a  man  may  be 
certain  that  such  a  thing  was  told  him  by  such  a  person,  and 
not  by  any  other.  Now  there  may  be  different  degrees  both 
of  the  objects  that  are  revealed,  and  of  the  manner  of  the 
revelation.  To  some  it  may  be  given  in  charge  to  deliver 
rules  and  laws  to  men :  and  because  that  ought  to  be  ex- 
pressed in  plain  words  without  pomp  or  ornament,  therefore 
upon  such  occasions  the  imagination  is  not  to  be  much 
agitated ;  but  the  impression  must  be  made  so  naked,  that 
the  understanding  may  clearly  apprehend  it;  and  by  conse- 
quence that  it  may  be  plainly  expressed.  In  others,  the 
design  may  be  only  to  employ  them  in  order  to  the  awaken- 
ing men  to  observe  a  law  already  received  and  owned ;  that 
must  be  done  with  such  pompous  visions  of  judgments  com- 
ing upon  the  violation  of  those  laws,  as  may  very  much  alarm 
those  to  whom  they  are  sent :  both  the  representations  and 
the  expressions  must  be  fitted  to  excite  men,  to  terrify,  and 
so  to  reform  them.  Now  because  the  imagination,  whether 
when  we  are  transported  in  our  thoughts  being  awake,  or  in 
dreams,  is  capable  of  having  those  scenes  acted  upon  it,  and 
of  being  so  excited  by  them,  as  to  utter  them  with  pompous 
figures,  and  in  a  due  rapidity ;  this  is  another  way  of  inspira- 
tion that  is  strictly  called  prophecy  in  the  Old  Testament.  A 
great  deal  of  the  style  used  in  this  must  relate  to  the  particu- 
lars of  the  time  to  which  it  belongs :  many  allusions,  hints, 
and  forms  of  speech,  must  be  used,  that  are  lively  and  pro- 
verbial ;  which  cannot  be  understood,  unless  we  had  all  those 
concurrent  helps  which  are  lost  even  ;n  the  next  age,  if  not 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


Ill 


preserved  in  books,  and  so  they  must  be  quite  lost  after  ART. 
many  ages  are  past,  when  no  other  memorials  are  left  of  the  VL 
time' in  which  they  were  transacted.    This  must  needs  make  " 
the  far  greater  part  of  all  the  prophetic  writings  to  be  very 
dark  to  us  ;  not  to  insist  upon  the  peculiar  genius  of  the  lan- 
guage in  which  the  prophets  wrote,  and  on  the  common 
customs  of  those  climates  and  nations  to  this  day,  that  are 
very  different  from  our  own. 

A  third  degree  of  inspiration  might  be,  when  there  were 
no  discoveries  of  future  events  to  be  made :  but  good  and 
holy  men  were  to  be  inwardly  excited  by  God  to  compose 
such  poems,  hymns,  and  discourses,  as  should  be  of  great  use 
both  to  give  men  clearer  and  fuller  apprehensions  of  divine 
things,  and  also  insensibly  to  charm  them  with  a  pleasant  and 
exalted  way  of  treating  them.  And  if  the  providence  of  God 
should  so  order  them  in  the  management  of  their  composures, 
that  it  may  afterwards  appear  that  predictions  were  inter- 
mixed with  them;  yet  they  are  not  to  be  called  prophets, 
unless  God  had  revealed  to  them  the  mystical  intent  of  such 
predictions :  so  that  though  the  Spirit  of  God  prophesied  in 
them,  yet  they  themselves  not  understanding  it,  are  not  to 
be  accounted  prophets.  Of  this  last  sort  are  the  books  of 
the  Psalms,  Job,  Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  &c. 

According  to  the  different  order  of  these  inspirations  was 
the  Old  Testament  divided  into  three  volumes.  The  inspira- 
tion of  the  New  Testament  is  all  to  be  reduced  to  the  first 
sort,  except  the  Revelation,  which  is  purely  and  strictly  pro- 
phetical. The  other  parts  of  the  New  Testament  are  writ 
after  a  softer  and  clearer  illumination,  and  in  a  style  suitable 
to  it.  Now  because  enthusiasts  and  impostors  may  falsely 
pretend  to  divine  commissions  and  inspirations,  it  is  neces- 
sary (both  for  the  undeceiving  of  those  who  may  be  misled 
by  a  hot  and  ungoverned  imagination,  and  for  giving  such 
an  authority  to  men  truly  inspired,  as  may  distinguish  them 
from  false  pretenders)  that  the  man  thus  inspired  should  have 
some  evident  sign  or  other,  either  some  miraculous  action 
that  is  visibly  beyond  the  powers  of  nature,  or  some  particu- 
lar discovery  of  somewhat  that  is  to  come,  which  must  be  so 
expressed,  that  the  accomplishment  of  it  may  shew  it  to  be 
beyond  the  conjectures  of  the  most  sagacious :  by  one  or 
both  of  those  a  man  must  prove,  and  the  world  must  be  con- 
vinced, that  he  is  sent  and  directed  by  God.  And  if  such 
men  deliver  their  message  in  writing,  we  must  receive  such 
writings  as  sacred  and  inspired. 

In  these  writings  some  parts  are  historical,  some  doctrinal, 
and  some  elenchtical  or  argumentative.  As  to  the  historical 
part,  it  is  certain  that  whatsoever  is  delivered  to  us,  as  a  mat- 
ter truly  transacted,  must  be  indeed  so :  but  it  is  not  neces- 
sary, when  discourses  are  reported,  that  the  individual  words 
should  be  set  down  just  as  they  were  said;  it  is  enough  if  the 


112 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  V[T  em5ct  or"  them  is  reported  :  nor  is  it  necessary  that  the  order 
 of  time  should  be  strictly  observed,  or  that  all  the  conjunc- 
tions in  such  relation  should  be  understood  severely  accord- 
ing to  their  grammatical  meaning.  It  is  visible  that  all  the 
sacred  writers  write  in  a  diversity  of  style,  according  to  their 
different  tempers,  and  to  the  various  impressions  that  were 
made  upon  them.  In  that  the  inspiration  left  them  to  the 
use  of  their  faculties,  and  to  their  previous  customs  and  habits: 
the  design  of  revelation,  as  to  this  part  of  its  subject,  is  only 
to  give  such  representations  of  matters  of  fact,  as  may  both 
work  upon  and  guide  our  belief ;  but  the  order  of  time,  and 
the  strict  words,  having  no  influence  that  way,  the  writers 
might  dispose  them,  and  express  them,  variously,  and  yet  all 
be  exactly  true.  For  the  conjunctive  particles  do  rather  im- 
port that  one  passage  comes  to  be  related  after  another,  than 
that  it  was  really  transacted  after  it. 

As  to  the  doctrinal  parts,  that  is,  the  rules  of  life,  which 
these  books  set  before  us,  or  the  propositions  that  are  offered 
to  us  in  them,  we  must  entirely  acquiesce  in  these,  as  in  the 
voice  of  God,  who  speaks  to  us  by  the  means  of  a  person, 
whom  he,  by  his  authorizing  him  in  so  wonderful  a  manner, 
obliges  us  to  hear  and  believe.  But  when  these  writers  come 
to  explain  or  argue,  they  use  many  figures  that  were  well 
known  in  that  age :  but  because  the  signification  of  a  figure 
is  to  be  taken  from  common  use,  and  not  to  be  carried  to  the 
utmost  extent  that  the  words  themselves  will  bear,  we  must 
therefore  inquire,  as  much  as  we  can,  into  the  manner  and 
phraseology  of  the  time  in  which  such  persons  lived,  which 
with  relation  to  the  New  Testament  will  lead  us  far:  and 
by  this  we  ought  to  govern  the  extent  and  importance  of 
these  figures. 

As  to  their  arguings,  we  are  farther  to  consider,  that  some- 
times they  argue  upon  certain  grounds,  and  at  other  times 
they  go  upon  principles,  acknowledged  and  received  by  those 
with  whom  they  dealt.  It  ought  never  to  be  made  the  only 
way  of  proving  a  thing,  to  found  it  upon  the  concessions  of 
those  with  whom  we  deal;  yet  when  a  thing  is  once  truly 
proved,  it  is  a  just  and  usual  way  of  confirming  it,  or  at  least 
of  silencing  those  who  oppose  it,  to  shew  that  it  follows 
naturally  from  those  opinions  and  principles  that  are  re- 
ceived among  them.  Since  therefore  the  Jews  had,  at  the 
time  of  the  writing  of  the  New  Testament,  a  peculiar  way  of 
expounding  many  prophecies  and  passages  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, it  was  a  very  proper  way  to  convince  them,  to  allege 
many  places  according  to  their  key  and  methods  of  exposition. 
Therefore,  when  divine  writers  argue  upon  any  point,  we  are 
always  bound  to  believe  the  conclusions  that  their  reasonings 
end  in,  as  parts  of  divine  revelation  :  but  we  are  not  bound  to 
be  able  to  make  out,  or  even  to  assent  to,  all  the  premises 
made  use  of  by  them  in  their  whole  extent ;  unless  it  appears 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  113 


plainly  that  they  affirm  the  premises  as  expressly  as  they  do  AIT. 
the  conclusions  proved  by  them.  ^ 

And  thus  far  I  have  laid  down  such  a  scheme  concerning 
inspiration  and  inspired  writings,  as  will  afford,  to  such  as 
apprehend  it  aright,  a  solution  to  most  of  these  difficulties 
with  which  we  are  urged  on  the  account  of  some  passages  in  the 
sacred  writings.  The  laying  down  a  scheme  that  asserts  an  im- 
mediate inspiration  which  goes  to  the  style,  and  to  every  tittle, 
and  that  denies  any  error  to  have  crept  into  any  of  the  copies, 
as  it  seems  on  the  one  hand  to  raise  the  honour  of  the  scrip- 
tures very  highly,  so  it  lies  open,  on  the  other  hand,  to 
great  difficulties,  which  seem  insuperable  in  that  hypothesis ; 
whereas  a  middle  way,  as  it  settles  the  divine  inspiration  of 
these  writings,  and  their  being  continued  down  genuine  and 
unvitiated  to  us,  as  to  all  that,  for  which  we  can  only  suppose 
that  inspiration  was  given ;  so  it  helps  us  more  easily  out  of 
all  difficulties,  by  yielding  that  which  serves  to  answer  them, 
without  weakening  the  authority  of  the  whole. 

I  come  in  the  last  place  to  examine  the  negative  conse- 
quence that  arises  out  of  this  head,  which  excludes  those 
books  commonly  called  apocryphal,  that  are  here  rejected, 
from  being  a  part  of  the  canon :  and  this  will  be  easily  made 
out.  The  chief  reason  that  presses  us  Christians  to  acknow- 
ledge the  Old  Testament  is  the  testimony  that  Christ  and  his 
apostles  gave  to  those  books,  as  they  were  then  received  by 
the  Jewish  church  ;  to  whom  (  were  committed  the  oracles  of 
God.'  Now  it  is  not  so  much  as  pretended,  that  ever  these 
books  were  received  among  the  Jews,  or  were  so  much  as 
known  to  them.  None  of  the  writers  of  the  New  Testament 
cite  or  mention  them ;  neither  Philo  nor  Josephus  speaks  of 
them.  Josephus  on  the  contrary  says,  they  had  only  twenty- 
two  books  that  deserved  belief,  but  that  those  which  were 
written  after  the  time  of  Artaxerxes  were  not  of  equal  credit 
with  the  rest :  and  that  in  that  period  they  had  no  prophets 
at  all.  The  Christian  church  was  for  some  ages  an  utter 
stranger  to  those  books.  Melito,  bishop  of  Sardis,  being  de- 
sired by  Onesimus  to  give  him  a  perfect  catalogue  of  the 
books  of  the  Old  Testament,  took  a  journey  on  purpose  to 
the  east,  to  examine  this  matter  at  its  source :  and  having,  as 
he  says,  made  an  exact  inquiry,  he  sent  him  the  names  of 
them  just  as  we  receive  the  canon ;  of  which  Eusebius  says,  Eus.  Hi«t. 
that  he  has  preserved  it,  because  it  contained  all  those  books  '■  lv-c-26« 
which  the  church  owned.  Origen  gives  us  the  same  catalogue 
according  to  the  tradition  of  the  Jews,  who  divided  the  Old  in  Psal.i. 
Testament  into  twenty-two  books,  according  to  the  letters  of 
their  alphabet.  Athanasius  reckons  them  up  in  the  same  In  Synop. 
manner  to  be  twenty-two,  and  he  more  distinctly  says,  '  that  p"s'j,p' 
he  delivered  those,  as  they  had  received  them  by  tradition, 
and  as  they  were  received  by  the  whole  church  of  Christ, 
because  some  presumed  to  mix  apocryphal  books  with  the 

I 


114 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  divine  scriptures:  and  therefore  he  was  set  on  it  by  the 
orthodox  brethren,  in  order  to  declare  the  canonical  books 
delivered  as  such  by  tradition,  and  believed  to  be  of  divine 
inspiration.  It  is  true,'  he  adds,  '  that  besides  these  there 
were  other  books  which  were  not  put  into  the  canon,  but  yet 
were  appointed  by  the  fathers  to  be  read  by  those  who  first 
come  to  be  instructed  in  the  way  of  piety :  and  then  he 
reckons  up  most  of  the  apocryphal  books.'  Here  is  the  first 
mention  we  find  of  them,  as  indeed  it  is  very  probable  they 
were  made  at  Alexandria,  by  some  of  those  Jews  who  lived 
there  in  great  numbers.  Both  Hilary  and  Cyril  of  Jerusalem 
give  us  the  same  catalogue  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament, 
and  affirm,  that  they  delivered  them  thus  according  to  the 
Catech.  4.  tradition  of  the  ancients.  Cyril  says,  that  all  other  books  are 
to  be  put  in  a  second  order.  Gregory  Nazianzen  reckons  up 
the  twenty-two  books,  and  adds  that  none  besides  them  are 
genuine.  The  words  that  are  in  the  Article  are  repeated  by 
St.  Jerome  in  several  of  his  prefaces.  And  that  which  should 
Can.  95,  determine  this  whole  matter  is,  that  the  council  of  Laodicea 
and  60.  ^y  an  express  canon  delivers  the  catalogue  of  the  canonical 
books  as  we  do,  decreeing  that  these  only  should  be  read  in 
the  church.  Now  the  canons  of  this  council  were  afterwards 
received  into  the  code  of  the  canons  of  the  universal  church ; 
so  that  here  we  have  the  concurring  sense  of  the  whole 
church  of  God  in  this  matter. 

It  is  true,  the  book  of  the  Revelation  not  being  reckoned 
in  it,  this  may  be  urged  to  detract  from  its  authority :  but  it 
was  already  proved,  that  that  book  was  received  much  earlier 
into  the  canon  of  the  scriptures,  so  the  design  of  this  canon 
being  to  establish  the  authority  of  those  books  that  were  to 
be  read  in  the  church,  the  darkness  of  the  Apocalypse  making 
it  appear  reasonable  not  to  read  it  publicly,  that  may  be  the 
reason  why  it  is  not  mentioned  in  it,  as  well  as  in  some  later 
catalogues. 

Here  we  have  four  centuries  clear  for  our  canon,  in  exclu- 
sion to  all  additions.  It  were  easy  to  carry  this  much  farther 
down,  and  to  shew  that  these  books  were  never  by  any  ex- 
press definition  received  into  the  canon  till  it  was  done  at 
Trent :  and  that  in  all  the  ages  of  the  church,  even  after 
they  came  to  be  much  esteemed,  there  were  divers  writers, 
and  those  generally  the  most  learned  of  their  time,  who 
denied  them  to  be  a  part  of  the  canon.  At  first  many  writ- 
ings were  read  in  the  churches,  that  were  in  high  reputation 
both  for  the  sake  of  the  authors,  and  of  the  contents  of  them, 
though  they  were  never  looked  on  as  a  part  of  the  canon: 
Can.  47.  such  were  Clemens's  Epistle,  the  books  of  Hermas,  the  Acts 
of  the  Martyrs,  besides  several  other  things  which  were  read 
in  particular  churches.  And  among  these  the  apocryphal 
books  came  also  to  be  read,  as  containing  some  valuable  books 
of  instruction,  besides  several  fragments  of  the  Jewish  history, 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  115 


which  were  perhaps  too  easily  believed  to  be  true.  These 
therefore  being  usually  read,  they  came  to  be  reckoned  among 
canonical  scriptures  :  for  this  is  the  reason  assigned  in  the 
third  council  of  Carthage  for  calling  them  canonical,  because 
they  had  received  them  from  their  fathers  as  books  that  were 
to  be  read  in  churches :  and  the  word  canonical  was  by  some 
in  those  ages  used  in  a  large  sense,  in  opposition  to  spurious ; 
so  that  it  signified  no  more  than  that  they  were  genuine.  So 
much  depends  upon  this  Article,  that  it  seemed  necessary  to 
dwell  fully  upon  it,  and  to  state  it  clearly. 

It  remains  only  to  observe  the  diversity  between  the  Arti- 
cles now  established,  and  those  set  forth  by  king  Edward. 
In  the  latter  there  was  not  a  catalogue  given  of  the  books  of 
scripture,  nor  was  there  any  distinction  stated  between  the 
canonical  and  the  apocryphal  books.  In  those  there  is  like- 
wise a  paragraph,  or  rather  a  parenthesis,  added  after  the 
words  proved  thereby,  in  these  words,  Although  sometimes  it 
may  be  admitted  by  God's  faithful  people  as  pious,  and  con- 
ducing unto  order  and  decency :  which  are  now  left  out,  be- 
cause the  authority  of  the  church  as  to  matters  of  order  and 
decency,  which  was  only  intended  to  be  asserted  by  this 
period,  is  more  fully  explained  and  stated  in  the  35th  Article. 


116 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART. 
VII. 

ARTICLE  VII. 

Of  the  Old  Testament. 

Che  <©ttl  CcStament  is  not  contrary  to  the  fiefo :  for  both  in  tht 
&IQ  auto  jjieto  CeStamcnt  Crbcrlasting  %ih  is  offcrctf  to  iftanftinU 
bt>  Christ,  ioljo  tsi  the  onb  ^HtUtator  between  <©o&  atrtJ  £Han, 
being  both  Quit  antt  fHan.  W.)mttm  then  are  not  to  be  bcarll 
tohich  feign  that  the  ©IK  dfathrvs  look  onb  for  CranSitorp 
promises. 

9Pttl)ougf)  the  ILafo  giben  from  &oU  bp  Moses,  as  touching;  Cere? 
monies  autf  J&iteS,  tio  not  bint)  Christian  fHen,  nor  the  Cibil 
precepts  thereof  ought  of  necessity  to  be  rrccibcti  tn  anp  Coim 
monfoealth,  pet  noturithstantiiug  no  (Christian  fHan  fohatsoeber 
is  free  from  the  (SbctJtencc  of  the  Commandments  inhtch  are  ralletr 
fHoral. 

Tins  Article  is  made  up  of  the  sixth  and  the  nineteenth  of 
kin?  Edward's  Articles  laid  together:  only  the  nineteenth 
of  king  Edward's  has  these  words  after  moral:  Where/ore 
they  are  not  to  be  heard,  which  teach  that  the  holy  scriptures 
were  given  to  none  but  to  the  weak;  and  brag  continually  of  the 
Spirit,  by  which  they  do  pretend  that  all  whatsoever  they  preach 
is  suggested  to  them ;  though  manifestly  contrary  to  the  holy 
scriptures.  This  whole  Article  relates  to  the  Antinomians,  as 
these  last  words  were  added  by  reason  of  the  extravagance  of 
some  enthusiasts  at  that  time ;  but  that  madness  having 
ceased  in  queen  Elizabeth's  time,  it  seems  it  was  thought 
that  there  was  no  more  occasion  for  those  words. 

There  are  four  heads  that  do  belong  to  this  Article :  First, 
that  the  Old  Testament  is  not  contrary  to  the  New.  Secondly, 
that  Christ  was  the  Mediator  in  both  dispensations,  so  that 
salvation  was  offered  in  both  by  him.  Thirdly,  that  the  cere- 
monial and  the  judiciary  precepts  in  the  law  of  Moses  do  not 
bind  Christians.  Fourthly,  that  the  moral  law  does  still  bind 
all  Christians. 

To  the  first  of  these  the  Manichees  of  old,  who  fancied  that 
there  was  a  bad  as  well  as  a  good  God,  thought  that  these 
two  great  principles  were  in  a  perpetual  struggle ;  and  they 
believed  the  old  dispensation  was  under  the  bad  one,  which 
was  taken  away  by  the  new,  that  is  the  work  of  the  good  God. 
But  they  who  held  such  monstrous  tenets  must  needs  reject 
the  whole  New  Testament,  or  very  much  corrupt  it :  since 
there  is  nothing  plainer,  than  that  the  prophets  of  the  Old 
foretold  the  New  with  approbation ;  and  the  writers  of  the 
New  prove  both  their  commission  and  their  doctrine  from 
passages  of  the  Old  Testament.    This  therefore  could  not  be 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  117 


affirmed  without  rejecting  many  of  the  books  that  we  own,  ART. 
and  corrupting  the  rest.    So  this  deserves  no  more  to  be  con-  VM- 
sidered. 

Upon  this  occasion  it  will  be  no  improper  digression,  to 
consider  -what  revelation  those  under  the  Mosaical  law,  or  that 
lived  before  It,  had  of  the  Messias :  this  is  an  important  mat- 
ter :  it  is  a  great  confirmation  of  the  truth  of  the  Christian 
religion,  as  it  will  furnish  us  Avith  proper  arguments  against 
the  Jews.    It  is  certain  they  have  long  had,  and  still  have, 
an  expectation  of  a  Messias.    Now  the  characters  and  predic- 
tions concerning  this  person  must  have  been  fulfilled  long  ago  : 
or  the  prophecies  will  be  found  to  be  false :  and  if  they  do 
meet  and  were  accomplished  in  our  Saviour's  person,  and  if 
no  other  person  could  ever  pretend  to  this,  then  that  which  is 
undertaken  to  be  proved  will  be  fully  performed.    The  first 
promise  to  Adam  after  his  sin,  speaks  of  an  enmity  between 
the  seed  of  the  serpent  and  the  seed  of  the  woman  :  *  It  shall  Gen.iii.l5. 
bruise  thy  head,  and  thou  shalt  bruise  his  heel.'    The  one 
might  hurt  the  oc.ier  in  some  lesser  instances,  but  the  other 
was  to  have  an  entire  victory  at  last ;  which  is  plainly  signified 
by  the  figures  of  bruising  the  heel,  and  bruising  the  head, 
which  was  to  be  performed  by  one  who  was  to  bear  this  cha- 
racter of  being  the  woman's  seed.    The  next  promise  was 
made  to  Abraham,  'In  thee  shall  all  the  families  of  the  Gen.xii.3. 
earth  be  blessed :'  this  was  lodged  in  his  seed  or  posterity,  xx"- 
upon  his  being  ready  to  offer  up  his  son  Isaac:  that  promise  Gen.  xxvi. 
was  renewed  to  Isaac,  and  after  him  to  Jacob:  when  he  was  24. 
dying,  it  was  lodged  by  him  in  the  tribe  of  Judah,  when  he  ^n-*""'- 
prophesied,  that  '  the  sceptre  should  not  depart  from  Judah,  Gen.  xlix. 
nor  the  lawgiver  from  between  his  feet,  till  Shiloh  should  10. 
come ;  and  the  gathering  of  the  people,'  that  is,  of  the  Gen- 
tiles, 6  was  to  be  to  him.'    It  is  certain  the  ten  tribes  were 
lost  in  their  captivity,  whereas  the  tribe  of  Judah  was  brought 
back,  and  continued  to  be  a  political  body  under  their  own 
laws,  till  a  breach  was  made  upon  that  by  the  Romans  first 
reducing  them  to  the  form  of  a  province,  and  soon  after  that 
destroying  them  utterly:  so  that  either  that  prediction  was 
not  accomplished :  or  the  Shiloh,  the  Sent,  to  whom  the  Gen- 
tiles were  to  be  gathered,  came  before  they  lost  their  sceptre 
and  laws. 

Moses  told  the  people  of  Israel,  that  God  'was  to  raise  up  Deut.xviii. 
among  them  a  prophet  like  unto  him,  to  whom  they  ought  to  15- 
hearken,'  otherwise  God  would  'require  it  of  them.'  The 
character  of  Moses  was,  that  he  was  a  lawgiver,  and  the  author 
of  an  entire  body  of  instituted  religion  ;  so  they  were  to  look 
for  such  a  one.    Balaam  prophesied  darkly  of  one  whom  he 
saw  as  at  a  great  distance  from  his  own  time ;  and  he  spoke 
of  a  '  Star  that  should  come  out  of  Jacob,  and  a  sceptre  out  Numaxiv. 
of  Israel :'  some  memorial  of  which  was  probably  preserved  17, 
among  the  Arabians.    In  the  book  of  Psalms  there  are  many 


118 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  things  said  of  David,  which  seem  capable  of  a  much  auguster 
^  u*  sense  than  can  be  pretended  to  be  answered  by  any  thing  that 
befell  himself.  What  is  said  in  the  2d,  the  16th,  the  22d, 
the  45th,  the  102d,  and  the  110th  Psalms,  affords  us  copious 
instances  of  this.  Passages  in  these  Psalms  must  be  stretched 
by  figures  that  go  very  high,  to  think  they  were  all  fulfilled 
in  David  or  Solomon :  but  in  their  literal  and  largest  sense 
they  were  accomplished  in  Christ,  to  whom  God  said,  '  Thou 
art  my  son,  this  day  have  I  begotten  thee.'  In  him  that  was 
verified,  cThou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  hell,  neither  wilt 
thou  suffer  thy  Holy  One  to  see  corruption.  His  hands  and 
his  feet  were  pierced,  and  lots  were  cast  upon  his  vesture/  Of 
him  it  may  be  strictly  said,  '  Thy  throne,  O  God,  is  for  ever 
and  ever.'  To  him  that  belonged,  '  The  Lord  said  unto  my 
Lord,  Sit  thou  on  my  right  hand,  till  I  make  thine  enemies 
thy  footstool.'  And,  'The  Lord  sware  and  will  not  repent, 
Thou  art  a  priest  for  ever  after  the  order  of  Melchisedeck.' 

The  prophets  gave  yet  more  express  predictions  concerning 
the  Messias.    Isaiah  did  quiet  the  fears  of  Ahaz,  and  of  the 

Lsa.  vii.  14.  house  of  David,  by  saving,  '  The  Lord  himself  shall  give  you 
a  sign,  Behold,  a  virgin  shall  conceive  and  bear  a  son.'  It 
was  certainly  no  sign  for  one  that  was  a  virgin,  to  conceive 
afterwards  and  bear  a  son ;  therefore  the  sign  or  extraordinary 
thing  here  promised  as  a  signal  pledge  of  God's  care  of  the 
house  of  David,  must  lie  in  this,  that  one  still  remaining  a  vir- 
gin should  conceive  and  bear  a  son ;  not  to  insist  upon  the 
strict  signification  of  the  word  in  the  original.    The  same 

lsa.  xi.  l,  prophet  did  also  foretell,  that  as  this  Messias,  or  the  Branch, 
should  spring  from  the  stem  of  Jesse,  so  also  he  was  to  be 

Ver.  10.  fun  0f  the  Spirit  of  the  Lord ;  and  '  that  the  Gentiles  should 
seek  to  him.'  In  another  place  he  enumerates  many  of  the 
miracles  that  should  be  done  by  him :  he  was  to  give  sight  to 

lsa.  xxxv.  the  blind,  make  the  deaf  to  hear,  the  lame  to  walk.    He  does 

5-  6-       further  set  forth  his  character ;  not  that  of  a  warrior  or  con- 

Isa.  xlii.  l  queror ;  on  the  contrary,  '  He  was  not  to  cry  nor  strive,  nor 
*•       break  the  bruised  reed,  or  quench  the  smoking  flax ;  he  was 
to  bring  forth  judgment  to  the  Gentiles,  and  the  isles  were  to 

lsa.  liii.  wait  for  his  law.'  There  is  a  whole  chapter  in  the  same  pro- 
phet, setting  forth  the  mean  appearance  that  the  Messiah  was 
to  make,  the  contempt  he  was  to  fall  under,  and  the  suffen.i^s 
he  was  to  bear ;  and  that  for  the  sins  of  others,  which  were  to 
be  laid  on  him ;  so  that  his  soul  or  life  was  to  be  made  an 
offering  for  sin,  in  reward  of  which  he  was  to  be  highly  exalted. 

Isa.  lxi.  In  another  place  his  mission  is  set  forth,  not  in  the  strains  of 
war,  or  of  conquest,  but  of  preaching  to  the  poor,  setting  the 
prisoners  free  as  in  a  year  of  jubilee,  and  comforting  the 
afflicted  and  such  as  mourned.  In  the  two  last  chapters  of 
that  prophet  mention  is  made  more  particularly  of  the  Gen- 
tiles that  were  to  be  called  by  him,  and  the  isles  that  were  afar 
off,  out  of  whom  God  was  to  take  some  for  priests  and  Levites  ; 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


119 


which  shewed  plainly,  that  a  new  dispensation  was  to  be  ART. 
opened  by  him,  in  which  the  Gentiles  were  to  be  priests  and 
Levites,  which  could  not  be  done  while  the  Mosaical  law  stood, 
that  had  tied  these  functions  to  the  tribe  of  Levi,  and  to  the 
house  of  Aaron.    Jeremy  renewed  the  promise  to  the  house 
of  David,  of  e  a  king  that  should  reign  and  prosper  ;  in  whose  Jer.  xxiii. 
days  Judah  and  Israel  were  to  dwell  safely,  whose  name  was  5- 
t  ;  be,  The  Lord  our  Righteousness.'    It  is  certain  this  promise 
was  never  literally  accomplished  ;  and  therefore  recourse  must 
be  had  to  a  mystical  sense.    The  same  prophet  gives  a  large 
account  of  a  'new  covenant  that  God  was  to  make  with  the  T?r.  xxxi. 
house  of  Israel,  not  according  to  the  covenant  that  he  made  31—34 
with  their  fathers,  when  he  brought  them  out  of  Egypt.'  We 
have  also  two  characters  given  of  that  covenant :  one  is,  that 
God  '  would  put  his  law  in  their  inward  parts,  and  write  it  in 
their  hearts  ;'  that  he  would  be  their  God,  and  that  they  should 
all  be  taught  of  him  :  the  other  is,  '  that  he  would  forgive  their 
iniquities,  and  remember  their  sin  no  more/    One  of  these  is 
in  opposition  to  their  law>  that  consisted  chiefly  in  rituals,  and 
had  no  promises  of  inward  assistances;  and  the  other  is  in 
opposition  to  the  limited  pardon  that  was  offered,  in  that  dis- 
pensation, on  the  condition  of  the  many  sacrifices  that  they 
were  required  to  offer.    There  is  a  prediction  to  the  same  pur- 
pose in  Ezekiel.    Joel  prophesied  of  an  extraordinary  effusion  Ezek. 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  on  great  numbers  of  persons,  old  and  J*"1*  25, 
young,  that  was  to  happen  before  the  great  and  terrible  day  joe'|  it  28 
of  the  Lord,  that  is,  before  the  final  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  &c. 
Micah,  after  he  had  foretold  several  things  of  the  dispensation  Mieahv.2. 
of  the  Messiah,  says  that  he  was  to  come  out  of  Bethlehem 
Ephratah.    Haggai  encouraged  those  who  were  troubled  at  Haj.  ii.  6 
the  meanness  of  the  temple,  which  they  had  raised  after  their  "~9, 
return  out  of  the  captivity.    It  had  neither  the  outward  glory 
in  its  fabric  that  Solomon's  temple  had,  nor  the  more  real 
glory  of  the  ark,  with  the  tables  of  the  Law ;  of  fire  from  hea- 
ven on  the  altar ;  of  a  succession  of  prophets ;  of  the  Urim  and 
Thummim,  and  the  cloud  between  the  cherubims;  which  last, 
strictly  speaking,  was  the  glory ;  all  which  had  been  in  Solo- 
mon's temple,  but  were  wanting  in  that.    In  opposition  to 
this,  the  prophet,  in  the  name  of  God,  promised  that  he  would 
in  a  '  little  while  shake  the  heavens  and  the  earth,'  and  '  shake 
all  nations ;'  words  that  import  some  surprising  and  great 
change;  upon  which  the  'desire  of  all  nations  should  come, 
and  God  would  fill  the  house  with  his  glory ;'  and  '  the  glory 
of  this  latter  house  should  exceed  the  glory  of  the  former,  for 
in  that  place  God  would  give-  peace.'    Here  is  a  plain  pro- 
phecy, that  this  temple  was  to  have  a  glory,  not  only  equal 
but  superior  to  the  glory  of  Solomon's  temple :  these  words 
are.  too  august  to  be  believed  to  have  been  accomplished,  when 
Herod  rebuilt  the  temple  with  much  magnificence ;  for  that 
was  nothing  in  comparison  of  the  real  glory,  of  the  symbols 


120 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.   of  the  presence  of  God,  that  were  wanting  in  it    This  cannot 
^  111     answer  the  words,  that  the  desire  of  all  nations  was  to  come, 
and  that  God  would  give  peace  in  that  place.    So  that  either 
this  prophecy  was  never  fulfilled :   or  somewhat  must  be 
assigned  during  the  second  temple,  that  will  answer  those 
solemn  expressions,  which  are  plainly  applicable  to  our  Sa- 
viour, who  was  the  expectation  of  the  Gentiles,  by  whom  peace 
was  made,  and  in  whom  the  eternal  Word  dwelt  in  a  manner 
Zech-ix-9- infinitely  more  august  than  in  the  cloud  of  glory.*  Zechary 
prophesied  that  their  King,  by  which  they  understood  the 
Messias,  was  to  be  meek  and  lowly,  and  that  he  was  to  make 
his  entrance  in  a  very  mean  appearance,  riding  on  an  ass :  but 
yet  under  that,  he  was  to  bring  salvation  to  them,  and  they 
Mai.  iii.  l,  were  to  rejoice  greatly  in  him.    Malachi  told  them,  that  £  the 
3-  Lord  whom  they  sought,  even  the  messenger  of  the  covenant 

in  whom  they  delighted,  should  suddenly  come  into  his  tem- 
ple and  that  the  day  of  his  coming  was  to  be  dreadful ;  that 
he  was  to  refine  and  purify,  in  particular,  the  sons  of  Levi ;  and 
a  terrible  destruction  is  denounced  after  that.    One  character 


*  '  It  canr.ct  be  conceived  how  the  glory  of  the  second  temple  should  be  greater 
than  the  glory  of  the  fir3t,  without  the  „oming  of  the  Messias  to  it.  For  the  Jews 
themselves  have  observed  that  five  signs  of  the  divine  glory  were  in  the  first  temple, 
which  were  wanting  in  t';e  second  :  as  the  Ijrim  and  Thummim,  by  which  the  high- 
priest  was  miraculously  instructed  of  the  will  of  God;  the  ark  of  the  covenant,  from 
whence  God  gave  his  answers  by  a  clear  and  audible  voice;  the  fire  upon  -he  altar, 
which  came  down  from  heaven,  and  immediately  consumed  the  sacrifice  ;  the  divine 
presence  or  habitation  with  them,  represented  by  a  visible  appearance,  or  given,  as 
it  were,  to  the  king  and  high-priest  by  anointing  with  the  oil  of  unction  ;  and,  lastly, 
the  spirit  of  prophecy,  with  which  these  especially  who  were  called  to  the  propheti- 
cal office  were  endued.  And  there  was  no  comparison  between  the  beauty  and 
glory  of  the  structure  rnd  building  of  it,  as  appeared  by  the  tears  dropped  from 
those  eyes  which  had  beheld  the  former,  ("  For  many  of  the  priests  and  Levites 
and  chief  of  the  fathers,  who  were  ancient  men,  that  had  seen  the  first  house,  when 
the  foundation  of  this  house  was  laid  before  their  eyes,  wept  with  a  loud  voice  ;"  Ezra 
iii.  12.)  and  by  those  words  which  God  commanded  Haggai  to  speak  to  the  people 
for  the  introducing  of  this  prophecy,  "  Who  is  left  among  you  that  saw  this  house 
in  her  first  glory  ?  And  how  do  you  see  it  now  ?  Is  it  not  in  your  eyes  in  com- 
parison of  it  as  nothing  ?"  ( Hag.  ii.  3. )  Being  then  the  structure  of  the  second 
temple  was  so  far  inferior  to  the  first,  being  all  those  signs  of  the  divine  glory  were 
wanting  in  it  with  which  the  former  was  adorned  ;  the  glory  of  it  can  no  other  way 
be  imagined  greater,  then  by  the  coming  of  Him  into  it,  in  whom  all  the  signs  of 
the  divine  glory  were  far  more  eminently  contained  ;  and  this  person  alone  is 
the  Messias.  For  he  was  to  be  the  glory  cf  the  people  Israel,  yea,  even  of  the  God 
of  Israel ;  he  the  Urira  and  Thummim,  by  whom  the  will  of  God,  as  by  a  greater 
oracle,  was  revealed ;  he  the  true  ark  of  the  covenant,  the  only  propitiatory  by  his 
blood ;  he  which  was  to  baptize  with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire,  the  true  fire 
which  came  down  from  heaven  ;  he  which  was  to  take  up  his  habitation  in  our 
flesh,  and  to  dwell  among  us  that  we  might  behold  his  glory  ;  he  who  received  the 
Spirit  without  measure,  and  from  whose  fulness  we  do  all  receive.  In  him  were 
all  those  signs  of  the  Divine  Glory  united,  which  were  thus  divided  in  the  first 
temple ;  in  him  they  were  all  more  eminently  contained  than  in  those  ;  therefore 
his  coming  to  the  second  temple  was,  as  the  sufficient,  so  the  only  means  by  which 
the  glory  of  it  could  be  greater  than  the  glory  of  the  first.  If  then  the  Messias  was 
to  come  while  the  second  temple  stood,  as  appeared  by  God's  prediction  and  pro- 
mise ;  if  that  temple  many  ages  since  hath  ceased  to  be,  there  being  not  one  stone 
left  upon  a  stone  ;  if  it  certainly  were  before  the  destruction  of  it  in  greater  glory 
than  ever  the  former  was;  if  no  such  glory  could  accrue  unto  it  but  by  the  coming 
of  the  Messias  :  then  is  that  Messias  already  come.'  Pearson  on  the  Creed,  pp.  127. 
128.  Dobsons  edition  [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


121 


of  his  coming  was,  that  Elijah  the  prophet  was  to  come  before  ART. 
that  great  and  dreadful  day,  who  should  convert  many,  old  VI1, 
and  young.    Now  it  is  certain  that  no  other  person  came,  Mai.  iv.  5, 
during  the  second  temple,  to  whom  these  words  can  be  ap-  6. 
plied :  so  that  they  were  not  accomplished,  unless  it  was  in 
the  person  of  our  Saviour,  to  whom  all  these  characters  do 
well  agree. 

But  to  conclude  with  that  prophecy  which  of  all  others  is 
the  most  particular:  when  Daniel  at  the  end  of  the  seventy  Dan.ix.24 
years'  captivity  was  interceding  for  that  nation,  an  angel  was  —27 
sent  to  him  to  tell  him,  that  they  were  to  have  a  new  period 
of  seventy  weeks,  that  is,  seven  times  seventy  years,  490  years ; 
and  that  after  sixty-two  weeks,  Messiah  the  Prince  was  to  come, 
and  to  be  cut  off;  and  that  then  the  people  of  a  pnnce  should 
destroy  the  city  and  the  sanctuary ;  and  the  end  of  these  was 
to  be  as  with  a  flood  or  inundation,  and  desolations  were  deter- 
mined to  the  end  of  the  war.  They  were  to  be  destroyed  by 
abominable  armies,  that  is,  by  idolatrous  armies ;  they  were 
to  be  made  desolate,  till  an  utter  end  or  consummation  should 
be  made  of  them.  The  pomp,  with  which  this  destruction  is 
set  forth,  plainly  shews,  that  the  final  ruin  of  the  Jews  by  the 
Roman  armies  is  meant  by  it.  From  which  it  is  justly  inferred, 
not  only  that,  if  that  vision  was  really  sent  from  God  by  an 
angel  to  Daniel,  and  in  consequence  to  that  was  fulfilled,  then 
the  Messiah  did  come,  and  was  cut  off  during  the  continuance 
of  Jerusalem  and  the  temple ;  but  that  it  happened  within  a 
period  of  time  designed  in  that  vision.  Time  was  then  com- 
puted more  certainly  than  it  had  been  for  many  ages  before. 
Two  great  measures  were  fixed ;  one  at  Babylon  by  Nabonasser, 
and  another  in  Greece  in  the  Olympiads.  Here  a  prediction 
is  given  almost  five  hundred  years  before  the  accomplishment, 
with  many  very  nice  reckonings  in  it.  I  will  not  now  enter 
upon  the  chronology  of  this  matter,  on  which  some  great  men 
have  bestowed  their  labours  very  happily.  Archbishop  Usher 
has  stated  this  matter  so,  that  the  interval  of  time  is  clearly 
four  hundred  eighty-six  years.  The  covenant  was  to  be  con- 
finned  with  many  for  one  week,  in  the  midst  of  which  God 
was  to  cause  the  sacrifice  and  oblation  for  sin  to  cease ;  which 
seems  to  be  a  mystical  way  of  describing  the  death  of  Christ, 
that  was  to  put  an  end  to  the  virtue  of  the  Judaical  sacrifices  ; 
so  sixty-nine  weeks  and  a  half  make  just  four  hundred  eighty- 
six  years  and  a  half.  But  without  going  farther  into  this  cal- 
culation, it  is  evident,  that  during  the  second  temple,  the  Mes- 
sias  was  to  come,  and  to  be  cut  off,  and  that  soon  after  that 
a  prince  was  to  send  an  army  to  destroy  both  city  and  sanc- 
tuary. The  Jews  do  not  so  much  as  pretend  that  during  that 
temple  the  Messias  thus  set  forth  did  come,  or  was  cut  off ; 
so  either  the  prediction  failed  in  the  event :  or  the  Messias 
did  come  within  that  period. 

And  thus,  a  thread  of  the  prophecies  of  the  Messias  being 


122 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  RT.  carried  down  through  the  whole  Old  Testament,  it  seems  to  he 
fully  made  out,  that  he  was  to  he  of  the  seed  of  Ahraham, 
and  of  the  posterity  of  David  :  that  the  tribe  of  Judah  was  to 
be  a  distinct  policy,  till  he  should  come :  that  he  should  work 
many  miracles  :  that  he  was  to  be  meek  and  lowly  :  that  his 
function  was  to  consist  in  preaching  to  the  afflicted,  and  in 
comforting  them :  that  he  was  to  call  the  Gentiles,  and  even 
the  remote  islands,  to  the  knowledge  of  God :  that  he  was  to 
be  born  of  a  virgin,  and  at  Bethlehem  :  that  he  was  to  be  a 
new  lawgiver,  as  Moses  had  been :  that  he  was  to  settle  his 
followers  upon  a  new  covenant,  different  from  that  made  by 
Moses  :  that  he  was  to  come  during  the  second  temple :  that 
he  was  to  make  a  mean,  but  a  joyful  entrance  to  Jerusalem : 
that  he  was  to  be  cut  off:  that  the  iniquities  of  us  all  were  to 
be  laid  on  him ;  and  that  his  life  was  to  be  made  an  offering 
for  sin ;  but  that  God  was  to  give  him  a  glorious  reward  for 
these  his  sufferings ;  and  that  his  doctrine  was  to  be  internal, 
accompanied  with  a  free  offer  of  pardon,  and  of  inward  assist- 
ances ;  and  that  after  his  death  the  Jews  were  to  fall  under  a 
terrible  curse,  and  an  utter  extirpation.  When  this  is  all 
summed  up  together ;  when  it  appears,  that  there  was  never 
any  other  person  to  whom  those  characters  did  agree,  but 
that  they  did  all  meet  in  our  Saviour,  we  see  what  light  the 
Old  Testament  has  given  us  in  this  matter.  Here  a  nation 
that  hates  us  and  our  religion,  who  are  scattered  up  and  down 
the  world,  who  have  been  for  many  ages  without  their  temple, 
and  without  their  sacrifices,  without  priests,  and  without  their 
genealogies,  who  yet  hold  these  books  among  them  in  a  due 
veneration,  which  furnish  us  with  so  full  a  proof,  that  the 
Messiah  whom  they  still  look  for,  is  the  Lord  Jesus  whom 
we  worship.    We  do  now  proceed  to  other  matters. 

The  Jews  pretend,  that  it  is  a  great  argument  against  the 
authority  of  the  New  Testament,  because  it  acknowledges  the 
Old  to  be  from  God,  and  yet  repeals  the  far  greater  part  of 
the  laws  enacted  in  it;  though  those  laws  are  often  said  to  be 
'  laws  for  ever,'  and  '  throughout  all  generations/  Now  they 
seem  to  argue  with  some  advantage,  who  say,  that  what  God 
does  declare  to  be  a  law  that  shall  be  perpetual  by  any  one 
prophet,  cannot  be  abrogated  or  reversed  by  another,  since 
that  other  can  have  no  more  authority  than  the  former  pro- 
phet had :  and  if  both  are  of  God,  it  seems  the  one  cannot 
make  void  that  which  was  formerly  declared  by  the  other  in  the 
name  of  God.  But  it  is  to  be  considered,  that  by  the  phrases 
of  ' a  statute  for  ever,'  or  'throughout  all  generations,'  can 
only  be  meant,  that  such  laws  were  not  transient  laws,  such 
as  were  only  to  be  observed  whilst  they  marched  through  the 
wilderness,  or  upon  particular  occasions ;  whereas  such  laws, 
which  were  constantly  and  generally  to  be  observed,  were  to 
them  perpetual.  But  that  does  not  import  that  the  lawgiver 
himself  had  parted  with  all  the  authority,  that  naturally  be- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


123 


longs  to  him,  over  his  own  laws.  It  only  says,  that  the  peo-  ART. 
pie  had  no  power  over  such  laws  to  repeal  or  change  them :  v11, 
they  were  to  bind  them  always ;  but  that  puts  no  limitation 
on  the  lawgiver  himself,  so  that  he  might  not  alter  his  own 
constitutions.  Positive  precepts,  which  have  no  real  value  in 
themselves,  are  of  their  own  nature  alterable:  and  as  in  human 
laws  the  words  of  enacting  a  law  for  all  future  times  do  only 
make  that  to  be  a  perpetual  law  for  the  subjects,  but  do  not 
at  all  limit  the  legislative  power,  which  is  as  much  at  liberty 
to  abrogate  or  alter  it,  as  if  no  such  words  had  been  in  the 
law ;  there  are  also  many  hints  in  the  Old  Testament,  which 
shew  that  the  precepts  of  the  Mosaical  law  were  to  be  altered: 
many  plain  intimations  are  given  of  a  time  and  state,  in  which 
the  knowledge  of  God  was  to  be  spread  over  all  the  earth : 
and  that  God  was  every  where  to  be  worshipped.  Now  this 
was  impossible  to  be  done  without  a  change  in  their  law  and 
rituals :  it  being  impossible  that  all  the  world  should  go  up 
thrice  a  year  to  worship  at  Jerusalem,  or  could  be  served  by 
priests  of  the  Aaronical  family.  Circumcision  was  a  distinc- 
tion of  one  particular  race,  which  needed  not  to  be  continued 
after  all  were  brought  under  one  denomination,  and  within  the 
same  common  privileges. 

These  things  hitherto  mentioned  belong  naturally  to  this 
part  of  the  Article :  yet,  in  the  intention  of  those  who  framed 
it,  these  words  relate  to  an  extravagant  sort  of  enthusiasts 
that  lived  in  those  days ;  who,  abusing  some  ill-understood 
phrases  concerning  justification  by  Christ  without  the  works 
of  the  law,  came  to  set  up  very  wild  notions,  which  were  bad 
in  themselves,  but  much  more  pernicious  in  their  conse- 
quences. They  therefore  fancied  that  a  Christian  was  tied 
by  no  law,  as  a  rule  or  yoke ;  all  these  being  taken  away  by 
Christ:  they  said  indeed,  that  a  Christian  by  his  renovation 
became  a  law  to  himself ;  he  obeyed  not  any  written  rule  or 
law,  but  a  new  inward  nature :  and  thus  as  it  is  said  that  Sa- 
docus  mistook  his  master  Antigonus,  who  taught  his  disciples 
to  serve  God,  not  for  the  hope  of  a  reward,  but  without  any 
expectations,  as  if  he  by  that  affectation  of  sublimity  had 
denied  that  there  was  any  reward ;  and  from  thence  sprung 
the  sect  of  the  Sadducees :  so  these  men,  perhaps  at  first 
mistaking  the  meaning  of  the  New  Testament,  went  wrong 
only  in  their  notions ;  and  still  meant  to  press  the  necessity 
of  true  holiness,  though  in  another  set  of  phrases,  and  upon 
other  motives ;  yet  from  thence  many  wild  and  ungoverned 
notions  arose  then,  and  were  not  long  ago  revived  among  us: 
all  which  flowed  from  their  not  understanding  the  importance 
of  the  word  law  in  the  New  Testament,  in  which  it  stands 
most  commonly  for  the  complex  of  the  whole  Jewish  religion, 
in  opposition  to  the  Christian ;  as  the  word  law,  when  it 
stands  for  a  book,  is  meant  of  the  five  books  of  Moses. 

The  maintaining  the  whole  frame  of  that  dispensation,  in 


124 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


opposition  to  that  liberty  which  the  apostles  granted  to  the 
Gentiles,  as  to  the  ritual  parts  of  it,  was  the  controversy  then 
in  debate  between  the  apostles  and  the  Judaizing  Christians. 
The  stating  that  matter  aright  is  a  key  that  will  open  all 
those  difficulties,  which  with  it  will  appear  easy,  and  without 
it  insuperable.  In  opposition  to  these,  who  thought  then 
that  the  Old  Testament,  having  brought  the  world  on  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  Messias,  was  now  of  no  more  use,  this  Arti- 
cle was  framed. 

The  second  part  of  the  Article  relates  to  a  more  intricate 
matter ;  and  that  is,  whether  in  the  Old  Testament  there  were 
any  promises  made,  other  than  transitory  or  temporal  ones, 
and  whether  they  might  look  for  eternal  salvation  in  that 
dispensation,  and  upon  what  account?  Whether  Christ  was 
the  Mediator  in  that  dispensation,  or  if  they  were  saved  by 
virtue  of  their  obedience  to  the  laws  that  were  then  given 
them  ?  Those  who  deny  that  Christ  was  truly  God,  think 
that  in  order  to  the  raising  him  to  those  great  characters  in 
which  he  is  proposed  in  the  New  Testament,  it  is  necessary 
to  assert  that  he  gave  the  first  assurances  of  eternal  happi- 
ness, and  of  a  free  and  full  pardon  of  all  sins  in  his  gospel : 
and  that  in  the  Old  Testament  neither  the  one  nor  the  other 
were  certainly  and  distinctly  understood. 

It  is  true,  that  if  we  take  the  words  of  the  covenant  that 
Moses  made  between  God  and  the  people  of  Israel  strictly 
and  as  they  stand,  they  import  only  temporal  blessings  :  that 
was  a  covenant  with  a  body  of  men  and  with  their  posterity, 
as  they  were  a  people  engaged  to  the  obedience  of  that  law. 
Now  a  national  covenant  could  only  be  established  in  tem- 
poral promises  of  public  and  visible  blessings,  and  of  a  long 
continuance  of  them  upon  their  obedience,  and  in  threaten- 
ings  of  as  signal  judgments  upon  the  violation  of  them  :  but 
under  those  general  promises  of  what  was  to  happen  to  them 
collectively,  as  they  made  up  one  nation,  every  single  person 
among  them  might,  and  the  good  men  among  them  did,  gather 
the  hopes  of  a  future  state.  It  is  clear  that  Moses  did  all 
along  suppose  the  being  of  God,  the  creation  of  the  world, 
and  the  promise  of  the  Messias,  as  things  fully  known  and 
carried  down  by  tradition  to  his  days :  so  it  seems  he  did 
also  suppose  the  knowledge  of  a  future  state,  which  was  then 
generally  believed  by  the  Gentiles  as  well  as  the  Jews ;  though 
they  had  only  dark  and  confused  notions  about  it.  But  when 
God  was  establishing  a  covenant  with  the  Jewish  nation,  a 
main  part  of  which  was  his  giving  them  the  land  of  Canaan 
for  an  inheritance,  it  was  not  necessary  that  eternal  rewards  or 
punishments  should  be  then  proposed  to  them  ;  but  from  the 
tenor  of  the  promises  made  to  their  forefathers,  and  from  the 
general  principles  of  natural  religion,  not  yet  quite  extin- 
guished among  them,  they  might  gather  this,  that  under  those 
carnal  promises^  blessings  of  a  higher  nature  were  to  be  un- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


125 


derstood.  And  so  we  see  that  David  had  the  hope  of  arriving  ART 
'  at  the  presence  of  God,'  and  '  at  his  right  hand,'  where  he 


believed  there  was  '  a  fulness  of  joy,  and  pleasures  for  ever-  ps.  Xvi.  11. 
more:'  and  he  puts  himself  in  this  opposition  to  the  wicked,  J**-**"- 
that  whereas  '  their  portion  was  in  this  life,  and  they  left    '  - 
their  substance  to  their  children ;'  he  says,  that  as  for  him,  he 
should  '  behold  God's  face  in  righteousness,'  and  should  c  be 
satisfied  when  he  awaked  with  his  likeness ;'  which  seems 
plainly  to  relate  to  a  state  after  this  life,  and  to  the  resurrec- 
tion.   He  carries  this  opposition  farther  in  another  Psalm, 
where  after  he  had  said,  that  '  men  in  honour  did  not  con- 
tinue, but  were  like  the  beasts  that  perished :  that  none  of 
them  could  purchase  immortality  for  his  brother ;  that  he  ^'  *g*' 
should  still  live  for  ever,  and  not  see  corruption :  they  all 
died  and  left  their  wealth  to  others,  and  like  sheep  they  were 
laid  in  the  grave,  where  death  should  feed  on  them  :'  in  oppo- 
sition to  which  he  says,  that  '  the  upright  should  have  do- 
minion over  them  in  the  morning:'  winch  is  clearly  a  poetical 
expression  for  another  day  that  comes  after  the  night  of 
death.    As  for  himself  in  particular,  he  says,  that  ■  God  shall 
redeem  my  soul  (that  is,  his  life,  or  his  body,  for  in  those 
senses  the  word  soul  is  used  in  the  Old  Testament)  from  the 
power  of  the  grave :'  that  is,  from  continuing  in  that  state  of 
death  ;  for  '  he  shall  receive  me.'    This  does  very  clearly  set 
forth  David's  belief  both  of  future  happiness,  and  of  the  re- 
surrection of  his  body.  To  which  might  be  added  some  other  ps.  lxxxiv. 
passages  in  the  Psalms,  Ecclesiastes,  Isaiah,  and  Daniel:  in11- 
all  which  it  appears,  that  the  holy  men  in  that  dispensation  did  6' 
understand,  that  under  those  promises  in  the  books  of  Moses  xcvi.  13. 
that  seemed  literally  to  belong  to  the  land  of  Canaan,  and  Kccl- *'-9- 
other  temporal  blessings,  there  was  a  spiritual  meaning  hid,  i"'x'x4v  8 
which  it  seems  was  conveyed  down  by  that  succession  of  pro-  xxvi.  19. 
phets,  that  was  among  them,  as  the  mystical  sense  of  them.  Dan.xii.2. 

It  is  to  this  that  our  Saviour  seems  to  appeal,  when  the 
Sadducees  came  to  puzzle  him  with  that  question  of  the 
seven  brethren,  who  had  all  married  one  wife:  he  first  tells 
them,  'they  erred,  not  knowing  the  Scriptures  ;'  which  plainly  MattsnL 
imports,  that  the  doctrine,  which  they  denied,  was  contained  29, 
in  the  scriptures :  and  then  he  goes  to  prove  it,  not  from 
those  more  express  passages  that  are  in  the  prophets  and  holy 
writers,  which  as  some  think  the  Sadducees  rejected ;  but 
from  the  law,  which  being  the  source  of  their  religion,  it  might 
seem  a  just  prejudice  against  any  doctrine,  especially  if  it  was 
of  great  consequence,  that  it  was  not  contained  in  the  law. 
Therefore  he  cites  these  words  that  are  so  often  repeated,  and 
that  were  so  much  considered  by  the  Jews,  as  containing  in 
them  the  foundation  of  God's  love  to  them ;  that  God  said 
upon  many  occasions,  particularly  at  his  first  appearance  to 
Moses,  '  I  am  the  God  of  Abraham,  the  God  of  Isaac,  and  Ver.31,32. 
the  God  of  Jacob.'    WhMi  words  imported  not  only  that  f xod* Iu* 


126 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  God  had  been  their  God,  but  still  was  their  God :  now  when 
VII~  God  is  said  to  be  a  God  to  any,  by  that  is  meant,  that  he  is 
their  benefactor,  or  exceeding  rich  reward,  as  was  promised 
to  Abraham.  And  that  therefore  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob 
lived  unto  God,  that  is,  were  not  dead ;  but  were  then  in  a 
happy  state  of  life,  in  which  God  did  reward  them,  and  so 
was  their  God.  Whether  this  argument  rests  here,  our 
Saviour  designing  only  to  prove,  against  the  main  error  of 
the  Sadducees,  that  we  have  souls  distinct  from  our  bodies, 
that  shall  outlive  their  separation  from  them ;  or  if  it  goes 
further  to  prove  the  rising  of  the  body  itself,  I  shall  not  de- 
termine. On  the  one  hand  our  Saviour  seems  to  apply  him- 
self particularly  to  prove  the  resurrection  of  the  body ;  so  we 
must  see  how  to  find  here  an  argument  for  that,  to  answer 
the  scope  of  the  whole  discourse :  yet  on  the  other  hand  it 
may  be  said,  that  he  having  proved  the  main  point  of  the 
soul's  subsisting  after  death,  which  is  the  foundation  of  all 
religion ;  the  other  point  which  was  chiefly  denied,  because 
that  was  thought  false,  would  be  more  easily  both  acknow- 
ledged and  believed. 

As  for  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  all  that  can  be  brought 
from  hence  as  an  argument  to  prove  it  is,  that  since  God  was 
the  God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  and  by  consequence 
their  benefactor  and  rewarder,  and  yet  they  were  pilgrims  on 
this  earth,  and  suffered  many  tossings  and  troubles,  that 
therefore  they  must  be  rewarded  in  another  state :  or  be- 
cause God  promised  that  to  them  he  would  give  the  land  of 
Canaan,  as  well  as  to  their  seed  after  them,  and  since  they 
never  had  any  portion  of  it  in  their  own  possession,  that 
therefore  they  shall  rise  again,  and  with  the  other  saints  reign 
on  earth,  and  have  that  promise  fulfilled  in  themselves. 

From  all  this  the  assertion  of  the  Article  is  as  to  one  main 
point  made  good,  that  the  old  fathers  looked  for  more  than 
transitory  promises :  it  is  also  clear,  that  they  looked  for  a 
further  pardon  of  sin,  than  that  which  their  law  held  forth  to 
them  in  the  expiation  made  by  sacrifices.    Sins  of  ignorance, 
Heb.x.28.  or  sins  of  a  lower  sort,  were  those  only  for  which  sin  or  tres- 
pass-offerings were  appointed.    The  sins  of  a  higher  order 
were  punished  by  death,  by  the  hand  of  Heaven,  or  by 
cutting  off ;  so  that  such  as  sinned  in  that  kind  were  to  die 
without  mercy :  yet  when  David  had  fallen  into  the  most 
Psal.  Ii.  \,  fieinous  of  those  sins,  he  prays  to  God  for  a  pardon,  accord- 
2, 16, 17.  mg  j.Q  Qocps  loving-kindness,  and  the  multitude  of  his  tender 
mercies  :  for  he  knew  that  they  were  beyond  the  expiation 
by  sacrifice.    The  prophets  do  often  call  the  Jews  to  repent 
of  their  idolatry  and  other  crying  sins,  such  as  oppression, 
injustice,  and  murder;  with  the  promise  of  the  pardon  of 
Isa.  i.  18.  them ;  even  though  they  were  of  the  deepest  dye,  as  crimson 
and  scarlet.    Since  then  for  lesser  sins  an  expiation  was  ap- 
pointed by  sacrifice,  besides  their  confessing-  and  reoenting 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


127 


of  it ;  and  since  it  seems,  by  St.  Paul's  way  of  arguing,  that  ART. 
they  held  it  for  a  maxim,  that  '  without  shedding  of  blood  V1L 
there  was  no  remission  of  sins;'  this  might  naturally  lead  Heb.ix. 
them  to  think  that  there  was  some  other  consideration  that  22. 
was  interposed  in  order  to  the  pardoning  of  those  more 
heinous  sins :  for  a  greater  degree  of  guilt  seems  by  a  na- 
tural proportion  to  demand  a  higher  degree  of  sacrifice  and 
expiation.  But  after  all,  whatsoever  Isaiah,  Daniel,  or  any  j*a.  liii. 
other  prophet,  might  have  understood  or  meant  by  those  an-lx* 
sacrificatory  phrases  that  they  use  in  speaking  of  the  Messiah, 
yet  it  cannot  be  said  from  the  Old  Testament,  that  in  that 
dispensation  it  was  clearly  revealed  that  the  Messias  was  to 
die,  and  to  become  a  sacrifice  for  sin  :  the  Messias  was 
indeed  promised  under  general  terms;  but  there  was  not  then 
a  full  and  explicit  revelation  of  his  being  to  die  for  the  re- 
demption of  mankind  ;  yet  since  the  most  heinous  sins  were 
then  pardoned,  though  not  by  virtue  of  the  sacrifices  of  that 
covenant,  nor  by  the  other  means  prescribed  in  it,  we  have 
good  reason  to  affirm,  that,  according  to  this  Article,  life  was 
offered  to  mankind  in  the  old  dispensation  by  Christ,  who 
was,  with  relation  to  obtaining  the  favour  of  God,  and  ever- 
lasting life,  the  Mediator  of  that  as  well  as  of  the  new  dispen- 
sation. In  the  New  Testament  he  is  set  in  opposition  to  the 
old  Adam,  'that  as  in  the  one  all  died,  so  in  the  other  alliCor.xv 
were  made  alive :'  nor  is  it  any  way  incongruous  to  say,  that  22. 
the  merit  of  his  death  should  by  an  anticipation  have  saved 
those  who  died  before  he  was  born :  for  that  being  in  the 
view  of  God  as  certain  before,  as  after  it  was  done,  it  might 
be  in  the  divine  intention  the  sacrifice  for  the  old,  as  well  as 
it  is  expressly  declared  to  be  the  sacrifice  for  the  new  dispen- 
sation. And  this  being  so,  God  might  have  pardoned  sins  in 
consideration  of  it,  even  to  those  who  had  no  distinct  appre- 
hensions concerning  it.  For  as  God  applies  the  death  of 
Christ,  by  the  secret  methods  of  his  grace,  to  many  persons 
whose  circumstances  do  render  them  incapable  of  the  express 
acts  of  laying  hold  on  it,  the  want  of  those  (for  instance,  in 
infants  and  idiots)  being  supplied  by  the  goodness  of  God : 
so  though  the  revelation  that  was  made  of  the  Messias  to 
the  fathers  under  the  old  dispensation,  was  only  in  general 
and  prophetical  terms,  of  which  they  could  not  have  a  clear 
and  distinct  knowledge ;  yet  his  death  might  be  applied  to 
them,  and  their  sins  pardoned  through  him,  upon  their  per- 
forming such  acts  as  were  proportioned  to  that  dispensation, 
and  to  the  revelation  that  was  then  made ;  and  so  they  were 
reconciled  to  God  even  after  sins,  for  which  no  sacrifices  were 
appointed  by  their  dispensation,  upon  their  repentance  and 
obedience  to  the  foederal  acts  and  conditions  then  required, 
which  supplied  the  want  of  more  express  acts  with  relation 
to  the  death  of  Christ,  not  then  distinctly  revealed  to  them. 
But  though  the  old  fathers  had  a  conveyance  of  the  hope  of 


128 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.   eternal  life  made  to  them,  with  a  resurrection  of  their  bodies, 
^  1I-     and  a  confidence  in  the  mercy  of  God,  for  pardoning  the  most 
heinous  sins ;  yet  it  cannot  be  denied,  but  that  it  was  as 
2  Pet. i.     'a  light  that  shined  in  a  dark  place,  till  the  day-star  did 
19-         arise,'  and  that  Christ  '  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light 
by  his  gospel;'  giving  us  fuller  and  clearer  discoveries  of  it, 
both  with  relation  to  our  souls  and  bodies ;  and  that  by  him 
Rom.  iii.    also  God  'has  declared  his  righteousness  for  the  remission  of 
24,  25,     sins,  through  the  forbearance  of  God,  through  the  redemp- 
tion that  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  through  faith  in  his  blood.' 

The  third  branch  of  this  Article  will  not  need  much  expla- 
nation, as  it  will  bear  no  dispute,  except  with  Jews,  who  do 
not  acknowledge  the  New  Testament.  The  ceremonial  parts 
of  the  Mosaical  law,  which  comprehends  all  both  the  negative 
and  the  positive  precepts,  were  enjoined  the  Jews  either  with 
relation  to  the  worship  of  God  and  service  at  the  temple,  or 
to  their  persons  and  course  of  life. 

That  which  is  not  moral  of  its  own  nature,  or  that  had  no 
relation  to  civil  society,  was  commanded  them,  to  separate 
them  not  only  from  the  idolatrous  and  magical  practices  of 
other  nations,  but  to  distinguish  them  so  entirely  as  to  all 
their  customs,  even  in  the  rules  of  eating  and  of  cleanness, 
that  they  might  have  no  familiar  commerce  with  other  nations, 
but  live  within  and  among  themselves ;  since  that  was  very 
likely  to  corrupt  them,  of  which  they  had  very  large  experience. 
Some  of  those  rituals  were  perhaps  given  them  as  punishments 
for  their  frequent  revolts,  and  were  as  a  yoke  upon  them,  who 
were  so  prone  to  idolatry.  They  were  as  rudiments  and 
remembrances  to  them  :  they  were  as  it  were  subdued  by  a 
great  variety  of  precepts,  which  were  matter  both  of  much 
charge  and  great  tro\ible  to  them :  by  these  they  were  also 
amused ;  for  it  seems  they  did  naturally  love  a  pompous  exte- 
rior in  religion  ;  they  were  also,  by  all  that  train  of  perform- 
ances which  were  laid  on  them,  kept  in  mind  both  of  the  great 
blessings  of  God  to  them,  and  of  the  obligations  that  lay  on 
them  towards  God ;  and  many  of  those,  particularly  their 
sacrifices  and  washings,  were  typical.  All  this  was  proper 
and  necessary  to  restrain  and  govern  them,  while  they  were 
the  only  people  in  the  world  that  renounced  idolatry,  and 
worshipped  the  true  God :  and  therefore  so  soon  as  that  of 
which  they  had  an  emblem  in  the  structure  of  their  temple 
(of  a  court  of  the  Gentiles  separated  with  a  middle  vail  of 
partition,  from  the  place  in  which  the  Israelites  worshipped) 
was  to  be  removed,  and  that  the  house  of  God  was  to  become 
£  a  house  of  prayer  to  all  nations,'  then  all  those  distinctions 
were  to  be  laid  aside,  and  all  that  service  was  to  determine 
and  come  to  an  end.  The  apostles  did  declare,  that  the  Gen- 
tiles were  not  to  be  brought  under  that  heavy  yoke,  which 
Act«  xv.  their  fathers  were  not  able  to  bear ;  yet  the  apostles  them- 
selves, as  born  Jews,  and  while  they  lived  among  the  Jews, 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


129 


did  continue  in  the  observance  of  their  rites,  as  long  as  God  ART. 
seemed  to  be  waiting  for  the  remnant  of  that  nation  that  was  VI1- 
to  be  saved,  before  his  wrath  came  upon  the  rest  to  the  utter- 
most. They  went  to  the  temple,  they  purified  themselves ; 
and,  in  a  word,  '  to  the  Jews  they  became  Jews and  in  this 
compliance,  the  first  converts  of  the  Jewish  nation  continued 
till  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem ;  after  which,  it  became  im- 
possible to  observe  the  greatest  part  of  their  most  important 
rituals,  even  all  those  that  were  tied  to  the  temple.  But  that  na- 
tion losing  its  genealogies,  and  all  the  other  characters  that  they 
formerly  had  of  a  nation  under  the  favour  and  protection  of 
God,  could  no  more  know  after  a  few  ages,  whether  they  were 
the  seed  of  Abraham  or  not,  or  whether  there  were  any  left 
among  them  of  the  tribe  of  Levi,  or  of  the  family  of  Aaron. 
So  that  now  all  those  ceremonies  are  at  an  end  ;  many  of  them  Heb.  x. 
are  become  impossible,  and  the  rest  useless  ;  as  the,  whole  was 
abrogated  by  the  authority  of  the  apostles,  who  being  sent  of 
God,  and  proving  their  mission  by  miracles,  as  well  as  Moses 
had  done  his,  they  might  well  have  loosed  and  dissolved  those 
precepts  upon  earth,  upon  which,  according  to  our  Saviour's 
words,  they  are  to  be  esteemed  as  loosed  in  heaven. 

The  judiciary  parts  of  the  law  were  those  that  related  to 
them  as  they  were  a  society  of  men,  to  whom  God  by  a  special 
command  gave  authority  to  drive  out  and  destroy  a  wicked 
race  of  people,  and  to  possess  their  land ;  which  God  appointed 
to  be  divided  equally  among  them,  and  that  every  portion 
should  be  as  a  perpetuity  to  a  family  ;  so  that  though  it  might 
be  mortgaged  out  for  a  number  of  years,  yet  it  was  afterwards 
to  revert  to  the  family.  Upon  this  bottom  they  were  at  first 
set ;  and  they  were  still  to  be  preserved  upon  it ;  so  that  many 
laws  were  given  them  as  they  were  a  civil  society,  which  can- 
not belong  to  any  other  society :  and  therefore  their  whole 
judiciary  law,  except  when  any  parts  of  it  are  founded  on 
moral  equity,  was  a  complicated  thing,  and  can  belong  to  no 
other  nation,  that  is  not  in  its  first  and  essential  constitution 
made  and  framed  as  they  were.  For  instance  ;  the  prohibition 
of  taking  use  for  money,  being  a  mean  to  preserve  that  equality 
which  was  among  them,  and  to  keep  any  of  them  from  becom- 
ing excessively  rich,  or  others  from  becoming  miserably  poor, 
this  is  by  no  means  to  be  applied  to  other  constitutions,  where 
men  are  left  to  their  industry,  and  neither  have  their  inherit- 
ance by  a  grant  from  heaven,  nor  are  put  by  any  special 
appointment  of  God  all  upon  a  level.  So  that  it  is  certain, 
and  can  bear  no  debate,  that  the  Mosaical  dispensation,  as  to 
all  the  parts  of  it  that  are  not  of  their  own  nature  moral,  is 
determined  and  abrogated  by  the  gospel.  The  decisions  which 
the  apostles  made  in  this  matter  are  so  clear,  and  for  the  proof 
of  them,  the  whole  tenor  of  the  Epistles  to  the  Galatians  and 
the  Hebrews  is  so  full,  that  no  doubt  can  rest  concerning  this 
with  any  man  who  reads  them. 

K 


130 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  The  last  branch  of  this  Article  that  remains  to  be  considered, 
V11,  is  concerning  the  moral  law,  by  which  the  Ten  Command- 
ments are  meant,  together  with  all  such  precepts  as  do  belong 
to  them,  or  are  corollaries  arising  out  of  them.  By  moral  law 
is  to  be  understood,  in  opposition  to  positive,  a  law  which  has 
an  antecedent  foundation  in  the  nature  of  things,  that  arises 
from  eternal  reason,  is  suitable  to  the  frame  and  powers  <>/ 
our  souls,  and  is  necessary  for  maintaining  human  society.  All 
such  laws  are  commanded,  because  they  are  in  themselves 
good,  and  suitable  to  the  state  in  which  God  has  put  us  here. 
The  two  sources,  out  of  which  all  the  notions  of  morality  flow, 
are,  first,  tbe  consideration  of  ourselves  as  we  are  single  indi- 
viduals, and  that  with  relation  both  to  soul  and  body ;  and 
next,  the  consideration  of  human  society,  what  is  necessary 
for  the  peace  and  order,  the  safety  and  happiness,  of  mankind. 
There  are  two  orders  of  moral  precepts  ;  some  relate  to  things 
that  of  their  own  nature  are  inflexibly  good  or  evil,  such  as 
truth  and  falsehood  ;  whereas  other  things  by  a  variety  of  cir- 
cumstances may  so  change  their  nature,  that  they  may  be 
either  morally  good  or  evil :  a  merciful  or  generous  temper  is 
always  a  good  moral  quality.,  and  yet  it  may  run  to  excesses : 
there  may  be  many  things  that  are  not  unalterably  moral  in 
themselves,  which  yet  may  be  fit  subjects  of  perpetual  laws 
about  them.  For  instance ;  in  the  degrees  of  kindred  with 
relation  to  marriage,  there  are  no  degrees  but  direct  ascendants 
or  descendants,  that  is,  parents  and  children,  that  by  an 
eternal  reason  can  never  marry ;  for  Avhere  there  is  a  natural 
subordination,  there  can  never  be  such  an  equality  as  that 
state  of  life  requires  :  but  collateral  degrees,  even  the  nearest, 
brothers  and  sisters,  are  not  by  any  natural  law  barred  mar- 
riage, and  therefore  in  a  case  of  necessity  they  might  marry : 
yet  since  their  intermarrying  must  be  attended  with  vast  in- 
conveniences, and  would  tend  to  the  defilement  of  all  families, 
and  hinder  the  conjunction  of  mankind  by  the  intermixture 
of  different  families ;  it  becomes  therefore  a  fit  subject  for  a 
perpetual  law,  to  strike  a  horror  at  the  thought  of  such  com- 
mixtures, and  so  to  keep  the  world  pure ;  which,  considering 
the  freedoms  in  which  those  of  the  same  family  do  live,  could 
not  be  preserved  without  such  a  law.  It  is  also  the  interest 
of  mankind,  and  necessary  for  the  careful  education  of  the 
rising  generation,  that  marriages  should  be  for  life  ;  for  if  it 
were  free  for  married  persons  to  separate  at  pleasure,  the  issue 
of  marriages  so  broken  would  be  certainly  much  neglected : 
and  since  a  power  to  break  a  marriage  would  naturally  inflame 
such  little  quarrellings  as  may  happen  among  all  persons  that 
live  together,  which  will  on  the  contrary  be  certainly  repressed, 
when  they  know  that  the  marriage  cannot  be  dissolved,  and 
when,  by  such  a  dissolution  of  marriages,  the  one  half  of  the 
human  species,  I  mean  womankind,  is  exposed  to  great  mise- 
ries, and  subject  to  much  tyranny,  it  is  a  fit  subject  for  a  per- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


131 


petual  law ;  so  that  it  is  moral  in  a  secondary  order.    It  were  A  R  T. 

easy  to  give  instances  of  this  in  many  more  particulars,  and   VI1- 

to  shew,  that  a  precept  may  be  said  to  be  moral,  when  there 
is  a  natural  suitableness  in  it  to  advance  that  which  is  moral 
in  the  first  order,  and  that  it  cannot  be  well  preserved  wilhout 
such  a  support.  It  will  appear  what  occasion  there  is  for  this 
distinction,  when  we  consider  the  Ten  Commandments  >  ivhich 
are  so  many  heads  of  morality,  that  are  instanced  in  the  high- 
est act  of  a  kind ;  and  to  which  are  to  be  reduced  all  such  acts 
as  by  the  just  proportions  of  morality  belong  to  that  order  and 
series  of  actions. 

The  foundation  of  morality  is  religion.  The  sense  of  God, 
that  he  is,  and  that  he  is  both  a  rewarder  and  a  punisher,  is 
the  foundation  of  religion.  Now  this  must  be  supposed  as 
antecedent  to  his  laws,  for  we  regard  and  obey  them  from  the 
persuasion  that  is  formed  in  us  concerning  the  being  and  the 
justice  of  God :  the  two  first  commandments  are  against  the 
two  different  sorts  of  idolatry  ;  which  are,  the  worshipping  of 
false  gods,  or  the  worshipping  the  true  God  in  a  corporeal 
figure:  the  one  is  the  giving  the  honour  of  the  true  God  to 
an  idol,  and  the  other  is  the  depressing  the  true  God  to  the 
resemblance  of  an  idol.  These  were  the  two  great  branches 
of  idolatry,  by  which  the  true  ideas  of  God  were  corrupted. 
Religion  was  by  them  corrupted  in  its  source.  Nobody  can 
question  but  that  it  is  immoral  to  worship  a  false  god :  it  is 
a  transferring  the  honour,  which  belongs  immediately  and 
singly  to  the  great  God,  to  a  creature,  or  to  some  imaginary 
thing  which  never  had  a  real  existence.  This  is  the  robbing 
God  of  what  is  due  to  him,  and  the  exalting  another  thing  to 
a  degree  and  rank  that  cannot  belong  to  it.  Nor  is  it  less 
immoral  to  propose  the  great  and  true  God  to  be  worshipped 
under  appearances  that  are  derogatory  to  his  nature,  that 
tend  to  give  us  low  thoughts  of  him,  and  that  make  us  think 
him  like,  if  not  below,  ourselves.  This  way  of  worshipping 
him  is  both  unsuitable  to  his  nature,  and  unbecoming  ours ; 
while  we  pay  our  adorations  to  that  which  is  the  work  of  an 
artificer.  This  is  confirmed  by  those  many  express  prohi- 
bitions in  scripture,  to  which  reasons  are  added,  which  shew 
that  the  thing  is  immoral  in  its  own  nature :  it  being  often 
repeated,  that  no  similitude  of  God  was  ever  seen :  and  '  to 
whom  wiil  ye  liken  me  V  All  things  in  heaven  and  earth  are 
often  called  the  '  work  of  his  hands :'  which  are  plain  indica- 
tions of  a  moral  precept,  when  arguments  are  framed  from 
the  nature  of  things  to  enforce  obedience  to  it.  The  reason 
given  in  the  very  command  itself,  is  taken  from  the  nature 
of  God,  who  is  jealous ;  that  is,  so  tender  of  his  glory,  that 
he  will  not  suffer  a  diminution  of  it  to  go  unpunished ;  and 
if  this  precept  is  clearly  founded  upon  natural  justice,  and 
the  proportion  that  ought  to  be  kept  between  all  human 
acts  and  their  objects,  then  it  must  be  perpetual ;  and  that 


132 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  B  T,  the  rather,  because  we  do  plainly  see  that  the  gospel  is  a  refin- 
_  "•  ing  upon  the  law  of  Moses,  and  does  exalt  it  to  a  higher  pitch 
of  sublimity  and  purity  ;  and  by  consequence  the  ideas  of  God, 
which  are  the  first  seeds  and  principles  of  religion,  are  to  be 
kept  yet  more  pure  and  undefiled  in  it,  than  they  were  in  a 
lower  dispensation. 

The  third  precept  is  against  false  swearing :  for  the  word 
Ex.  iii.  i,  vain  is  often  used  in  the  scripture  in  that  sense :  and  since  in 
l.ev.  xix.   aji  tjie  0tner  commandments,  the  sin  which  is  named  is  not 
Matt.  v.    one  of  the  lowest,  but  of  the  chief  sins  that  relate  to  that  head ; 
33.         there  is  no  reason  therefore  to  think,  that  vain  or  idle  swear- 
ing, which  is  a  sin  of  a  lower  order,  should  be  here  meant,  and 
not  rather  false  swearing,  which  is  the  highest  sin  of  the  kind. 
The  morality  of  this  command  is  very  apparent ;  for  since 
God  is  the  God  of  truth,  and  every  oath  is  an  appeal  to  him, 
therefore  it  must  be  a  gross  wickedness  to  appeal  to  God,  or 
to  call  him  to  vouch  for  our  lies. 

The  fourth  commandment  cannot  be  called  moral  in  the 
first  and  highest  sense ;  for  from  the  nature  of  things  no 
reason  can  be  assigned,  why  the  seventh  day,  rather  than 
the  sixth,  or  the  eighth,  or  any  other  day,  should  be  sepa- 
rated from  the  common  business  of  life,  and  applied  to  the 
service  of  God.  But  it  is  moral  that  a  man  should  pay  ho- 
mage to  his  Maker,  and  acknowledge  him  in  all  his  works 
and  ways :  and  since  our  senses  and  sensible  objects  are  apt 
to  wear  better  things  out  of  our  thoughts,  it  is  necessary  that 
some  solemn  times  should  be  set  apart  for  full  and  copious 
meditations  on  these  subjects ;  this  should  be  universal,  lest, 
if  the  time  were  not  the  same  every  where,  the  business  of 
some  men  might  interfere  with  the  devotions  of  others.  It 
ought  to  have  such  an  eminent  character  on  it,  like  a  cessation 
from  business  :  which  may  both  awaken  a  curiosity  to  inquire 
into  the  reason  of  that  stop,  and  also  may  give  opportunity  for 
meditations  and  discourses  on  those  subjects.  It  is  also  clear, 
that  such  days  of  rest  must  not  return  so  oft,  that  the  neces- 
sary affairs  of  life  should  be  stopped  by  them,  nor  so  seldom, 
that  the  impressions  of  religion  should  wear  out,  if  they  were 
too  seldom  awakened :  but  what  is  the  proper  proportion  of 
time,  that  can  best  agree  both  with  men's  bodies  and  minds,  is 
only  known  to  the  great  Author  of  nature.  Howsoever,  from 
what  has  been  said,  it  appears  that  this  is  a  very  fit  matter  to 
be  fixed  by  some  sacred  and  perpetual  law,  and  that  from  the 
first  creation ;  because  there  being  then  no  other  method  for 
conveying  down  knowledge,  besides  oral  tradition,  it  seems  as 
highly  congruous  to  that  state  of  mankind,  as  it  is  agreeable  to 
the  words  in  Genesis,  to  believe  that  God  should  then  have 
appointed  one  day  in  seven  for  commemorating  the  crea- 
tion, and  for  acknowledging  the  great  Creator  of  all  things. 
But  though  it  seems  very  clear,  that  here  a  perpetual  law  was 
given  the  world  for  the  separating  the  seventh  day ;  yet  it  was 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


133 


a  mere  circumstance,  and  does  not  at  all  belong  to  the  stand-   A  RT. 

ing  use  of  the  law,  in  what  end  of  the  week  this  clay  was  to  be  Vil- 

reckoned,  whether  the  first  or  the  last :  so  that  even  a  less 
authority  than  the  apostles,  and  a  less  occasion  than  the  resur- 
rection of  Christ,  might  have  served  to  have  transferred  the 
day.  There  being  in  this  no  breach  made  on  the  good  and 
moral  design  of  this  law,  which  is  all  in  it  that  we  ought  to 
reckon  sacred  and  unalterable  :  the  degree  of  the  rest  might  be 
also  more  severely  urged  under  the  Mosaical  law,  than  either 
before  it  or  after  it.  Our  Saviour  having  given  plain  intimations 
of  an  abatement  of  that  rigour,  by  this  general  rule,  that  'the  Marie ii.27. 
sabbath  was  made  for  man,  and  not  man  for  the  sabbath.'  We, 
who  are  called  to  a  state  of  freedom,  are  not  under  such  a 
strictness  as  the  Jews  were.  Still  the  law  stands  for  sepa- 
rating a  seventh  day  from  the  common  business  of  life,  and 
applying  it  to  a  religious  rest,  for  acknowledging  at  first  the 
Creator,  and  now,  by  a  higher  relation,  the  Redeemer,  of  the 
world. 

These  four  commandments  make  the  first  table,  and  were 
generally  reckoned  as  four  distinct  commandments,  till  the 
Roman  church  having  a  mind  to  make  the  second  disappear, 
threw  it  in  as  an  appendix  to  the  first,  and  then  left  it  quite 
out  in  her  catechisms :  though  it  is  plain  that  these  command- 
ments relate  to  two  very  different  matters,  the  one  being  in  no 
sort  included  in  the  other.  Certainly  they  are  much  more  dif- 
ferent than  the  coveting  the  neighbour's  wife  is  from  the  covet- 
ing any  of  his  other  concerns  ;  which  are  plainly  two  different 
acts  of  the  same  species;  and  the  house  being  set  before  the  Ex.xx.l7 
wife  in  Exodus  (though  it  comes  after  it  in  Deuteronomy,  ^eut- 
which,  being  a  repetition,  is  to  be  governed  by  Exodus,  and 
not  Exodus  by  it)  stands  for  the  whole  substance,  which  is 
afterwards  branched  out  in  the  particulars ;  and  so  it  is  clear 
that  there  is  no  colour  for  dividing  this  in  two ;  but  the  first 
two  commandments  relating  to  things  of  such  a  different  sort,  as 
is  the  worshipping  of  more  gods  than  one,  and  the  worshipping 
the  true  God  in  an  image,  ought  still  to  be  reckoned  as  differ- 
ent :  and  though  the  reason  given  from  the  jealousy  and  justice 
of  God  may  relate  equally  to  both,  yet  that  does  not  make  them 
otherwise  one,  than  as  both  might  be  reduced  to  one  common 
head  of  idolatry,  so  that  both  were  to  be  equally  punished. 

In  the  second  table  this  order  is  to  be  observed.  There  are 
four  branches  of  a  man's  property,  to  which  every  thing  that 
he  can  call  his  own  may  be  reduced :  his  person,  his  wife  and 
children,  his  goods,  and  his  reputation :  so  there  is  a  negative 
precept  given  to  secure  him  in  every  one  of  these,  against  kill- 
ing, committing  adultery,  stealing,  and  bearing  false  witness : 
to  which,  as  the  chief  acts  of  their  kind,  are  to  be  reduced  all 
those  acts  that  may  belong  to  those  heads  :  such  as  injuries  to 
a  man  in  his  person,  though  not  carried  on  nor  designed  to 
kill  him ;  every  temptation  to  uncleanness,  and  all  those  ex- 


134 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  cesses  that  lead  to  it ;  every  act  of  injustice,  and  every  lie  or 
v  defamation.  To  these  four  are  added  two  fences  ;  the  one  ex- 
terior, the  other  interior.  The  exterior  is  the  settling  the 
obedience  and  order  tnat  ought  to  be  observed  in  families, 
according  to  the  law  oi  nature :  and,  by  a  parity  of  reason,  if 
families  are  under  a  constitution,  where  the  government  is 
made  as  a  common  parent,  the  establishing  the  obedience  to 
the  civil  powers,  or  to  such  orders  of  men  who  may  be  made 
as  parents,  with  relation  to  matters  of  religion :  this  is  the 
foundation  of  peace  and  justice,  of  the  security  and  happiness 
of  mankind.  And  therefore  it  was  very  proper  to  begin  the 
second  table,  and  those  laws  that  relate  to  human  society,  with 
this  ;  without  which  the  world  would  be  like  a  forest,  and  man- 
kind, like  so  many  savages,  running  wildly  through  it. 

The  last  commandment  is  an  inward  fence  to  the  law :  it 
checks  desires,  and  restrains  the  thoughts.  If  free  scope  should 
be  given  to  these,  as  they  would  very  often  carry  men  to  un- 
lawful actions,  for  a  man  is  very  apt  to  do  that  which  he  de- 
sires, so  they  must  give  great  disturbance  to  those  that  are 
haunted  or  overcome  by  them.  And  therefore  as  a  mean  both 
to  secure  the  quiet  of  men's  minds,  and  to  preserve  the  world 
from  the  ill  effects  which  such  desires  might  naturally  have, 
this  special  law  is  given  ;  '  Thou  shalt  not  covet/  It  will  not 
be  easy  to  prove  it  moral  in  the  strictest  sense,  yet  in  a  secon- 
dary order  it  may  be  well  called  moral :  the  matter  of  it  being 
such  both  with  relation  to  ourselves  and  others,  that  it  is  a 
very  proper  subject  for  a  perpetual  law  to  be  made  about  it. 
Rom.  vii.  And  yet,  as  St.  Paul  says,  he  had  not  known  it  to  be  a  sin,  if 
it  had  not  been  for  the  law  that  forbids  it ;  for,  after  all  that 
can  be  said,  it  will  not  be  easy  to  prove  it  to  be  of  its  own 
nature  moral.  Thus,  by  the  help  of  that  distinction  of  what 
is  moral  in  a  primary  and  in  a  secondary  order,  the  morality  of 
the  Ten  Commandments  is  demonstrated. 

That  this  law  obliges  Christians  as  well  as  Jews,  is  evident 
from  the  whole  scope  of  the  New  Testament.  Instead  of  dero- 
gating from  the  obligation  of  any  part  of  that  law,  our  Saviour 
Matt.  v.  after  he  had  affirmed,  that  '  he  came  not  to  dissolve  the  law, 
17, 18.  but  to  fu]fi\  fcj  an(j  'that  heaven  and  earth  might  pass  away, 
but  that  one  tittle  of  the  law  should  not  pass  away ;'  he 
went  through  a  great  many  of  those  laws,  and  shewed  how 
far  he  extended  the  commentary  he  put  upon  them,  and  the 
obligations  that  he  laid  upon  his  disciples,  beyond  what  was 
done  by  the  Jewish  rabbies  :  all  the  rest  of  his  gospel,  and  the 
writings  of  his  apostles,  agree  with  this,  in  which  there  is  not 
a  tittle  that  looks  like  a  slackening  of  it,  but  a  great  deal  to  the 
contrary :  a  strictness  that  reaches  to  idle  words,  to  passionate 
thoughts,and  to  all  impure  desires^ being  enjoined  as  indispensa- 
bly necessary ;  for  '  without  holiness  no  man  can  see  the  Lord.5 
And  thus  every  thing  relating  to  this  Article  is  considered, 
and  I  hope  both  explained  and  proved. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


135 


ART. 
VIII. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 

Of  the  Three  Creeds. 

Clje  Cljree  £tttU4,  Nice  CrrrtJ,  Athanasius  Cittti,  arrt>  that  toljtrl) 
is  tommonlg  callcll  ti)t  Apostles'  Crcrtl,  ought  throughb  to  bt 
rrcribctl  ant)  bcliebrtl;  for  tljcw  man  far  piobfH  bi>  most  mtam 
SSIIarraiitsJ  of  Sob  Scripture. 

Although  no  doubt  seems  to  be  here  made  of  the  names  or 
designations  given  to  those  creeds,  except  of  that  which  is 
ascribed  to  the  apostles,  yet  none  of  them  are  named  with 
any  exactness  :  since  the  article  of  the  procession  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  all  that  follows  it,  is  not  in  the  Nicene  creed,  but  In  Ancho- 
was  used  in  the  church  as  a  part  of  it ;  for  so  it  is  in  Epipha-  ret0- 
nius,  before  the  second  general  council  at  Constantinople ; 
and  it  was  confirmed  and  established  in  that  council :  only 
the  article  of  the  Holy  Ghost's  proceeding  from  the  Son,  was 
afterwards  added  first  in  Spain,  anno  447,  which  spread  itself 
over  all  the  west :  so  that  the  creed  here  called  the  Nice 
creed  is  indeed  the  Constantinopolitan  creed,  together  with 
the  addition  of  filioque  made  by  the  western  church.  That 
which  is  called  Athanasius's  creed  is  not  his  neither ;  for  as 
it  is  not  among  his  works,  so  that  great  article  of  the  Chris- 
tian religion  having  been  settled  at  Nice,  and  he  and  all 
the  rest  of  the  orthodox  referring  themselves  always  to 
the  creed  made  by  that  council,  there  is  no  reason  to  ima- 
gine that  he  would  have  made  a  creed  of  his  own ;  be- 
sides, that  not  only  the  Macedonian,*  but  both  the  Nesto- 

*  The  Macedonian  heresy,  so  called  from  Macedonius,  its  founder.  Upon  the 
death  of  Eusebius,  bishop  of  Constantinople,  Paulus,  who  had  been  before  dis- 
placed by  the  Emperor,  was  again  chosen  to  that  see.  The  Arians  at  the  saine 
time  chose  Macedonius.  When  the  Emperor  Constantius  became  acquainted  with 
this  matter,  he  sent  instructions  to  the  president,  to  remove  Paulus,  and  to  esta- 
blish Macedonius  in  that  see.  The  installation  of  Macedonius  was  accompanied 
with  an  awful  event — the  slaughter  of  (according  to  Socrates)  about  3150  persons. 
Such,  says  that  historian,  were  the  means  that  Macedonius  and  the  Arians  used  to 
climb  by  slaughter  and  murder  to  be  magistrates  in  the  church.  Afterwards, 
Macedonius  gave  place  to  Paulus,  who,  however,  was  not  long  after  banished 
through  the  influence  of  the  Arians,  and  in  his  exile  murdered.  Macedonius  again 
took  possession  of  the  see  of  Constantinople,  and  grievously  persecuted  the  ortho- 
dox, who  adhered  to  the  article  of  '  one  substance,'  or  the  essential  deity  of  Christ ; 
not  only  cutting  them  off  from  the  churches,  but  banishing  them  from  the  city. 
He  continued  for  a  time  to  make  war  with  and  wear  out  those  who  held  the  truth 
as  in  Jesus,  but  was  at  length  deposed.  He  was  first  an  Arian,  and  then  fell  into 
another  heresy.  His  opinion  was,  that  although  the  Son  of  God  was  like  unto 
the  Father,  as  well  in  substance  as  in  all  other  things,  yet  the  Holy  Ghost  had 
not  these  titles  of  honour,  but  '  was  only  the  servant  or  drudge  of  the  Father  and 
the  Son.'  His  followers  were  called  Macedonians,  or  Pneumatomachians.  His 
heresy  was  condemned  at  the  second  general  council  at  Constantinople,  A.D.  381, 
at  which  150  bishops  were  present,  and  '  the  finishing  touch'  was  there  given  to 
the  decrees  of  Nice  respecting  the  three  persons  in  the  Godhead. — [Ed.1 


136 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  rian*  and  the  Eutychianf  heresies  are  expressly  condemned 
VI1L  by  this  creed ;  and  yet  those  authorities  never  being  urged  in 
those  disputes,  it  is  clear  from  thence,  that  no  such  creed  was 
then  known  in  the  world ;  as  indeed  it  was  never  heard  of 
before  the  eighth  century ;  and  then  it  was  given  out  as  the 
creed  of  Athanasius,  or  as  a  representation  of  his  doctrine, 
and  so  it  grew  to  be  received  by  the  western  church ;  perhaps 
the  more  early,  because  it  went  under  so  great  a  name,  in 
ages  that  were  not  critical  enough  to  judge  of  what  was 
genuine  and  what  was  spurious. 

There  is  one  great  difficulty  that  arises  out  of  several  ex- 
pressions in  this  creed,  in  which  it  is  said,  that  whosoever  will 
be  saved,  must  believe  it;  that  the  belief  of  it  is  necessary  to 
salvation;  and  that  such  as  do  not  hold  it  pure  and  unde filed 
shall  without  doubt  perish  everlastingly :  where  many  expla- 
nations of  a  mystery  hard  to  be  understood  are  made  indis- 
pensably necessary  to  salvation ;  and  it  is  affirmed,  that  all 
such  as  do  not  so  believe  must  perish  everlastingly.  To  this 
two  answers  are  made:  1.  That  it  is  only  the  Christian  faith 
in  general  that  is  hereby  meant,  and  not  every  period  and 
article  of  this  creed;  so  that  all  those  severe  expressions 
are  thought  to  import  only  the  necessity  of  believing  the 
Christian  religion :  but  this  seems  forced ;  for  the  words  that 
follow,  and  the  catholic  faith  is,  do  so  plainly  determine  the 
signification  of  that  word  to  the  explanation  that  comes  after, 
that  the  word  catholic  faith,  in  the  first  verse,  can  be  no  other 
than  the  same  word,  as  it  is  defined  in  the  third  and  following 
verses ;  so  that  this  answer  seems  not  natural.  2.  The  com- 
mon answer  in  which  the  most  eminent  men  of  this  church, 
as  far  as  the  memory  of  all  such  as  I  have  known  could  go 
up,  have  agreed,  is  this,  that  these  condemnatory  expressions 
are  only  to  be  understood  to  relate  to  those  who,  having  the 
means  of  instruction  offered  to  them,  have  rejected  them, 

*  For  an  account  of  Nestorius,  see  page  63. 

f  The  Eutychian  heresy,  so  called  from  Eutyches,  its  founder.  Eutyclies  was 
abbot  of  a  convent  of  monks  at  Constantinople.  His  opposition  to  the  doctrines 
of  Nestorius  (see  pp.  63,  64)  led  him  into  an  error  of  the  opposite  extreme,  equally 
prejudicial  to  the  interests  of  the  Christian  church.  The  '  poisonous  heresy'  of 
Eutyches  caused  a  provincial  council  to  he  summoned,  which  was  accordingly  held 
at  Constantinople.  At  that  council  Eutyches  thus  delivered  his  doctrine :  '  I  con- 
fess that  our  Lord  consisted  of  two  natures  before  the  divinity  was  coupled  with 
the  humanity,  but  after  the  uniting  of  them  I  affirm  that  he  had  but  one  nature. 
He  said,  moreover,  '  that  the  body  of  the  Lord  was  not  of  the  same  substance  with 
ours.'  Wherefore  he  was  degraded.  Upon  his  application  to  the  Emperor  Theo- 
dosius,  another  council  was  called,  which  met  at  Ephesus.  At  this  council  Fiavia- 
nius,  bishop  of  Constantinople,  who  procured  the  condemnation  of  Eutyches,  was, 
owing  to  the  influence  of  Dioscorus,  bishop  of  Alexandria,  who  was  the  declared 
enemy  of  the  Bishop  of  Constantinople,  condemned  to  be  publicly  scourged,  and 
afterwards  banished.  He  died  of  his  wounds  in  Epipas,  a  city  of  Lydia,  the  place 
of  his  banishment.  This  council  was  called  conventus  latnmum.  Another,  known 
as  the  fourth  general  council,  vvas  however  summoned,  and  held  at  Chalcedon  in 
the  year  451,  where  Eutyches,  who  had  been  already  sent  into  banishment,  was 
condemned,  and  the  following  decreed — '  That  in  Christ  two  distinct  natures  were 
united  in  one  person,  and  that  without  any  change,  mixture,  or  confusion.'  £«»- 
grius  Schatasticus  and  5I<JsAeiw._^[Er>>] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


137 


and  have  stifled  their  own  convictions,  holding  the  truth  in  A  RT. 
unrighteousness,  and  choosing  darkness  rather  than  light :  ^ 
upon  such  as  do  thus  reject  this  great  article  of  the  Christian 
doctrine,  concerning  one  God  and  three  Persons,  Father,  Son, 
and  Holy  Ghost,  and  that  other  concerning  the  incarnation 
of  Christ,  by  which  God  and  man  were  so  united  as  to  make 
one  person,  together  with  the  other  doctrines  that  follow 
these,  are  those  anathemas  denounced  :  not  so  as  if  it  were 
hereby  meant,  that  every  man  who  does  not  believe  this  in 
every  tittle  must  certainly  perish,  unless  he  has  been  furnished 
with  sufficient  means  of  conviction,  and  that  he  has  rejected 
them,  and  hardened  himself  against  them.  The  wrath  of 
God  '  is  revealed  against  all  sin,'  and  '  the  wages  of  sin  is 
death :'  so  that  every  sinner  has  the  wrath  of  God  abiding  on 
him,  and  is  in  a  state  of  damnation  :  yet  a  sincere  repentance 
delivers  him  out  of  it,  even  though  he  lives  and  dies  in  some 
sins  of  ignorance  ;  which  though  they  may  make  him  liable  to 
damnation,  so  that  nothing  but  true  repentance  can  deliver 
him  from  it ;  yet  a  general  repentance,  when  it  is  also  special 
for  all  known  sins,  does  certainly  deliver  a  man  from  the 
guilt  of  unknown  sins,  and  from  the  wrath  of  God  due  to 
them.  God  only  knows  our  hearts,  the  degrees  of  our  know- 
ledge, and  the  measure  of  our  obstinacy,  and  how  far  our 
ignorance  is  affected  or  invincible ;  and  therefore  he  will  deal 
with  every  man  according  to  what  he  has  received.  So  that 
we  may  believe  that  some  doctrines  are  necessary  to  salvation, 
as  well  as  that  there  are  some  commandments  necessary  for 
practice;  and  we  may  also  believe  that  some  errors  as  well  as 
some  sins  are  exclusive  of  salvation ;  all  which  imports  no 
more  than  that  we  believe  such  things  are  sufficiently  re- 
vealed, and  that  they  are  necessary  conditions  of  salvation ; 
but  by  this  we  do  not  limit  the  mercies  of  God  towards  those 
who  are  under  such  darkness  as  not  to  be  able  to  see  through 
it,  and  to  discern  and  acknowledge  these  truths.  It  were  in- 
deed to  be  wished,  that  some  express  declaration  to  this 
purpose  were  made  by  those  who  have  authority  to  do  it: 
but  in  the  mean  while,  this  being  the  sense  in  which  the 
words  of  this  creed  are  universally  taken,  and  it  agreeing  with 
the  phraseology  of  the  scripture  upon  the  like  occasions,  this 
is  that  which  may  be  rested  upon.  And  allowing  this  large 
explanation  of  these  severe  words,  the  rest  of  this  creed  im- 
ports no  more  than  the  belief  of  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity, 
which  has  been  already  proved,  in  treating  of  the  former 
Articles. 

As  for  the  creed  called  the  Apostles'  creed,  there  is  good 
reason  for  speaking  so  doubtfully  of  it  as  the  Article  does, 
since  it  does  not  appear  that  any  determinate  creed  was  made 
by  them :  none  of  the  first  writers  agree  in  delivering  their 
faith  in  a  certain  form  of  words ;  every  one  of  them  gives  an 
abstract  of  his  faith,  in  words  that  differ  both  from  one 


138 


AX  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  another,  and  from  this  form.  From  thence  it  is  clear  that 
VI11,  there  was  no  common  form  delivered  to  all  the  churches ; 
and  if  there  had  heen  any  tradition,  after  the  times  of  the 
council  of  Xice,  of  such  a  creed  composed  by  the  apostles, 
the  Arians  had  certainly  put  the  chief  strength  of  their  cause 
on  this,  that  they  adhered  to  the  Apostles'  creed,  in  oppo- 
sition to  the  innovations  of  the  Nicene  fathers ;  there  is 
therefore  no  reason  to  believe  that  this  creed  was  prepared 
by  the  apostles,  or  that  it  was  of  any  great  antiquity,  since 
Ruffin*  was  the  first  that  published  it :  it  is  true,  he  pub- 
lished it  as  the  creed  of  the  church  of  Aquileia ;  but  that  was 
so  late,  that  neither  this  nor  the  other  creeds  have  any  au- 
thority upon  their  own  account.  Great  respect  is  indeed 
due  to  things  of  such  antiquity,  and  that  have  been  so  long 
in  the  church ;  but,  after  all,  we  receive  those  creeds,  not  for 
their  own  sakes,  nor  for  the  sake  of  those  who  prepared 
them,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  doctrine  that  is  contained  in 
them ;  because  we  believe  that  the  doctrine  which  they  de- 
clare is  contained  in  the  scriptures,  and  chiefly  that  which  is 
the  main  intent  of  them,  which  is  to  assert  and  profess  the 
Trinity,  therefore  we  do  receive  them ;  though  we.  must 
acknowledge  that  the  creed  ascribed  to  Athanasius,  as  it  was 
none  of  his,  so  it  was  never  established  by  any  general 
council. 

*  For  an  account  of  Ruffin,  tee  page  69. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


139 


ART. 
IX. 


ARTICLE  IX. 

Of  the  Original  or  Birth-Sin. 

Original  £>tn  StantJetl)  not  in  the  following  of  Adam  (as!  the  *  Pe- 
lagians *0o  batnli)  talk),  but  it  is  the  fault  or  corruption  of  the 
nature  of  cbcn>  man,  t!)at  naturally  ts;  cugenllcreli  of  tl)t  <©fl> 
Spring  of  Adam,  tofycrcbi)  man  is  ben?  far  gone  from  Original 
JUgrjtcouSitcss,  antf  is  of  Ijis  otou  nature  inclined  to  ebil,  So  that 
tlje  jRcS!)  luStctrj  altoanS  contrary  to  tlje  Spirit,  anU  therefore  in 
cberp  person  born  into  the  ^2aorttJ  tt  rjcScrbrth  ©oo'S  Wvaty 
jr.\t>  Qamnation  :  2liilJ  tf)is  Infection  of  fiaturc  tJott)  remain,  pea 
tit  tl)em  tfjat  are  regenerated,  toljcrcbp  the  ilust  of  the  .lflcSi), 
called  in  Greek  Qporrma  trapicog,  which  Some  Ho  rrpounc;  the 
223tSliom,  Some  »>cusualitp,  Some  the  Sffcction,  Some  tljt  23cSire 
of  ti)t  jHeSfj,  is  not  Subject  to  the  JLaw  of  (@oi.  3ntl  though 
tljere  is  no  Condemnation  for  them  tljat  beliebe  anil  are  baptised, 
pet  tli c  Apostle  Dot!)  confess,  Chat  Concupiscence  ana  iLust 
hatb,  of  itself  the  nature  of  £>tu. 

After  the  first  principles  of  the  Christian  religion  are  stated, 
and  the  rule  of  faith  and  life  was  settled,  the  next  thing  that 
was  to  be  done,  was  to  declare  the  special  doctrines  of  this 
religion ;  and  that  first  with  relation  to  all  Christians,  as  they 

•  '  A  new  controversy  arose  in  the  church  during  the  fifth  century,  and  its  pesti- 
lential effects  extended  themselves  through  the  following  ages.  The  authors  of  it 
were  Pelagius  and  Cselestius,  both  monks ;  the  former  a  Briton,  the  latter  a  native 
of  Ireland :  they  lived  at  Rome  in  the  greatest  reputation,  and  were  universally 
esteemed  on  account  of  their  extraordinary  piety  and  virtue.  These  monks  looked 
upon  the  doctrines  which  were  commonly  received,  '  concerning  the  original  corrup- 
tion of  human  nature,  and  the  necessity  of  divine  grace  to  enlighten  the  under- 
standing, and  purify  the  heart,  as  prejudicial  to  the  progress  of  holiness  and  virtue, 
and  tending  to  lull  mankind  in  a  presumptuous  and  fatal  security.  They  maintained 
that  these  doctrines  were  as  false  as  they  were  pernicious ;  that  the  sins  of  our  first 
parents  were  imputed  to  them  alone,  and  not  to  their  posterity;  that  we  derive  no 
corruption  from  their  fall,  but  are  born  as  pure  and  unspotted  as  Adam  came  out 
of  the  forming  hand  of  his  Creator  :  that  mankind,  therefore,  are  capable  of  re- 
pentance and  amendment,  and  of  arriving  to  the  highest  degrees  of  piety  and  vir- 
tue by  the  use  of  their  natural  faculties  and  powers ;  that,  indeed,  external  grace 
is  necessary  to  excite  their  endeavours,  but  that  they  have  no  need  of  the  internal 
succours  of  the  Divine  Spirit.'  These  notions,  and  some  others  intimately  con- 
nected  with  them,  were  propagated  at  Rome,  though  in  a  private  manner,  by  the 
two  monks  already  mentioned,  who,  retiring  from  that  city,  A.  D.  410,  upon  the 
approach  of  the  Goths,  went  first  into  Sicily,  and  afterwarrh  into  Africa,  where 
they  published  their  doctrine  with  more  freedom.  From  Ai.ii  a,  Pelagius  passed 
into  Palestine,  while  Caelestius  remained  at  Carthage,  with  a  view  to  preferment, 
desiring  to  be  admitted  among  the  presbyters  of  that  city.  But  the  discovery  of  his 
opinions  having  blasted  his  hopes,  and  his  errors  being  condemned  in  a  council  held 
at  Carthage,  A.  D.  412,  he  departed  from  that  city,  and  went  into  the  east.'  Mosheim. 
In  the  east  Pelagius  met  a  friend  and  supporter  in  John,  bishop  of  Jerusalem, 
whose  attachment  to  the  sentiments  of  Origen  led  him  to  favour  those  of  Pelagius. 


140 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.   are  single  individuals,  for  the  directing  every  one  of  them  in 
IX"      order  to  the  working  out.  his  own  salvation ;  which  is  done 
from  this  to  the  nineteenth  Article :  and  then  with  relation  to 
them  as  they  compose  a  society  called  the  church ;  which  is 
carried  on  from  t  ie  nineteenth  to  the  end. 

In  all  that  has  been  hitherto  explained,  the  whole  church 
of  England  has  b?en  all  along  of  one  mind.  In  this  and  in 
some  that  follow  there  has  been  a  greater  diversity  of  opinion  ; 
but  both  sides  have  studied  to  prove  their  tenets  to  be  at  least 
not  contrary  to  the  Articles  of  the  Church.  These  different 
parties  have  disputed  concerning  the  decrees  of  God,  and 
those  assistances  which,  pursuant  to  his  decrees,  are  afforded 
to  us.  But  because  the  foundation  of  those  decrees,  and  the 
necessity  of  those  assistances,  are  laid  in  the  sin  of  Adam, 
and  in  the  effects  it  had  on  mankind,  therefore  these  contro- 
versies begin  on  this  head.  The  Pelagians  and  the  Socinians 
agree  in  saying,  that  Adam's  sin  was  personal :  that  by  it,  as 

Rom.v.12.  being  the  first  sin,  it  is  said  that  sin  entered  into  the  world  : 
but  that  as  Adam  was  made  mortal,  and  had  died  whether  he 
had  sinned  or  not ;  so  they  think  the  liberty  of  human  nature 
is  still  entire ;  and  that  even'  man  is  punished  for  his  own  sins, 
and  not  for  the  sin  of  another;  to  do  otherwise,  they  say, 
seems  contrary  to  justice,  not  to  say,  goodness. 

V«r.  15.  In  opposition  to  this,  judgment  is  said  to  have  come  vpon 
many  to  condemnation  through  one  (either  man  or  sin).  Death 
is  said  to  have  reigned  by  one,  and  by  one  man's  offence ;  and 
many  are  said  to  be  dead  through  the  offence  of  one.  All  these 
passages  do  intimate  that  death  is  the  consequence  of  Adam's 
sin ;  and  that  in  him,  as  well  as  in  all  others,  death  was  the 
wages  of  sin,  so  also  that  we  die  upon  the  account  of  his  sin. 


Under  the  patronage  of  John,  Pelagius  assumed  more  boldness  in  the  propagation 
of  his  heresy.  Augustin  sent  into  Palestine  a  Spanish  presbyter  named  Orosius, 
who  accused  Pelagius  before  a  council  of  bishops  at  Jerusalem.  He  was,  however, 
dismissed  without  the  least  censure  ;  and  was  shortly  afterwards  acquitted  of  all 
errors  bv  the  council  of  Diospolis  (a  city  of  Palestine  known  in  scripture  as  Lydda), 
at  which  Eulogius  of  Caesarea,  metropolitan  of  Palestine,  presided.  The  African 
bishops,  nothing  dismaved  by  the  apostacy  of  the  eastern  church,  assembled  at 
Carthage,  A.D.  416,  while  the  Numidian  bishops  met  at  Milevuin,  and  condemned 
anew  the  antiscriptural  doctrines  of  Pelagius  and  his  companion.  I'pon  this  Pela- 
gius and  Caelestius  appealed  to  Zosimus,  bishop  of  Rome,  whom,  by  a  confession 
of  faith  drawn  up  in  a  sufficiently  artful  manner  to  impose  on  the  infultitilitii ! 
of  the  papal  see,  they  induced  to  pronounce  in  their  favour,  and  declare  them 
sound  in  the  faith  and  unjustly  persecuted  by  their  adversaries.  The  African 
bishops,  however,  with  Aurustin  at  their  head,  continued  their  war  against  this 
heresy,  until  at  last  Zosimus  changed  his  mind,  and  condemned  Pelagius  and 
Caelestius,  the  very  persons  whom  a  little  before  he  had  pronounced  orthodox, 
and  to  whom  he  had  extended  his  protecting  influence.  Sometime  afterwards  this 
heresy  was  condemned  by  the  third  general  council  at  Ephesus,  and  by  the  Gauls, 
Britons,  and  Africans,  in  their  councils.  Thus  was  this  heresy  crushed  ;  and  to  the 
great  Head  of  the  church  thanks  are  due,  for  having,  at  that  time,  raised  up  such 
a  bold  and  uncompromising  champion  of  the  faith  in  Augustin,  bishop  of  Hippo ; 
by  whose  unwearied  exertions  it  was  that  this  sect  was  suppressed  in  its  very 
birth.  _[  Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


141 


We  are  said  to  bear  the  image  of  the  first  Adam,  as  true  ART. 
Christians  bear  the  image  of  the  second :  now  we  are  sure  that  ,x- 
there  is  both  a  derivation  of  righteousness,  and  a  communi-  j  cor.  xv. 
cation  of  inward  holiness,  transferred  to  us  through  Christ :  so  49. 
it  seems  to  follow  from  thence,  that  there  is  somewhat  both 
transferred  to  us,  and  conveyed  down  through  mankind,  by 
the  first  Adam ;  and  particularly  that  by  it  we  are  all  made 
subject  to  death ;  from  which  we  should  have  been  freed,  if 
Adam  had  continued  in  his  first  state,  and  that  by  virtue  of 
i  he  tree  of  life :  in  which  some  think  there  was  a  natural  vir-  Gen.iii.22. 
tue  to  cure  all  diseases,  and  relieve  against  all  accidents,  while 
others  do  ascribe  it  to  a  divine  blessing,  of  which  that  tree  was 
only  the  symbol  or  sacrament ;  though  the  words  said  after 
Adam's  sin,  as  the  reason  of  driving  him  out  of  paradise,  lest 
he  put  forth  his  hand,  and  '  take  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  eat, 
and  live  for  ever,'  seem  to  import  that  there  was  a  physical 
virtue  in  the  tree,  that  could  so  fortify  and  restore  life,  as  to 
give  immortality.  These  do  also  think  that  the  threatening 
made  to  Adam,  that  upon  his  eating  the  forbidden  fruit  he 
should  surely  die,  is  to  be  taken  literally,  and  is  to  be  carried 
no  further  than  to  a  natural  death.  This  subjection  to  death, 
and  to  the  fear  of  it,  brings  men  under  a  slavish  bondage, 
many  terrors,  and  other  passions  and  miseries  that  arise  out 
of  it,  which  they  think  is  a  great  punishment ;  and  that  it  is 
a  condemnation  and  sentence  of  death  passed  upon  the  whole 
race ;  and  by  this  they  are  made  sinners,  that  is,  treated  as 
guilty  persons,  and  severely  punished. 

This  they  think  is  easily  enough  reconciled  with  the  notions 
of  justice  and  goodness  in  God,  since  this  is  only  a  temporary 
punishment  relating  to  men's  persons  :  and  we  see  in  the  com- 
mon methods  of  Providence,  that  children  are  in  this  sort 
often  punished  for  the  sins  of  their  fathers ;  most  men  that 
come  under  a  very  ill  habit  of  body,  transmit  the  seeds  of  dis- 
eases and  pains  to  their  children.  They  do  also  think  that 
the  communication  of  this  liableness  to  death  is  easily  ac- 
counted for ;  and  they  imagine,  that  as  the  tree  of  life  might 
be  a  plant  that  furnished  men  with  an  universal  medicine,  so 
the  forbidden  fruit  might  derive  a  slow  poison  into  Adam's 
body,  that  might  have  exalted  and  inflamed  his  blood  very 
much,  and  might,  though  by  a  slower  operation,  certainly  have 
brought  on  death  at  the  last.  Our  being  thus  adjudged  to 
death,  and  to  all  the  miseries  that  accompany  mortality,  they 
think  may  be  well  called  the  wrath  of  God,  and  damnation : 
so  temporary  judgments  are  often  expressed  in  scripture. 
And  to  this  they  add,  that  Christ  has  entirely  redeemed  us 
from  this,  by  the  promise  he  has  given  us  of  raising  us  up  at 
the  last  day  :  and  that  therefore  when  St.  Paul  is  so  copiously 
discoursing  of  the  resurrection,  he  brings  this  in,  that  as  we 
have  borne  the  '  image  of  the  first  Adam,  who  was  earthly/ 
so  we  shall  also  cbear  the  image  of  the  heavenly and  '  since 


142 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  H.T-   fy*  man  came  death,  by  man  came  also  the  resurrection  from 
1X-     the  dead;'  and  that  'as  in  Adam  all  die,  so  in  Christ  shall  i  il 
1  Cor.  xv.  De  made  alive  ;'  and  that  this  is  the  universal  redemption  and 
21.  22.     reparation  that  all  mankind  shall  have  in  Christ  Jesus.  All 
Roit)P'  ad  this  these  divines  apprehend  is  conceivable,  and  no  more ; 
sim.   p:U  therefore  they  put  original  sin  in  this  only,  for  which  they 
pretend  they  have  all  the  fathers  with  them  before  St.  Austin, 
and  particularly  St.  Chrysostom  and  Theodoret,  from  whom 
all  the  later  Greeks  have  done  little  more  than  copied  out  their 
words.     This  they  do  also  pretend  comes  up  to  the  words  of 
the  Article ;  for  as  this  general  adjudging  of  all  men  to  die 
may  be  called,  according  to  the  style  of  the  scriptures,  God's 
wrath  and  damnation  ;  so  the  fear  of  death,  which  arises  out 
of  it.  corrupts  men's  natures,  and  inclines  them  to  evil. 

Others  do  so  far  approve  of  all  this,  as  to  think  that  it  is  a 
part  of  original  sin,  yet  they  believe  it  goes  much  further :  and 
that  there  is  a  corruption  spread  through  the  whole  race  of 
mankind,  >.  ich  is  born  with  even,-  man.  This  the  experience 
of  all  ages  teaches  us  but  too  evidently ;  every  man  feels  it  in 
himself,  and  sees  it  in  others.  Ti  e  philosophers,  who  were 
sensible  of  it.  thought  to  avoid  the  difficulty  that  arises  from 
it,  when  it  might  be  urged,  that  a  good  God  could  not  make 
men  to  be  originally  depraved  and  wicked ;  they  therefore 
fancied  that  all  our  souls  pre-existed  in  a  former  and  a  purer 
state,  from  which  they  fell,  bv  descending  too  much  into  cor- 
poreal pleasure,  and  so  both  by  a  lapse  and  for  a  punishment 
they  sunk  into  grosser  bodies,  and  fell  differently  according  to 
the  different  degrees  of  the  sins  they  had  committed  in  that 
state  :  and  they  thought  that  a  virtuous  life  did  raise  them  up 
to  their  former  pitch,  as  a  vicious  one  would  sink  them  lower 
into  more  depraved  and  more  miserable  bodies.  All  this  may 
seem  plausible :  but  the  best  that  can  be  said  for  it  is,  that  it 
is  an  hypothesis  that  saves  some  difficulties ;  but  there  is  no 
sort  of  proofs  to  make  it  appear  to  be  true.  We  neither  per- 
ceive in  ourselves  any  remembrances  of  such  a  state,  nor  have 
we  anv  warning  given  us  either  of  our  fall,  or  of  the  means  of 
recovering  out  of  it :  so  since  there  is  no  reason  to  affirm  this 
to  be  true,  we  must  seek  for  some  other  source  of  the  corrup- 
tion of  human  nature.  The  Manichees  imputed  it  to  the  evil 
god,  and  thought  it  was  his  work,  which  some  say  might  have 
set  on  St.  Austin  the  more  earnestly  to  look  for  another  hy- 
pothesis to  reconcile  all. 

But  before  we  go  to  that,  it  is  certain,  that  in  scripture  this 
Gen.  vi.  5.  general  corruption  of  our  nature  is  often  mentioned.  '  The 
lKin^  imaginations  of  man's  thoughts  are  only  evil  continually: 
TiiL  46.  What  man  is  he  that  liveth  and  sinneth  not  ?  The  just  man 
Prov.  xxir  falleth  seven  times  a  dav  :  The  heart  of  man  is  deceitful  above 
!6-  ..  n  all  things,  and  desperatelv  wicked  :  who  can  know  il  ?  All  that 
2Cor.T.17.  are  in  Christ  must  become  new  creatures  :  old  things  must  be 

Eccl. vii.  done  awav,  and  even  thing  must  become  new.  God  made 
29.  " 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


143 


man  upright,  but  he  sought  out  to  himself  many  inventions.  ART. 
The  flesh  is  weak ;  The  flesh  lusteth  against  the  spirit ;  The  Ix- 
carnal  mind  is  enmity  to  the  law  of  God,  and  is  not  subject  to  Gal.  v.  17. 
the  law  of  God,  neither  indeed  can  be :'  and  £  they  that  are  in  Rom.  viii. 
the  flesh  cannot  please  God :'  where  by  flesh  is  to  be  meant  7>  8* 
the  natural  state  of  mankind,  according  to  those  words,  '  That  John  iii.  6. 
which  is  born  of  the  flesh  is  flesh,  and  that  which  is  born  of 
the  Spirit  is  spirit.'    These,  with  many  other  places  of  scrip- 
ture to  the  same  purpose,  when  they  are  joined  to  the  univer- 
sal experience  of  all  mankind  concerning  the  corruption  of  our 
whole  race,  lead  us  to  settle  this  point,  that  in  fact  it  has  over- 
run our  whole  kind,  the  contagion  is  spread  over  all.  Now 
this  being  settled,  we  are  next  to  inquire,  how  this  could  hap- 
pen :  we  cannot  think  that  God  made  men  so :  for  it  is  ex- 
pressly said,  that  '  God  made  man  after  his  own  image.'  Gen.  i.  27. 

The  surest  way  to  find  out  what  this  image  was  at  first,  is 
to  consider,  what  the  New  Testament  says  of  it,  when  we  come 
to  be  restored  to  it.  '  We  must  put  on  the  new  man,  after  the  Kph.iv. 
image  of  him  that  created  him  ;'  or  as  elsewhere,  the  '  new  22, 24* 
man  in  righteousness  and  true  holiness.'  This  then  was  the 
image  of  God,  in  which  man  was  at  first  made.  Nor  ought 
the  image  of  God  to  be  considered  only  as  an  expression  that 
imports  only  our  representing  him  here  on  earth,  and  having 
dominion  over  the  creatures :  for  in  Genesis  the  creation  of  Gen.  i.  27, 
man  in  the  image  of  God  is  expressed  as  a  thing  different  from  28, 
his  dominion  over  the  creatures,  which  seems  to  be  given  to 
him  as  a  consequent  of  it.  The  image  of  God  seems  to  be 
this,  that  the  soul  of  man  was  a  being  of  another  sort  and  order 
than  all  those  material  beings  till  then  made,  which  were  nei- 
ther capable  of  thought  nor  liberty,  in  which  respect  the  soul 
was  made  after  the  image  of  God.  But  Adam's  soul  being  put 
in  his  body,  his  brain  was  a  tabula  rasa,  as  white  paper,  had 
no  impressions  in  it,  but  such  as  either  God  put  in  it,  or  such 
as  came  to  him  by  his  senses.  A  man  born  deaf  and  blind, 
newly  come  to  hi-ir  and  see,  is  not  a  more  ignorant  and 
amazed-like  creature  than  Adam  must  have  been,  if  God  had 
not  conveyed  some  great  impressions  into  him ;  such  as  first 
the  acknowledging  and  obeying  him  as  his  Maker,  and  then 
the  managing  his  body  so  as  to  make  it  an  instrument,  by 
which  he  could  make  use  of  and  observe  the  creation.  There 
is  no  reason  to  think  that  his  body  was  at  first  inclined  to  ap- 
petite, and  that  his  mind  was  apt  to  serve  his  body,  but  that 
both  were  restrained  by  supernatural  assistances.  It  is  much 
more  natural  and  more  agreeable  to  the  words  of  the  wise  man, 
to  think  that  God  made  man  upright,  that  his  body  craved 
modestly,  and  that  his  mind  was  both  judge  and  master  of 
those  cravings;  and  if  a  natural  hypothesis  may  be  offered 
but  only  as  an  hypothesis,  it  may  be  supposed,  that  a  man's 
blood  was  naturally  low  and  cool,  but  that  it  was  capable  of  a 
vast  inflammation  and  elevation,  by  whirh  a  man's  powers 


144 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  might  be  exalted  to  much  higher  degrees  of  knowledge  and 
IX-  capacity :  the  animal  spirits  receiving  their  quality  from  that 
of  the  blood,  a  new  and  a  strong  fermentation  in  the  blood 
might  raise  them,  and  by  consequence  exalt  a  man  to  a  much 
greater  sublimity  of  thought :  but  with  that  it  might  dispose 
him  to  be  easily  inflamed  by  appetites  and  passions ;  it  might 
put  him  under  the  power  of  his  body,  and  make  his  body  much 
more  apt  to  be  fired  at  outward  objects,  which  might  sink  all 
spiritual  and  pure  ideas  in  him,  and  raise  gross  ones  with  much 
fury  and  rapidity.  Hereby  his  whole  frame  might  be  much 
corrupted,  and  that  might  go  so  deep  in  him,  that  all  those  who 
descended  from  him  might  be  defiled  by  it,  as  we  see  madness 
and  some  chronical  diseases  pass  from  parents  to  their  children. 

All  this  might  have  been  natural,  and  as  much  the  physical 
effect  of  eating  the  forbidden  fruit,  as  it  seems  immortality 
would  have  been  that  of  eating  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  fife : 
this  might  have  been  in  its  nature  a  slow  poison,  which  must 
end  in  death  at  last.  It  may  be  very  easy  to  make  all  this  ap- 
pear probable  from  physical  causes.  A  very  small  accident 
may  so  alter  the  whole  mass  of  the  blood,  that  in  a  very  few 
minutes  it  may  be  totally  changed :  so  the  eating  the  forbidden 
fruit  might  have,  by  a  natural  change  of  things,  produced  all 
this.  But  this  is  only  an  hypothesis,  and  so  is  left  as  such. 
All  the  assistance  that  revealed  religion  can  receive  from 
philosophy,  is  to  shew,  that  a  reasonable  hypothesis  can  be 
offered  upon  physical  principles,  to  shew  the  possibility,  or 
rather  probability,  of  any  particulars  that  are  contained  in  the 
scriptures.  This  is  enough  to  stop  the  mouths  of  Deists,  which 
is  all  the  use  that  can  be  made  of  such  schemes. 

To  return  to  the  main  point  of  the  fall  of  Adam :  he  him- 
self was  made  liable  to  death  :  but  not  barely  to  cease  to  live ; 
for  death  and  life  are  terms  opposite  to  one  another  in  scrip- 
Rom,  vi.   ture.    In  treating  upon  these  heads,  it  is  said,  that  '  the  wages 
23-         of  sin  is  death,  but  the  gift  of  God  is  eternal  life.'  And 
though  the  addition  of  the  word  eternal  makes  the  significa- 
tion of  the  one  more  express,  yet  where  it  is  mentioned  with- 
out that  addition,  no  doubt  is  to  be  made,  but  that  it  is  to  be 
Rom.  viii.  so  meant :  as  where  it  is  said,  that  ( to  be  carnally  minded  is 
John  xx    death,  but  to  be  spiritually  minded  is  life  and  peace :'  and 
31.      '   'believing,  we  have  life  through  his  name:  Ye  will  not  come 
John  v.  40.  unto  me,  that  ye  may  have  life/    So,  by  the  rule  of  opposites, 
death  ought  to  be  understood  as  a  word  of  a  general  significa- 
tion, which  we,  who  have  the  comment  of  the  New  Testament 
to  guide  us  in  understanding  the  Old,  are  not  to  restrain  to  a 
natural  death ;  and  therefore  when  we  are  said  to  be  ( the 
servants  of  sin  unto  death,'  we  understand  much  more  by  it 
than  a  natural  death :  so  God's  threatening  Adam  with  death, 
ought  not  to  be  restrained  to  a  natural  death.    Adam  being 
thus  defiled,  all  emanations  from  him  must  partake  of  that 
vitiated  state  to  which  he  had  brought  himself.    But  then  the 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


145 


question  remains,  how  came  the  souls  of  his  posterity  to  be 
defiled  ;  for  if  they  were  created  pure,  it  seems  to  be  an  unjust 
cruelty  to  them,  to  condemn  them  to  such  an  union  to  a  de- 
nied body,  as  should  certainly  corrupt  them  ?  All  that  can  be 
said  in  answer  to  this  is, 

That  God  has  settled  it  as  a  law  in  the  creation,  that  a  soul 
should  inform  a  bodv  according  to  the  texture  of  it,  and  either 
conquer  it,  or  be  mastered  by  it,  as  it  should  be  differently 
made :  and  that  as  such  a  degree  of  purity  in  the  texture  of  it 
might  make  it  both  pure  and  happy ;  so  a  contrary  degree  of 
texture  might  have  very  contrary  effects.  And  if,  with  this, 
God  made  another  general  law,  that  when  all  things  were  duly 
prepared  for  the  propagation  of  the  species  of  mankind,  a  soul 
should  be  always  ready  to  go  into  and  animate  those  first 
threads  and  beginnings  of  life  ;  those  laws  being  laid  down, 
Adam,  by  corrupting  his  own  frame,  corrupted  the  frame  of  his 
whole  posterity,  by  the  general  course  of  things,  and  the  great 
law  of  the  creation.  So  that  the  suffering  this  to  run  through 
all  the  race,  is  no  more  (only  different  in  degrees  and  extent) 
than  the  suffering  the  folly  or  madness  of  a  man  to  infect  his 
posterity.  In  these  things  God  acts  as  the  Creator  of  the 
world  by  general  rules,  and  these  must  not  be  altered  because 
of  the  sins  and  disorders  of  men:  but  they  are  rather  to  have 
their  course,  that  so  sin  may  be  its  own  punishment.  The 
defilement  of  the  race  being  thus  stated,  a  question  remains, 
whether  this  can  be  properly  called  a  sin,  and  such  as  deserves 
God's  wrath  and  damnation  ?  On  the  one  hand  an  opposition 
of  nature  to  the  Divine  nature  must  certainly  be  hateful  to 
God,  as  it  is  the  root  of  much  malignity  and  sin.  Such  a 
nature  cannot  be  the  object  of  his  love,  and  of  itself  it  cannot 
be  accepted  of  God :  now  since  there  is  no  mean  in  God, 
between  love  and  wrath,  acceptation  and  damnation,  if  such 
persons  are  not  in  the  first  order,  they  must  be  in  the  second. 

Yet  it  seems  very  hard,  on  the  other  hand,  to  apprehend, 
how  persons  who  have  never  actually  sinned,  but  are  only 
unhappily  descended,  should  be,  in  consequence  to  that,  under 
so  great  a  misery.  To  this  several  answers  are  made  :  some 
have  thought  that  those  who  die  before  they  commit  any  actual 
sin,  have  indeed  no  share  in  the  favour  of  God,  but  yet  that 
they  pass  unto  a  state  in  the  other  world,  in  which  thev  suffer 
little  or  nothing.  The  stating  this  more  clearly,  will  belong  to 
another  opinion,  which  shall  be  afterwards  explained. 

There  is  a  further  question  made,  whether  this  vicious  incli- 
nation is  a  sin,  or  not  ?  Those  of  the  church  of  Rome,  as 
they  believe  that  original  sin  is  quite  taken  away  by  baptism, 
so  finding  that  this  corrupt  disposition  still  remains  in  us,  they 
do  from  thence  conclude,  that  it  is  no  part  of  original  sin;  but 
that  this  is  the  natural  state  in  which  Adam  was  made  at  first, 
only  it  is  in  us  without  the  restraint  or  bridle  of  supernatural 
assistances,  which  was  given  to  him,  but  lost  by  sin,  and  re- 


146 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART  stored  to  us  in  baptism.  But,  as  was  said  formerly,  Adam  in 
his  first  state  was  made  after  the  image  of  God,  so  that  his 
~~  bodily  powers  were  perfectly  under  the  command  of  his  mind; 
this  revolt,  that  we  feel  our  bodies  and  senses  are  always  in, 
cannot  be  supposed  to  be  God's  original  workmanship.  There 
are  great  disputings  raised  concerning  the  meaning  of  a  long 
discourse  of  St.  Paul's  in  the  seventh  of  the  Romans  concern- 
ing a  constant  struggle  that  he  felt  within  himself;  which 
some,  arguing  from  the  scope  of  the  whole  Epistle,  and  the 
beginning  of  that  chapter,  understand  only  of  the  state  that 
St.  Paul  represents  himself  to  have  been  in  while  yet  a  Jew, 
and  before  his  conversion :  whereas  others  understand  it  of 
him  in  his  converted  and  regenerated  state.  Very  plausible 
things  have  been  said  on  both  sides,  but  without  arguing  any 
thing  from  words,  the  sense  of  which  is  under  debate,  there 
are  other  places  which  do  manifestly  express  the  struggle  that 
Matt.  «vi.  is  in  a  good  man :  4  The  flesh  is  weak,  though  the  spirit  is  will- 
Gal  v  17  ln& :  ^ne  ^esn  histeth  against  the  spirit,  as  the  spirit  lusteth 
Rom.  viii."  against  the  flesh :'  we  ought  to  be  still  '  mortifying  the  deeds 
13.  of  the  body ;'  and  we  feel  many  sins  ( that  do  so  easily  beset 
us/  that  from  these  things  we  have  reason  to  conclude,  that 
there  is  a  corruption  in  our  nature,  which  gives  us  a  bias  and 
propensity  to  sin.  Now  there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  bap- 
tism takes  away  all  the  branches  and  effects  of  original  sin  :  it 
is  enough  if  we  are  by  it  delivered  from  the  wrath  ox  God,  and 
brought  into  a  state  of  favour  and  acceptation :  we  are  freed 
from  the  curse  of  death,  by  our  being  entitled  to  a  blessed  re- 
surrection :  and  if  we  are  so  far  freed  from  the  corruption  of 
our  nature,  as  to  have  a  fcederal  right  to  such  assistances  as 
will  enable  us  to  resist  and  repress  it,  though  it  is  not  quite 
extinct  in  us,  so  long  as  we  live  in  these  frail  and  mortal  bodies, 
here  are  very  great  effects  of  our  admission  to  Christianity  by 
baptism;  though  this  should  not  go  so  far  as  to  root  all  incli- 
%  nations  to  evil  out  of  our  nature.  The  great  disposition  that 
is  in  us  to  appetite  and  passion,  and  that  great  heat  with  which 
they  inflame  us ;  the  aversion  that  we  naturally  have  to  all  the 
exercises  of  religion,  and  the  pains  that  must  be  used  to  work 
us  up  to  a  tolerable  degree  of  knowledge,  and  an  ordinary  mea- 
sure of  virtue,  shews  that  these  are  not  natural  to  us :  whereas 
sloth  and  vice  do  grow  on  us  without  any  care  taken  about 
them :  so  that  it  appears,  that  they  are  the  natural,  and  the 
other  the  forced,  growth  of  our  souls.  These  ill  dispositions 
l  are  so  universally  spread  through  all  mankind,  and  appear  so 

early,  and  in  so  great  a  diversity  of  ill  inclinations,  that  from 
hence  it  seems  reasonable  and  just  to  infer,  that  this  corrup- 
tion is  spread  through  our  whole  nature  and  species,  by  the 
sin  and  disobedience  of  Adam.  And  beyond  this  a  great 
many  among  ourselves  think  that  they  cannot  go,  in  asserting 
of  original  sin. 

But  there  is  a  further  step  made  by  all  the  disciples  of  St. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


147 


Austin,  who  believe  that  a  covenant  was  made  with  all  man-  A  it  T. 
kind  in  Adam,  as  their  first  parent:  that  he  was  a  person  JX- 
constituted  by  God  to  represent  them  all;  and  that  the 
covenant  was  made  with  him,  so  that  if  he  had  oheyed,  all 
his  posterity  should  have  been  happy,  through  his  obedience; 
but  by  his  disobedience  they  were  all  to  be  esteemed  to  have 
sinned  in  him,  his  act  being  imputed  and  transferred  to  them 
all.  St.  Austin  considered  all  mankind  as  lost  in  Adam,  and 
in  that  he  made  the  decree  of  election  to  begin :  there  being 
no  other  reprobation  asserted  by  him,  than  the  leaving  men 
to  continue  in  that  state  of  damnation,  in  which  they  were  by 
reason  of  Adam's  sin ;  so  that  though  by  baptism  all  men 
were  born  again  and  recovered  out  of  that  lost  state,  yet  un- 
less they  were  within  the  decree  of  election,  they  could  not 
be  saved,  but  would  certainly  fall  from  that  state,  and  perish 
in  a  state  of  sin ;  but  such  as  were  not  baptized  were  shut 
out  from  all  hope.  Those  word's  of  Christ's,  '  Except  ye  be  John  Hi.  3, 
born  again  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  ye  cannot  enter  into  5* 
the  kingdom  of  God,'  being  expounded  so  as  to  import  the 
indispensable  necessity  of  baptism  to  eternal  salvation  ;  all 
who  were  not  baptized  were  reckoned  by  him  among  the 
damned :  yet  this  damnation,  as  to  those  who  had  no  actual 
sin,  was  so  mitigated,  that  it  seemed  to  be  little  more  than  an 
exclusion  out  of  heaven,  without  any  suffering  or  misery,  like 
a  state  of  sleep  and  inactivity.  This  was  afterwards  dressed 
up  as  a  division  or  partition  in  hell,  called  the  Limbo  of  In- 
fants ;  so  by  bringing  it  thus  low,  they  took  away  much  of 
the  horror  that  this  doctrine  might  otherwise  have  given  the 
world. 

It  was  not  easy  to  explain  the  way  how  this  was  propa- 
gated :  they  wished  well  to  the  notion  of  a  soul's  propagating 
a  soul,  but  that  seemed  to  come  too  near  creation  :  so  it  was 
not  received  as  certain.  It  was  therefore  thought,  that  the 
body  being  propagated  defiled,  the  soul  was  created  and  in- 
fused at  the  time  of  conception  :  and  that  though  God  did 
not  create  it  impure,  yet  no  time  was  interposed  between  its 
creation  and  infusion :  so  that  it  could  never  be  said  to  have 
been  once  pure,  and  then  to  have  become  impure.  All  this, 
as  it  afforded  an  easy  foundation  to  establish  the  doctrine  of 
absolute  decrees  upon  it,  no  care  being  taken  to  shew  how 
this  sin  came  into  the  world,  whether  from  an  absolute  de- 
cree or  not,  so  it  seemed  to  have  a  great  foundation  in  that 
large  discourse  of  St.  Paul's :  where,  in  the  fifth  of  the  Ro- 
mans, he  compares  the  blessings  that  we  receive  by  the  death 
of  Christ,  with  the  guilt  and  misery  that  was  brought  upon  us 
by  the  sin  of  Adam.  Now  it  is  confessed,  that  by  Christ  we 
have  both  an  imputation  or  communication  of  the  merits  of 
his  death,  and  likewise  a  purity  and  holiness  of  nature  con- 
veyed to  us  by  his  doctrine  and  spirit.  In  opposition  then  to 
this,  if  the  comparison  is  to  be  closely  pursued,  there  must  be 

v  2 


14S 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  TIT.  an  imputation  of  sin,  as  well  as  a  corruption  of  nature,  trans- 

Ix'  fused  to  us  from  Adam.    This  is  the  more  considerable  as 

to  the  point  of  imputation,  because  the  chief  design  of  St. 
Paul's  discourse  seems  to  be  levelled  at  that,  since  it  is  be- 
gun upon  the  head  of  reconciliation  and  atonement :  upon 
Rom.v.i2,  which  it  follows,  that  cas  by  one  man  sin  entered  into  the 
to  t  e  cd  .  ^qj.]^  ancj  death  Dy  smj  and  death  passed  upon  all  men,  for 
that  (or,  as  others  render  it,  in  whom)  all  have  sinned.'  Now 
they  think  it  is  all  one  to  their  point,  whether  it  be  rendered 
for  that,  or  in  whom :  for  though  the  latter  words  seem  to 
deliver  their  opinion  more  precisely,  yet  it  being  affirmed, 
that,  according  lo  the  other  rendering,  all  who  die  have 
sinned ;  and  it  being  certain,  that  many  infants  die  who  have 
never  actually  sinned,  these  must  have  sinned  in  Adam,  they 
could  sin  no  other  way.    It  is  afterwards  said  by  St.  Paul, 
that  'by  the  offence  of  one  many  were  dead:  that  the  judg- 
ment was  by  one  to  condemnation  :  that  by  one  man's  offeree 
death  reigned  by  one.    That  by  the  offence  of  one,  judg- 
ment came  upon  all  men  to  condemnation:  and  that  by  one 
man's  disobedience  many  were  made  sinners.'    As  these 
words  are  positive,  and  of  great  importance  in  themselves,  so 
all  this  is  much  the  stronger,  by  the  opposition  in  which 
every  one  of  them  is  put  to  the  effects  and  benefits  of  Christ's 
death  ;  particularly  to  our  justification  through  him,  in  which 
there  is  an  imputation  of  the  merits  and  effects  of  his  death, 
that  are  thereby  transferred  to  us ;  so  that  the  whole  effect  of 
this  discourse  is  taken  away,  if  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin 
is  denied.    And  this  explication  does  certainly  quadrate  more 
entirely  to  the  words  of  the  Article,  as  it  is  known  that  this 
was  the  tenet  of  those  who  prepared  the  Articles,  it  having 
oeen  the  generally-received  opinion  from  St.  Austin's  days 
downward. 

But  to  many  other  divines  this  seems  a  harsh  and  uncon- 
ceivable opinion;  it  seems  repugnant  to  the  justice  and  good- 
ness of  God,  to  reckon  men  guilty  of  a  sin  which  they  never 
committed,  and  to  punish  them  in  their  souls  eternally  for  that 
which  is  no  act  of  theirs :  and  though  we  easilv  enough  con- 
ceive how  God,  in  the  riches  of  his  grace,  may  transfer  merit 
and  blessing  from  one  person  to  many,  this  being  only  an 
economy  of  mercy,  where  all  is  free,  and  such  a  method  is 
taken  as  may  best  declare  the  goodness  of  God  :  but  in  the 
imputation  of  sin  and  guilt,  which  are  matters  of  strict  justice, 
it  is  quite  otherwise.  Upon  that  head  God  is  pleased  often 
to  appeal  to  men  for  the  justice  of  all  his  ways  :  and  therefore 
no  such  doctrine  ought  to  be  admitted,  that  carries  in  it  an 
idea  of  cruelty,  beyond  what  the  blackest  tyrants  have  ever 
Jer.  xxxi.  invented.  Besides  that  in  the  scripture  such  a  method  as  the 
29.  30.  punishing  children  for  their  fathers'  sins,  is  often  disclaimed, 
J-.zek.xvm.  an(j  ft  is  positively  affirmed,  that  every  man  that  sins  is  pu- 
nished   Now  though,  in  articles  relating  to  the  nature  of  God, 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


149 


they  acknowledge  it  is  highly  reasonable  to  believe,  that  there  A  n  T. 
maybe  mysteries  which  exceed  our  capacity;  yet  in  moral 
matters,  in  God's  federal  dealings  with  us,  it  seems  unreason-  ~~ 
able,  and  contrary  to  the  nature  of  God,  to  believe  that  there 
may  be  a  mystery  contrary  to  the  clearest  notions  of  justice 
and  goodness  ;  such  as  the  condemning  mankind  for  the  sin 
of  one  man,  in  which  the  rest  had  no  share ;  and  as  contrary 
to  our  ideas  of  God,  and  upon  that  to  set  up  another  mystery 
that  shall  take  away  the  truth  and  fidelity  of  the  promises  of 
God ;  justice  and  goodness  being  as  inseparable  from  his 
nature,  as  truth  and  fidelity  can  be  supposed  to  be.  This 
seems  to  expose  the  Christian  religion  to  the  scoffs  of  its  ene- 
mies, and  to  objections  that  are  much  sooner  made  than  an- 
swered :  and  since  the  foundation  of  this  is  a  supposed  cove- 
nant with  Adam  as  the  representative  head  of  mankind,  it  is 
strange  that  a  thing  of  that  great  consequence  should  not  have 
been  more  plainly  reported  in  the  history  of  the  creation ;  but 
that  men  should  be  put  to  fetch  out  the  knowledge  of  so  great 
and  so  extraordinary  a  thing,  only  by  some  remote  conse- 
quences. It  is  no  small  prejudice  against  this  opinion,  that  it 
was  so  long  before  it  first  appeared  in  the  Latin  church ;  that 
it  was  never  received  in  the  Greek ;  and  that  even  the  western 
church,  though  perhaps  for  some  ignorant  ages  it  received  it, 
as  it  did  every  tiling  else,  very  implicitly,  yet  has  been  very 
much  divided  both  about  this,  and  many  other  opinions  re- 
lated to  it,  or  arising  out  of  it. 

As  for  those  words  of  St.  Paul's,  that  are  its  chief,  if  not 
its  only  foundation,  they  say  many  things  upon  them. 
First,  it  is  a  single  proof.  Now  when  we  have  not  a  variety 
of  places  proving  any  point,  in  which  one  gives  light,  and 
leads  us  to  a  sure  exposition  of  another,  we  cannot  be  so  sure 
of  the  meaning  of  any  one  place,  as  to  raise  a  theory,  or  found 
a  doctrine,  upon  it.  They  say  further,  that  St.  Paul  seems  to 
argue,  from  that  opinion  of  our  having  sinned  in  Adam,  to 
prove  that  we  are  justified  by  Christ.  Now  it  is  a  piece  of 
natural  logic  not  to  prove  a  thing  by  another,  unless  that  other 
is  more  clear  of  itself,  or  at  least  more  clear  by  its  being  already 
received  and  believed.  This  cannot  be  said  to  be  more  clear 
of  itself,  for  it  is  certainly  less  credible  or  conceivable,  than 
the  reconciliation  by  Christ.  Nor  was  this  clear  from  any 
special  revelation  made  of  it  in  the  Old  Testament :  therefore 
there  is  good  reason  to  believe,  that  it  was  then  a  doctrine 
received  among  the  Jews,  as  there  are  odd  things  of  this 
kind  to  be  found  among  the  Cabbalists,  as  if  all  the  souls  of 
all  mankind  had  been  in  Adam's  body.  Now  when  an  argu- 
ment is  brought  in  scripture  to  prove  another  thing  by,  though 
we  are  bound  to  acknowledge  the  conclusion,  yet  we  are  not 
always  sure  of  the  premises  ;  for  they  are  often  founded  upon 
received  opinions.  So  that  it  is  not  certain  that  St.  Paul 
meant  to  offer  this  doctrine  to  our  belief  as  true,  but  oidy 


150 


AX  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  that  he  intended  by  it  to  prove  our  being  reconciled  to  God 
IX-  through  the  death  of  Christ;  and  the  medium  by  which  he 
proved  it  might  be,  for  aught  that  appears  from  the  words  them- 
selves, only  an  opinion  held  true  among  those  to  whom  he  writes. 
For  he  onlv  supposes  it,  but  savs  nothing  to  prove  it:  which  it 
might  be  expected  he  would  have  done,  if  the  Jews  had  made 
anv  doubt  of  it.  But  further  they  say,  that  when  comparisons  or 
oppositions,  such  as  this,  are  made  in  scripture,  we  are  net  al- 
ways to  cam-  them  on  to  an  exact  equality  :  we  are  required  net 
1  Pet. i.15,  only  'to  be  holy  as  God  is  holy,  but  to  be  perfect  as  he  is 
16-  perfect:'  where  by  the  as  is  not  to  be  meant  a  true  equality, 
llut.v.48.  ^ut  snme  sor(-  Qf  resemblance  and  conformity.  Therefore 
those  who  believe  that  there  is  nothing  imputed  to  Adam's 
posterity  on  the  account  of  his  sin,  but  this  temporary  punish- 
ment of  their  being  made  hable  to  death,  and  to  all  those 
miseries  that  the  fear  of  it,  with  our  other  concerns  about  it, 
bring  us  under,  say  that  this  is  enough  to  justify  the  compa- 
rison that  is  there  stated :  and  that  those,  who  will  earn'  it 
on  to  be  an  exact  parallel,  make  a  stretch  beyond  the  phrase- 
ologv  of  the  scripture,  and  the  use  of  parables,  and  of  the 
many  comparisons  that  go  only  to  one  or  more  points,  but 
ought  not  to  be  stretched  to  every  thing. 

These  are  the  things  that  other  great  divines  among  us  have 
opposed  to  this  opinion.  As  to  its  consonancy  to  the  Article, 
those  who  oppose  it  do  not  denv,  but  that  it  comes  up  fully 
to  the  highest  sense  that  the  words  of  the  Article  can  im- 
port :  nor  do  they  doubt,  but  that  those  who  prepared  the 
Articles,  being  of  that  opinion  themselves,  might  perhaps  have 
had  that  sense  of  the  words  in  their  thoughts.    But  thev  add, 
that  we  are  only  bound  to  sign  the  Articles  in  a  literal  and 
Ex.  xrxii.  grammatical  sense :  since  therefore  the  words,  God's  icrath 
\h  3°h     an(^  da"inatlon>  which  are  the  highest  in  the  Article,  are  capa- 
the  wlole  bh?  of  a  lower  sense,  temporary  judgments  being  often  so  ex- 
oid  Testa-  pressed  in  the  scriptures,  therefore  they  believe  the  loss  of  the 
Ma"'  '  7  ^avour  °^  God,  the  sentence  of  death,  the  troubles  of  life,  and 
l  1  hess!  ii'  *ne  corruption   of  our  faculties,  may  be  well  called  God's 
16.         turath  and  damnation.    Besides,  they  observe,  that  the  main 
Luke  nui.  point  of  the  imputation  of  Adam's  sin  to  his  posterity,  and  its 

1  Cor.  xi.  being  considered  by  God  as  their  own  act,  not  being  expressly 
29.  taught  in  the  Article,  here  was  that  moderation  observed, 
if  in  "  17 ' wmcn  tne  compilers  of  the  Articles  have  shewed  on  many 

2  0  '  '  other  occasions.  It  is  plain  from  hence,  that  they  did  not 
2  Cor.  intend  to  lay  a  burden  on  men's  consciences,  or  oblige  them 
John  v  ii  to  Pro^ess  a  doctrine  that  seems  to  be  hard  of  digestion  to  a 
10.  IK  '  great  many.  The  last  prejudice  that  they  offer  against  that 
Rom.  xiv.  opinion  is,  that  the  softening  the  terms  of  God's  wrath  and 
23-         damnation,  that  was  brought  in  by  the  followers  of  St.  Austin's 

doctrine,  to  such  a  moderate  and  harmless  notion,  as  to  be 
only  a  loss*  cf  heaven,  with  a  sort  of  unactive  sleep,  was  an 
effect  of  their  apprehending  that  the  world  could  very  ill  bear 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


151 


an  opinion  of  so  strange  a  sound,  as  that  all  mankind  were  to  ART. 
be  damned  for  the  sin  of  one  man  :  and  that  therefore,  to  make 
this  pass  the  better,  they  mitigated  damnation  far  below  the  ' 
representation  that  the  scriptures  generally  give  of  it,  which 
propose  it  as  the  being  adjudged  to  a  place  of  torment,  and  a 
state  of  horror  and  misery. 

Thus  I  have  set  down  the  different  opinions  in  this  point, 
with  that  true  indifference  that  I  intend  to  observe  on  such 
other  occasions,  and  which  becomes  one  who  undertakes  to 
explain  the  doctrines  of  the  church,  and  not  his  own  ;  and 
who  is  obliged  to  propose  other  men's  opinions  with  all  sin- 
cerity, and  to  shew  what  are  the  senses  that  the  learned  men, 
of  different  persuasions  in  these  matters,  have  put  on  the 
words  of  the  Article.  In  which  one  great  and  constant  rule 
to  be  observed  is,  to  represent  men's  opinioi.s  candidly,  and  to 
judge  as  favourably  both  of  them  and  their  opinions  as  may  be : 
to  bear  with  one  another,  and  not  to  disturb  the  peace  and 
union  of  the  church,  by  insisting  too  much  and  too  perempto- 
rily upon  matters  of  such  doubtful  disputation ;  but  willingly 
to  leave  them  to  all  that  liberty,  to  which  the  church  has  left 
them,  and  which  she  still  allows  them. 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ARTICLE  X. 


Of  Free-Wffl. 

0)f  €  nutrition  of  fHan  after  the  fall  of  Adam  is"  surf)  that  fee  caru 
not  turn  anil  prepare  rjims'elf  bp  oton  natural  Strrntrtb  antJ 
gooo  tuorfes'  to  faith  antJ  calling  upon  Got}.  JSfjrrrforr  \zt  habc 
no  polnrr  to  tso  goofc  irorfes'  pleasant  antJ  arrrptablt  to  Qo'ti, 
tottrjout  tljr  ©race  of  £?ott  be  Cfjnst  prrbrnttng  us',  ttjat  lot  man 
babe  a  gooo  hull,  anl)  loorkmg  truth  us  iuijrn  lor  habt  that  gooo" 
bill. 

We  shall  find  the  same  moderation  ohserved  in  this  Article, 
that  was  taken  notice  of  in  the  former ;  where  all  disputes 
concerning  the  degree  of  that  feebleness  and  corruption,  under 
•which  we  are  fallen  by  the  sin  of  Adam,  are  avoided,  and  only 
the  necessity  of  a  preventing  and  a  co-operating  grace  is  as- 
serted against  the  Semipelagians*  and  the  Pelagians.  But 
before  we  enter  upon  that,  it  is  fitting  first  to  state  th*  true 
notion  of  free-will,  in  so  far  as  it  is  necessary  to  all  rational 

•  '  A  new  and  different  modification  was  given  to  the  doctrine  of  August'.n  by  the 
monk  Cassian.  who  came  from  the  east  into  France,  and  erected  a  monaster*-  near 
Marseilles.  Nor  was  be  the  only  one  who  attempted  to  fix  upon  a  certain  tem- 
peratu'°  between  the  errors  of  Pelagius  and  the  opinions  of  the  African  cr-cie ; 
several  persons  embarked  in  this  undertaking  about  the  year  430,  and  hence  arose 
a  new  sect,  which  were  called  by  their  adversaries,  Semipelagians. 

'  The  opinions  of  this  sect  have  been  misrepresented,  by  its  enemies,  upon  several 
occasions  ;  such  is  generally  the  fate  of  all  parties  in  religious  controversies.  Their 
doctrine,  as  it  has  been  generally  explained  by  the  learned,  amounted  to  this : 
"  That  inward  preventing  grace  was  not  necessarv-  to  form  in  the  soul  the  first 
beginnings  of  true  repentance  and  amendment ;  that  every  one  was  capable  of  pro- 
ducing these  by  the  mere  power  of  their  natural  faculties,  as  also  of  exercising  faith 
in  Christ,  and  forming  the  purposes  of  a  holy  and  sincere  obedience.™  But  they 
acknowledged,  at  the  same  time,  "  That  none  could  persevere  or  advance  in  that 
holy  and  virtuous  course  which  they  had  the  power  of  beginning,  without  the  per- 
petual support  and  the  powerful  assistance  of  the  divine  grace. 'f 

'  The  disciples  of  Augustin,  in  Gaul,  attacked  the  Semipelagians,  with  the  utmost 
vehemence,  without  being  able  to  extirpate  or  overcome  them.  The  doctrine  of 
this  sect  was  so  suited  to  the  capacities  of  the  generality  of  men,  so  confr-rmable  to 
the  way  of  thinking  that  prevailed  among  the  monastic  orders,  so  well  received 
among  the  gravest  and  most  learned  Grecian  doctors,  that  neither  the  xca)  nor  in- 
dustry of  its  adversaries  could  stop  its  rapid  and  extensive  progress.  Add  to  its  other 
advantages,  that  neither  Augustin,  nor  his  followers,  had  ventured  to  condemn  it  in 
all  its  parts,  nor  to  brand  it  as  an  impious  and  pernicious  heresy.'  Mosheim. — [Eb.1 


f  '  The  leading  principles  of  the  Semipc'.asnans  were  the  five  following  : — 
1.  That  God  did  not  dispense  his  srrace  to  one  more  than  another,  in  conse- 
quence of  predestination,  i.  e.  an  eternal  and  absolute  decree  ;  but  was  willing  to 
save  all  men,  if  they  complied  with  the  terms  of  his  gospel.  2.  That  Christ  died 
for  all  men.  3.  That  the  grace  purchased  by  Christ,  and  necessary  to  salvation, 
was  offered  to  all  men.  4.  That  man,  before  he  received  grace,  was  capable  of 
faith  and  holy  desires.  5.  That  man,  born  free,  was  consequently  capable  of  re- 
sisting the  influences  of  grace,  or  complying  with  its  s.iggestioas, '  XacUiat. 


152 


ART. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


153 


agents  to  make  their  actions  morally  good  or  bad  ;  since  it  is  A  R  T. 
a  principle  that  seems  to  rise  out  of  the  light  of  nature,  that  x- 
no  man  is  accountable,  rewardable,  or  punishable,  but  for  that 
;n  which  he  acts  freely,  without  force  or  compulsion ;  and  so 
far  all  are  agreed. 

Some  imagine,  that  liberty  must  suppose  a  freedom  to  do, 
or  not  to  do,  and  to  act  contrariwise  at  pleasure.  To  others 
it  seems  not  necessary  that  such  a  liberty  should  be  carried  to 
denominate  actions  morally  good  or  bad  :  God  certainly  acts 
in  the  perfectest  liberty,  yet  he  cannot  sin.  Christ  had  the 
most  exalted  liberty  in  his  human  nature,  of  which  a  creature 
was  capable,  and  his  merit  was  the  highest,  yet  he  could  not 
sin.  Angels  and  glorified  saints,  though  no  more  capable  of 
rewards,  are  perfect  moral  agents,  and  yet  they  cannot  sin : 
and  the  devils,  with  the  damned,  though  not  capable  of  further 
punishment,  yet  are  still  moral  agents,  and  cannot  but  sin  :  so 
this  indifferency  to  do.  or  not  to  do,  cannot  be  the  true  notion 
of  liberty.  A  truer  one  seems  to  them  to  be  this,  that  a 
rational  nature  is  not  determined  as  mere  matter,  by  the  im- 
pulse and  motion  of  other  bodies  upon  it,  but  is  capable  of 
thought,  and,  upon  considering  the  objects  set  before  it,  makes 
reflection,  and  so  chooses.  Liberty  therefore  seems  to  consist 
in  this  inward  capacity  of  thinking,  and  of  acting  and  choos- 
ing upon  thought.  The  clearer  the  thought  is,  and  the  more 
constantly  that  our  choice  is  determined  by  it,  the  more  does 
a  man  rise  up  to  the  highest  acts,  and  sublimest  exercises  of 
liberty. 

A  question  arises  out  of  this,  whether  the  will  is  not  always 
determined  by  the  understanding,  so  that  a  man  does  always 
choose  and  determine  himself  upon  the  account  of  some  idea 
or  other  ?  If  this  is  granted,  then  no  liberty  will  be  left  to 
our  faculties.  We  must  apprehend  things  as  they  are  pro- 
posed to  our  understanding  ;  for  if  a  thing  appears  true  to  us, 
we  must  assent  to  it ;  and  if  the  will  is  as  blind  to  the  under- 
standing, as  the  understanding  is  determined  by  the  light  in 
which  the  object  appears  to  it,  then  we  seem  to  be  concluded 
under  a  fate,  or  necessity.  It  is,  J"ter  all,  a  vain  attempt  to 
argue  against  every  man's  experience :  we  perceive  in  ourselves 
a  liberty  of  turning  our  minds  to  some  ideas,  or  from  others ; 
we  can  think  longer  or  shorter  of  these,  more  exactly  and 
steadily,  or  more  slightly  and  superficially,  as  we  please ;  and 
in  this  radical  freedom  of  directing  or  diverting  our  thoughts, 
a  main  part  of  our  freedom  does  consist :  often  objects  as  they 
appear  to  our  thoughts  do  so  affect  or  heat  them,  that  they  do 
seem  to  conquer  us,  and  carry  us  after  them ;  some  thoughts 
seeming  as  it  were  to  intoxicate  and  charm  us.  Appetites  and 
passions,  when  much  fired  by  objects  apt  to  work  upon  them, 
do  agitate  us  strongly ;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  impres- 
sions of  religion  come  often  into  our  minds  with  such  a  secret 
torce,  so  much  of  terror  and  such  secret  joy  mixing  with  them, 


154 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  that  they  seem  to  master  us  ;  yet  in  all  this  a  man  acts  freely, 
x*  because  he  thinks  and  chooses  for  himself ;  and  though  per- 
haps he  does  not  feel  himself  so  entirely  balanced,  that  he  is 
indifferent  to  both  sides,  yet  he  has  still  such  a  remote  liberty, 
that  he  can  turn  himself  to  other  objects  and  thoughts,  so 
that  he  can  divert,  if  not  all  of  a  sudden  resist,  the  present 
impressions  that  seem  to  master  him.  We  do  also  feel  tbat 
in  many  trifles  we  do  act  with  an  entire  liberty,  and  do  many 
things  upon  no  other  account,  and  for  no  other  reason,  but 
because  we  will  do  them :  and  yet  more  important  things 
depend  on  these. 

Our  thoughts  are  much  governed  by  those  impressions  that 
are  made  upon  our  brain :  when  an  object  proportioned  to  us 
appears  to  us  with  such  advantages  as  to  affect  us  much,  it 
makes  such  an  impression  on  our  brain,  that  our  animal 
spirits  move  much  towards  it;  and  those  thoughts  that 
answer  it  arise  oft  and  strongly  upon  us,  till  either  that  im- 
pression is  worn  out  and  flatted,  or  new  and  livelier  ones  are 
made  on  us  by  other  objects.  In  this  depressed  state  in  which 
we  now  are,  the  ideas  of  what  is  useful  or  pleasant  to  our 
bodies  are  strong ;  they  are  ever  fresh,  being  daily  renewed ; 
and,  according  to  the  different  construction  of  men's  blood 
and  their  brains,  there  arises  a  great  variety  of  inclinations  in 
them.  Our  animal  spirits,  that  are  the  immediate  organs  of 
thought,  being  the  subtiler  parts  of  our  blood,  are  differently 
made  and  shaped,  as  our  blood  happens  to  be  acid,  salt,  sweet, 
or  phlegmatic :  and  this  gives  such  a  bias  to  all  our  inclina- 
tions, that  nothing  can  work  us  off  from  it,  but  some  great 
strength  of  thought  that  bears  it  down  :  so  learning,  chiefly  in 
mathematical  sciences,  can  so  swallow  up  and  fix  one's  thought, 
as  to  possess  it  entirely  for  some  time ;  but  when  that  amuse- 
ment is  over,  nature  will  return  and  be  where  it  was,  being 
rather  diverted  than  overcome  by  such  speculations. 

The  revelation  of  religion  is  the  proposing  and  proving 
many  truths  of  great  importance  to  our  understandings,  by 
which  they  are  enlightened,  and  our  wills  are  guided ;  but 
these  truths  are  feeble  things,  languid  and  unable  to  stem  a 
tide  of  nature,  especially  when  it  is  much  excited  and  heated : 
so  that  in  fact  we  feel,  that,  when  nature  is  low,  these  thoughts 
may  have  some  force  to  give  an  inward  melancholy,  and  to 
awaken  in  us  purposes  and  resolutions  of  another  kind ;  but 
when  nature  recovers  itself,  and  takes  fire  again,  these  grow 
less  powerful.  The  giving  those  truths  of  religion  such  a 
force  that  they  may  be  able  to  subdue  nature,  and  to  govern 
us,  is  the  design  of  both  natural  and  revealed  religion.  So 
the  question  comes  now  according  to  the  Article  to  be,  whe- 
ther a  man  by  the  powers  of  nature  and  of  reason,  without 
other  inward  assistances,  can  so  far  turn  and  dispose  his  own 
mind,  as  to  believe  and  '  to  do  works  pleasant  and  acceptable 
to  God.'    Pelagius  thought  that  man  was  so  entire  in  his 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


155 


liberty,  that  there  was  no  need  of  any  other  grace  but  that  of  A  K  T. 

pardon,  and  of  proposing  the  truths  of  religion  to  men's  x;  

knowledge,  but  that  the  use  of  these  was  in  every  man's 
power.  Those  who  were  called  Semipelagians  thought  that 
an  assisting  inward  grace  was  necessary  to  enable  a  man  to 
go  through  all  the  harder  steps  of  religion;  but  with  that  they 
thought  that  the  first  turn  or  conversion  of  the  will  to  God, 
was  the  effect  of  a  man's  own  free  choice. 

In  opposition  to  both  which,  this  Article  asserts  both  an 
assisting  and  a  preventing  grace.     That  there  are  inward 
assistances  given  to  our  powers,  besides  those  outward  bless- 
ings of  Providence,  is  first  to  be  proved.    In  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, it  is  true,  there  were  not  express  promises  made  by 
M  >ses  of  such  assistances :  yet  it  seems  both  David  and 
Sol.imon  had  a  full  persuasion  about  it.    David's  prayers  do 
every  where  relate  to  somewhat  that  is  internal:  he  prays 
God  'to  open  and  turn  his  eyes;  to  unite  and  incline  his  P-.cxir. 
heart ;  to  quicken  him  ;  to  make  him  to  go ;  to  guide  and  g®' 27, 32, 
lead  him ;  to  create  in  him  a  clean  heart,  and  renew  a  right  ps.  h.  10, 
spirit  within  him.'    Solomon  savs,  that  '  God  gives  wisdom  ;  11. 
that  he  directs  men's  paths,  and  giveth  grace  to  the  lowly.'  ?.rgV '  ^  6- 
In  the  promise  that  Jeremy  gives  of  a  new  covenant,  this  is 
the  character  that  is  given  of  it;  fI  will  put  my  law  in  their  Jer. xxxi. 
inward  parts,  and  write  it  in  their  hearts :  They  shall  all -33,  34- 
know  me,  from  the  least  of  them  unto  the  greatest.'    Like  to 
that  is  what  Ezekiel  promises ;  £  A  new  heart  also  will  I  give  Ezek. 
you,  and  a  new  spirit  will  I  put  within  you  ;  and  I  will  take  "*vi-26« 
away  the  stony  heart  out  of  your  flesh,  and  I  will  give  you  an  " 
heart  of  flesh ;  and  I  will  put  my  spirit  within  you,  and 
cause  you  to  walk  in  my  statutes,  and  ye  shall  keep  my  judg- 
ments and  do  them.'    That  these  prophecies  relate  to  the 
new  dispensation  cannot  be  questioned,  since  Jeremy's  words, 
to  which  the  other  are  equivalent,  are  cited  and  applied  to  it 
in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews.    Now  the  opposition  of  the 
one  dispensation  to  the  other,  as  it  is  here  stated,  consists  in 
this,  that  whereas  the  old  dispensation  was  made  up  of  laws 
and  statutes  that  were  given  on  tables  of  stone,  and  in  writ- 
ing, the  new  dispensation  was  to  have  somewhat  in  it  beside 
that  external  revelation,  which  was  to  be  internal,  and  which 
should  dispose  and  enable  men  to  observe  it. 

A  great  deal  of  our  Saviour's  discourse  concerning  the 
Spirit,  which  he  was  to  pour  on  his  disciples,  did  certainly 
belong  to  that  extraordinary  effusion  at  Pentecost,  and  to 
those  wonderful  effects  that  were  to  follow  upon  it;  yet  as  he 
had  formerly  given  this  as  an  encouragement  to  all  men  to 
pray,  that '  his  heavenly  Father  would  give  the  Holy  Spirit  to  j^611' 
every  one  that  asked  him,'  so  there  are  many  parts  of  that  his 
last  discourse  that  seem  to  belong  to  the  constant  necessities 
of  all  Christians.  It  is  as  unreasonable  to  limit  all  to  that 
time,  as  the  first  words  of  it,  '  I  go  to  prepare  a  place  for  ^ohn 


156 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.   you :'  and  '  because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also.'    The  praver 
which  comes  after  that  discourse,  being  extended  l>evond  them 
to  all  that  should  'believe  in  his  name  through  their  word/  we 
have  no  reason  to  limit  these  words.  '  I  will  manifest  mvself 
to  him  ;  My  Father  and  I  will  make  our  abode  with  him  ;  In 
me  ye  shall  have  peace ;'  to  the  apostles  onlv ;  so  that  the 
guidance,  the  conviction,  the  comforts,  of  that  Spirit,  seem  to 
be  promises  which  in  a  lower  order  belong  to  all  Christians. 
Rum.  v.  5.  St.  Paul  speaks  of  '  the  love  of  God  shed  abroad  in  their 
hearts  by  the  Holy  Ghost :'  when  he  was  under  temptation, 
2 Cor. rii.  anci  prayed  thrice,  he  had  this  answer,  '  Mv  grace  is  sufficient 
for  thee;  my  strength  is  made  perfect  in  weakness.'  He  pravs 
often  for  the  churches  in  his  Epistles  to  them,  that  'God 
would  stablish,  comfort,  and  perfect  them,  enlighten  and 
strengthen  them ;'  and  this  in  all  that  varietv  of  words  and 
phrases  that  import  inward  assistances.    This  is  also  meant 
EdIi.  iii.    by  '  Christ's  living  and  dwelling  in  us,'  and  by  our  being 
2  Cor  vi   '  rooted  and  grounded  in  him ;'  our  being  1  the  temples  of 
16.         God,  a  holy  habitation  to  him,  through  his  Spirit  f  our  being 
Eph.fi. 2i  'sealed  by  the  Spirit  of  God  to  the  day  of  redemption;'  by 
Heb"  \v     a^  those  directions  to  pray  for  '  grace  to  help  in  time  of  need,' 
16.  and  'to  ask  wisdom  of  God  that  gives  liberally  to  all  men;' 

Jjjj.  i.  5.  as  also  by  the  phrases  of  '  being  born  of  God,'  and  '  the 
c,  ' 0>ia  having  his  seed  abiding  in  us.'  These  and  many  more  places, 
which  return  often  through  the  New  Testament,  seem  to  put 
it  beyond  all  doubt,  that  there  are  inward  communications 
from  God,  to  the  powers  of  our  souls ;  by  which  we  are  made 
both  to  apprehend  the  truths  of  religion,  to  remember  and 
reflect  on  them,  and  to  consider  and  follow  them  more  effec- 
tually. 

How  these  are  applied  to  us  is  a  great  difficulty  indeed,  but 
it  is  to  little  purpose  to  amuse  ourselves  about  it.  God  may 
convey  them  immediately  to  our  souls,  if  he  will ;  but  it  is 
more  intelligible  to  us  *o  imagine  that  the  truths  of  religion 
are  bv  a  divine  direction  imprinted  deep  upon  our  brain ;  so 
that  naturallv  thev  must  affect  us  much,  and  be  oft  in  our 
thoughts :  and  this  may  be  an  hypothesis  to  explain  regene- 
ration or  habitual  grace  by.  When  a  deep  impression  is  once 
made,  there  mav  be  a  direction  from  God,  in  the  same  way 
that  his  providence  runs  through  the  whole  material  world, 
given  to  the  animal  spirits  to  move  towards  and  strike  upon 
that  impression,  and  so  to  excite  such  thoughts  as  by  the  law 
of  the  union  of  the  soul  and  body  to  correspond  to  it :  this 
may  serve  for  an  hypothesis  to  explain  the  conveyance  of  actual 
grace  to  us :  but  these  are  only  proposed  as  hypotheses,  that 
is,  as  methods,  or  possible  ways,  how  such  things  may  be 
done,  and  which  may  help  us  to  apprehend  more  distinctly 
the  manner  of  them.  Now  as  this  hypothesis  has  nothing  in 
it  but  what  is  truly  philosophical,  so  it  is  highly  congruous  to 
the  nature  and  attributes  of  God,  that  if  our  faculties  are 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


157 


fallen  Under  a  decay  and  corruption,  so  that  bare  instruction  A  ft  T. 
is  not  like  to  prevail  over  us,  he  should  by  some  secret  me-  x- 
thods  rectify  this  in  us.  Our  experience  tells  us  but  too  often 
what  a  feeble  thing  knowledge  and  speculation  is,  when  it  en- 
gages with  nature  strongly  assaulted ;  how  our  best  thoughts 
fly  from  us  and  forsake  us :  whereas  at  other  times  the  sense 
of  these  things  lies  with  a  due  weight  on  our  minds,  and  has 
another  effect  upon  us.  The  way  of  conveying  this  is  invisi- 
ble ;  our  Saviour  compared  it  to  the  '  wind  that  bloweth  where  John  iii.  8. 
it  listeth ;  no  man  knows  whence  it  comes,  and  whither  it 
goes.'  No  man  can  give  an  account  of  the  sudden  changes  of 
the  wind,  and  of  that  force  with  which  the  air  is  driven  by  it, 
which  is  otherwise  the  most  yielding  of  all  bodies  ;  to  which 
he  adds,  (  so  is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  Spirit.'  This  he 
brings  to  illustrate  the  meaning  of  what  he  had  said,  that  '  ex- 
cept a  man  was  born  again  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  he  could 
not  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God :'  and  to  shew  how  real 
and  internal  this  was,  he  adds,  '  that  which  is  born  of  the 
flesh  is  flesh  ;'  that  is,  a  man  has  the  nature  of  those  parents 
from  whom  he  is  descended,  by  flesh  being  understood  the 
fabric  of  the  human  body,  animated  by  the  soul :  in  opposi- 
tion to  which  he  subjoins,  '  that  which  is  born  of  the  Spirit  is 
spirit ;'  that  is  to  say,  a  man  thus  regenerated  by  the  operation 
of  the  Spirit  of  God,  comes  to  be  of  a  spiritual  nature. 

With  this  I  conclude  all  that  seemed  necessary  to  be 
proved,  that  there  are  inward  assistances  given  to  us  in  the 
new  dispensation.  I  do  not  dispute  whether  these  are  fitly 
called  grace,  for  perhaps  that  word  will  scarce  be  found  in 
that  sense  in  the  scriptures ;  it  signifying  more  largely  the  love 
and  favour  of  God,  without  restraining  it  to  this  act  or  effect 
of  it.  The  next  thing  to  be  proved  is,  that  there  is  a  prevent- 
ing grace,  by  which  the  will  is  first  moved  and  disposed  to 
turn  to  God.  It  is  certain  that  the  first  promulgation  of  the 
gospel  to  the  churches  that  were  gathered  by  the  apostles,  is 
ascribed  wholly  to  the  riches  and  freedom  of  the  grace  of  God. 
This  is  fully  done  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  in  which 
their  former  ignorance  and  corruption  is  set  forth  under  the 
figures  of  blindness,  of  £  being  without  hope,  and  without  God  Eph.  ii.2, 
in  the  world,  and  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  they  following  3. 12- 
the  course  of  this  world,  and  the  prince  of  the  power  of  the 
air,  and  being  by  nature  children  of  wrath that  is,  under 
wrath.  I  dispute  not  here  concerning  the  meaning  of  the 
word  by  nature,  whether  it  relates  to  the  corruption  of  our 
nature  in  Adam,  or  to  that  general  corruption  that  had  over- 
spread heathenism,  and  was  become  as  it  were  another  nature 
to  them.  In  this  single  instance  we  plainly  see  that  there 
was  no  previous  disposition  to  the  first  preaching  of  the  gospel 
at  Ephesus :  many  expressions  of  this  kind,  though  perhaps 
not  of  this  force,  are  in  the  other  Epistles.  St.  Paul,  in  his 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,  puts  God's  choosing  of  Abraham  upon 


158 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   this,  that  it  was  '  of  grace,  not  of  debt,  otherwise  Abraham 
X-      might  have  had  whereof  to  glory.'    And  when  he  speaks  of 
Rom.iv.2.  God's  casting  off  the  Jews,  and  grafting  the  Gentiles  upon 
that  stock  from  which  they  were  cut  off,  he  ascribes  it  wholly 
Rom.  xi.    to  the  goodness  of  God  towards  them,  and  charges  them  '  not 
20-         to  be  highminded,  but  to  fear.'    In  his  Epistle  to  the  Corin- 
l  Cor  i.    thians  he  says,  that  '  not  many  wise,  mighty,  nor  noble,  were 
26.  27, 29.  chosen,  but  God  had  chosen  the  foolish,  the  weak,  and  the 
base  things  of  this  world,  so  that  no  flesh  should  glory  in  his 
presence :'  and  he  urges  this  further,  in  words  that  seem  tc 
be  as  applicable  to  particular  persons,  as  to  communities  or 
1  Cor.  iv.7.  churches :  'Who  maketh  thee  to  differ  from  another?  and 
what  has  thou,  that  thou  didst  not  receive  ?    Now  if  thou 
didst  receive  it,  why  dost  thou  glory  as  if  thou  hadst  not 
received  it  ?'    From  these  and  many  more  passages  of  the  like 
Isa.  lxv.  i.  nature  it  is  plain,  that  in  the  promulgation  of  the  gospel,  'God 
was  found  of  them  that  sought  not  to  him,  and  heard  of  them 
that  called  not  upon  him that  is,  he  prevented  them  by  his 
favour,  while  there  were  no  previous  dispositions  in  them  to 
invite  it,  much  less  to  merit  it.  From  this  it  may  be  inferred, 
that  the  like  method  should  be  used  with  relation  to  particu- 
lar persons. 

We  do  find  very  express  instances  in  the  New  Testament 
of  the  conversion  of  some  by  a  preventing  grace  :  it  is  said, 
Acts  xvi.   that  '  God  opened  the  heart  of  Lydia,  so  that  she  attended 
14-         to  the  things  that  were  spoken  of  Paul.'    The  conversion  of 
St.  Paul  himself  was  so  clearly  from  a  preventing  grace,  that 
if  it  had  not  been  miraculous  in  so  many  of  its  circumstances, 
it  would  have  been  a  strong  argument  in  behalf  of  it.  These 
John xv. 5,  words  of  Christ  seem  also  to  assert  it;  'Without  me  ye  can 
16.  vi.  44.  (Jo  nothing ;  ye  have  not  chosen  me,  but  I  you ;  and  no  man 
Phil  it  13  can  come  to  meJ  except  the  Father  which  has  sent  me  draw 
him.'    Those  who  received  Christ  were  'born  not  of  blood, 
nor  of  the  will  of  the  flesh,  nor  of  the  will  of  man,  but  of  the 
will  of  God.'    God  is  said  '  to  work  in  us  both  to  will  and  to 
do  of  his  own  good  pleasure :'  the  one  seems  to  import  the 
first  beginnings,  and  the  other  the  progress,  of  a  Christian 
course  of  life.  So  far  all  among  us,  that  I  know  of,  are  agreed, 
though  perhaps  not  as  to  the  force  that  is  in  all  those  places 
to  prove  this  point. 

There  do  yet  remain  two  points  in  which  they  do  not  agree ; 
the  one  is  the  efficacy  of  this  preventing  grace ;  some  think 
that  it  is  of  its  own  nature  so  efficacious,  that  it  never  fails  of 
converting  those  to  whom  it  is  given  :  others  think  that  it 
only  awakens  and  disposes,  as  well  as  it  enables  them  to  turn 
to  God,  but  that  they  may  resist  it,  and  that  the  greater  part 
of  mankind  do  actually  resist  it.  The  examining  of  this  point, 
and  the  stating  the  arguments  on  both  sides,  will  belong  more 
properly  to  the  seventeenth  Article.  The  other  head,  in  which 
many  do  differ,  is  concerning  the  extent  of  this  preventing 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  159 

grace;  for  whereas  such  as  do  hold  it  to  be  efficacious  of  itself,  ART. 
restrain  it  to  the  number  of  those  who  are  elected  and  con-  x- 
verted  by  it ;  others  do  believe,  that  as  Christ  died  for  all 
men,  so  there  is  an  universal  grace  which  is  given  in  Christ  to 
all  men,  in  some  degree  or  other,  and  that  it  is  given  to  all 
baptized  Christians  in  a  more  eminent  degree ;  and  that  as  all 
are  corrupted  by  Adam,  there  is  also  a  general  grace  given  to 
all  men  in  Christ.  This  depends  so  much  on  the  former  point, 
that  the  discussing  the  one  is  indeed  the  discussing  of  both ; 
and  therefore  it  shall  not  be  further  entered  upon  in  this 
place. 


160 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART. 

XI. 

ARTICLE  XI. 

Of  the  Justification  of  Man. 

WLt  are  accounts  Migfyteousf  before  ©otr  onlp  for  the  IHcn't  of  our 
ILortt  anil  Jr>abtour  $ciu$  Christ,  bp  dfatth,  antJ  not  for  our  oUm 
SHorfeS  or  SesJerbincrS.  22H!)rrefore  that  toe  are  justtifieli  bp  dfatth 
onlp,  \4  a  most  toljolcSomr  Qoctrtnc,  anil  berp  full  of  Comfort, 
M  more  largclp  ii  erpieSsel'  in  tlje  $}onulp  of  ShtSttfication. 

In  order  to  the  right  understanding  this  Article,  we  mu  t  first 
consider  the  true  meaning-  of  the  terms  of  which  it  is  made 
up:  which  are  justification,  faith,  faith  only,  and  good  works ; 
and  then,  when  these  are  rightly  stated,  we  will  see  what 
judgments  are  to  be  passed  upon  the  questions  that  do  arise 
out  of  this  Article.  Just,  or  justified,  are  words  capable  of 
two  senses ;  the  one  is,  a  man  who  is  in  the  favour  of  God  by 
a  mere  act  of  his  grace,  or  upon  some  consideration  not 
founded  on  the  holiness  or  the  merit  of  the  person  himself. 
The  other  is,  a  man  who  is  truly  holy,  and  as  such  is  beloved 
of  God.  The  use  of  this  word  in  the  New  Testament  was 
probably  taken  from  the  term  chasidim  among  the  Jews,  a 
designation  of  such  as  observed  the  external  parts  of  *he  law 
strictly,  and  were  believed  to  be  upon  that  account  much  in 
the  favour  of  God;  an  opinion  being  generally  spread  among 
them,  that  a  strict  observance  of  the  external  parts  of  the  law 
of  Moses  did  certainly  put  a  man  in  the  favour  ot  God.  In 
opposition  to  which,  the  design  of  a  great  part  of  the  New 
Testament  is  to  shew  that  these  things  did  not  put  men  in  the 
John  iii.  favour  of  God.  Our  Saviour  used  the  word  saved  in  opposi- 
tion to  condemned;  and  spoke  of  men  who  were  condemned 
already,  as  well  as  of  others  who  were  saved.  St.  Paul  enlarges 
more  fully  into  many  discourses  ;  in  which  our  being  justified 
and  the  righteousness  of  God,  or  his  grace  towards  us,  are  all 
terms  equivalent  to  one  another.  His  design  in  the  Epistle 
to  the  Romans  was  to  prove  that  the  observance  of  the  Mo- 
saical  law  could  not  justify,  that  is,  could  not  put  a  man  under 
the  grace  or  favour  of  God,  or  the  righteousness  of  God,  that  is, 
into  a  state  of  acceptation  with  him,  as  that  is  opposite  to  a 
state  of  wrath  or  condemnation :  he  upon  that  shews  that 
Abraham  was  in  the  favour  of  God  before  he  was  circumcised, 
upon  the  account  of  his  trusting  to  the  promises  of  God,  and 
obeying  his  commands  ;  and  that  God  reckoned  upon  these 
acts  of  his,  as  much  as  if  they  had  been  an  entire  course  of 
Gen.  xv.  6.  obedience ;  for  that  is  the  meaning  of  these  words,  '  And  it 
Horn.  iv.  3,  Was  imputed  to  him  for  righteousness.'  These  promises  were 
freely  made  to  him  by  God,  when  by  no  previous  works  o* 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  161 


his  he  had  made  them  to  be  due  to  him  of  debt ;  therefore  ART. 
that  covenant  which  was  founded  on  those  promises,  was  the 
'justifying  of  Abraham  freely  by  grace.'  Upon  which  St.  Paul,  — 
in  a  variety  of  inferences  and  expressions,  assumes  that  we  are 
in  like  manner  'justified  freely  by  grace  through  the  redemp-  Rom.iii. 
tion  in  Christ  Jesus.'  That  God  has  of  his  own  free  good-  24- 
ness  offered  a  new  covenant,  and  new  and  better  promises  to 
mankind  in  Christ  Jesus,  which  whosoever  believe  as  Abra- 
ham did,  they  are  justified  as  he  was.  So  that  whosoever 
will  observe  the  scope  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles  to  the  Romans 
and  Galatians,  will  see  that  he  always  uses  justification  in  a 
sense  that  imports  our  being  put  in  the  favour  of  God.  The 
Epistle  to  the  Galatians  was  indeed  writ  upon  the  occasion 
of  another  controversy,  which  was,  whether,  supposing  Christ 
to  be  the  Messias,  Christians  were  bound  to  observe  the  Mo- 
saical  law  or  not :  whereas  the  scope  of  the  first  part  of  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans  is  to  shew  that  we  are  not  justified 
nor  saved  by  the  law  of  Moses,  as  a  mean  of  its  own  nature 
capable  to  recommend  us  to  the  favour  of  God,  but  that  even 
that  law  was  a  dispensation  of  grace,  in  which  it  was  a  true 
faith  like  Abraham's  that  put  men  in  the  favour  of  God ;  yet 
in  both  these  Epistles,  in  which  justification  is  fully  treated 
of,  it  stands  always  for  the  receiving  one  into  the  favour  of 
God. 

In  this,  the  consideration  upon  which  it  is  done,  and  the 
condition  upon  which  it  is  offered,  are  two  very  different 
things.  The  one  is  a  dispensation  of  God's  mercy,  in  which 
he  has  regard  to  his  own  attributes,  to  the  honour  of  his  laws, 
and  his  government  of  the  world :  the  other  is  the  method  in 
which  he  applies  that  to  us,  in  such  a  manner,  that  it  may 
have  such  ends  as  are  both  perfective  of  human  nature,  and 
suitable  to  an  infinitely  holy  Being  to  pursue.  We  are  never 
to  mix  these  two  together,  or  to  imagine  that  the  condition, 
upon  which  justification  is  offered  to  us,  is  the  consideration 
that  moves  God ;  as  if  our  holiness,  faith,  or  obedience,  were 
the  moving  cause  of  our  justification  ;*  or  that  God  justifies 

•  '  Faith  is  the  only  hand  which  putteth  on  Christ  unto  justification  ;  and  Christ 
the  only  garment,  which,  being  so  put  on,  covereth  the  shame  of  our  defiled  natures, 
hideth  the  imperfection  of  our  works,  preserveth  us  blameless  in  the  sight  of  God, 
before  whom,  otherwise,  the  weakness  of  our  faith  were  cause  sufficient  to  make 
us  culpable,  yea,  to  shut  us  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  where  nothing  that  is  not 
absolute  can  enter.' — Hooker. 

'  Justification  is  the  office  of  God  only,  and  is  not  a  thing  which  we  render  unto 
him,  but  which  we  receive  of  him  :  not  which  we  give  to  him,  but  which  we  take 
of  him,  by  his  free  mercy,  and  by  the  only  merits  of  his  most  dearly  beloved  Son, 
our  only  Redeemer,  Saviour,  and  Justifier,  Jesus  Christ :  so  that  the  true  under- 
standing of  this  doctrine,  we  be  justified  freely  by  faith  without  works,  or  that  we 
be  justified  by  faith  in  Christ  only,  is  not,  that  this  our  own  act  to  belie  ,  e  in  Christ, 
or  this  our  faith  in  Christ,  which  is  within  us,  doth  justify  us,  and  deserve  our  jus- 
tification unto  us  (for  that  were  to  count  ourselves  to  be  justified  by  some  act  or 
virtue  that  is  within  ourselves)  ;  but  the  true  understanding  and  meaning  thereof  is, 
that  although  we  hear  God's  word  and  believe  it,  although  we  have  faith,  hope, 
charity,  repentance,  dread,  and  fear  of  God  within  us,  and  do  never  so  many 
works  thereunto :  yet  we  must  renounce  the  merit  of  all  our  said  virtues,  of  faith, 

M 


162 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  us,  because  he  sees  that  we  are  truly  just :  for  though  it  is  not 
to  be  denied,  but  that  in  some  places  of  the  New  Testament, 
justification  may  stand  in  that  sense,  because  the  word  in  its 
true  signification  will  bear  it ;  yet  in  these  two  Epistles,  in 
which  it  is  largely  treated  of,  nothing  is  plainer  than  that  the 
design  is  to  shew  us  what  it  is  that  brings  us  to  the  favour  of 
God,  and  to  a  state  of  pardon  and  acceptation :  so  that  justi- 
fication in  those  places  stands  in  opposition  to  accusation  and 
condemnation. 

The  next  term  to  be  explained  is  faith  ;  which  in  the  New 
Testament  stands  generally  for  the  complex  of  Christianity, 
in  opposition  to  the  law,  which  stands  as  generally  for  the 
complex  of  the  whole  Mosaical  dispensation.  So  that  the 
faith  of  Christ  is  equivalent  to  this,  the  gospel  of  Christ;  be- 
cause Christianity  is  a  federal  religion,  founded  on  God's 
part,  on  the  promises  that  he  has  made  to  us,  and  on  the 
rules  he  has  set  us ;  and  on  our  part,  on  our  believing  that 
revelation,  our  trusting  to  those  promises,  and  our  setting 
ourselves  to  follow  those  rules  :  the  believing  this  revelation, 
and  that  great  article  of  it,  of  Christ's  being  the  Son  of  God, 
and  the  true  Messias,  that  came  to  reveal  his  Father's  will, 
and  to  offer  himself  up  to  be  the  sacrifice  of  this  new  cove- 
nant, is  often  represented  as  the  great  and  only  condition  of 
the  covenant  on  our  part;  but  still  this  faith  must  receive  the 
whole  gospel,  the  precepts  as  well  as  the  promises  of  it,  and 
receive  Christ  as  a  Prophet  to  teach,  and  a  King  to  rule,  as 
well  as  a  Priest  to  save  us. 

By  faith  only,  is  not  to  be  meant  faith  as  it  is  separated 
from  the  other  evangelical  graces  and  virtues ;  but  faith,  as  it 
is  opposite  to  the  rites  of  the  Mosaical  law:  for  that  was  the 
great  question  that  gave  occasion  to  St.  Paul's  writing  so 
fully  upon  this  head  ;  since  many  Judaizing  Christians,  as 
they  acknowledged  Christ  to  be  the  true  Messias,  so  they 
thought  that  the  law  of  Moses  was  still  to  retain  its  force:  in 
Rom.  iii.   opposition  to  whom  St.  Paul  savs,  that  c  we  are  justified  bv 

28.   '  

Gal.  ii.  16. 

hope,  charity,  and  all  other  virtues  and  food  deeds,  which  we  either  huve  done, 
shall  do,  or  can  do,  as  things  that  be  far  too  weak,  and  insuincient,  and  imperfect, 
to  deserve  remission  of  our  sins,  and  our  justification ;  and  therefore  we  must  trust 
only  in  God's  mercy,  and  that  sacrifice  which  our  High-priest  and  Saviour  Christ 
Jesus,  the  Son  of  God,  once  offered  for  us  upon  the  cross,  to  obtain  thereby  God's 
grace  and  remission,  as  well  of  our  original  sin  in  baptism,  as  of  all  actual  sin 
committed  by  us  after  our  baptism,  if  we  truly  repent  and  turn  unfeignedly  to  him 
again.  So  that  as  St.  John  Baptist,  although  he  were  never  so  virtuous  and  godly 
a  man,  yet  in  this  matter  of  forgiving  of  sin,  he  did  put  the  people  from  him,  and 
appointed  them  unto  Christ,  saying  thus  unto  them,  Behold,  yonder  is  the  Lamb  of 
God,  which  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world  :  even  so,  as  great  and  as  godlv  a 
virtue  as  the  lively  faith  is,  yet  it  putteth  ns  from  itself,  and  remitteth  or  appointeth 
us  into  Christ,  for  to  have  only  by  him  remission  of  our  sins,  or  justification.  So 
that  our  faith  in  Christ  ( as  it  were )  saith  unto  as  thus,  It  is  not  I  that  take  away 
your  sins,  but  it  is  Christ  only,  and  to  him  only  I  send  vou  for  that  purpose,  for- 
saking therein  all  your  good  virtues,  words,  thoughts,  and  works,  and  only  putting 
your  trust  in  Christ.'    Homily  rftke  Salvation  of  Mankind:  Second  Part.—  Ed." 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


15.3 


faith,  without  the  works  of  the  law.'  It  is  plain  that  he  A  T. 
means  the  Mosaical  dispensation,  for  he  had  divided  all  man-  x,« 
kind  into  those  '  who  were  in  the  law,'  and  those  '  who  were  j?om  ^ 
without  the  law,'  that  is,  into  Jews  and  Gentiles.  Nor  had  St.  12. 
Paul  any  occasion  to  treat  of  any  other  matter  in  those  Epis- 
tles, or  to  enter  into  nice  abstractions,  which  became  not  one 
that  was  to  instruct  the  world  in  order  to  their  salvation: 
those  metaphysical  notions  are  not  easily  apprehended  by 
plain  men,  not  accustomed  to  such  subtilties,  and  are  of 
very  little  value,  when  they  are  more  critically  distinguished: 
yet  when  it  seems  some  of  those  expressions  were  wrested 
to  an  ill  sense  and  use,  St.  James  treats  of  the  same  matter, 
but  with  this  great  difference,  that  though  he  says  expressly 
that  e  a  man  is  justified  by  his  works,  and  not  by  faith  only  ;'  James  ii. 
yet  he  does  not  say,  by  the  works  of  the  law  ;  so  that  he  does  24* 
not  at  all  contradict  St.  Paul ;  the  works  that  he  mentions 
not  being  the  circumcision  or  ritual  observances  of  Abraham, 
but  his  offering  up  his  son  Isaac,  which  St.  Paul  had  reckoned 
a  part  of  the  faith  of  Abraham :  this  shews  that  he  did  not 
intend  to  contradict  the  doctrine  delivered  by  St.  Paul,  but 
only  to  give  a  true  notion  of  the  faith  that  justifies;  that  it  is 
not  a  bare  believing,  such  as  devils  are  capable  of,  but  such 
a  believing  as  exerted  itself  in  good  works.  So  that  the  J  ait  h 
mentioned  by  St.  Paul  is  the  complex  of  all  Christianity; 
whereas  that  mentioned  by  St.  James  is  a  bare  believing, 
without  a  life  suitable  to  it.  And  as  it  is  certainly  true  that 
we  are  taken  into  the  favour  of  God,  upon  our  receiving  the 
whole  gospel,  without  observing  the  Mosaical  precepts ;  so  it 
is  as  certainly  true,  that  a  bare  professing  or  giving  credit 
to  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  without  our  living  suitably  to  it, 
does  not  give  us  a  right  to  the  favour  of  God.  And  thus  it 
appears  that  these  two  pieces  of  the  New  Testament,  when 
rightly  understood,  do  in  no  wise  contradict,  but  agree  well 
with  one  another. 

In  the  last  place,  we  must  consider  the  signification  of  good 
works :  by  them  are  not  to  be  meant  some  voluntary  and 
assumed  pieces  of  severity,  which  are  no  where  enjoined  in 
the  gospel,  that  arise  out  of  superstition,  and  that  feed  pride 
and  hypocrisy :  these  are  so  far  from  deserving  the  name  of 
good  works,  that  they  have  been  in  all  ages  the  methods  of 
imposture,  and  of  impostors,  and  the  arts  by  which  they  have 
gained  credit  and  authority.  By  good  ivorks  therefore  are 
meant  acts  of  true  holiness,  and  of  sincere  obedience  to  the 
laws  of  the  gospel. 

The  terms  being  thus  explained,  I  shall  next  distinguish 
between  the  questions  arising  out  of  this  matter,  that  are  only 
about  words,  and  those  that  are  more  material  and  important. 
If  any  man  fancy  that  the  remission  of  sins  is  to  be  considered 
as  a  thing  previous  to  justification,  and  distinct  from  it,  and 
acknowledge  that  to  be  freely  given  in  Christ  Jesus ;  and  that 

M  2 


164 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  in  consequence  of  this  there  is  such  a  grace  infused,  that 
thereupon  the  person  becomes  truly  just,  and  is  considered  as 
such  by  God  :  this,  which  must  be  confessed  to  be  the  doc- 
trine of  a  great  many  in  the  church  of  Rome,  and  which 
seems  to  be  that  established  at  Trent,  is  indeed  very  visibly 
different  from  the  style  and  design  of  those  places  of  the  New 
Testament,  in  which  this  matter  is  most  fully  opened :  but 
yet  after  all  it  is  but  a  question  about  words  ;  for  if  that 
which  they  call  remission  of  sins,  be  the  same  with  that  which 
we  call  justification;  and  if  that  which  they  call  justification 
be  the  same  with  that  which  we  call  sanctification,  then  here 
is  only  a  strife  of  words ;  yet  even  in  this  we  have  the  scrip- 
tures clearly  of  our  side ;  so  that  we  hold  the  form  of  sound 
words,  from  which  they  have  departed.  The  scripture  speaks 
of  sanctification  as  a  thing  different  from,  and  subsequent  to, 
ICor.vi.  justification.  'Now  ye  are  washed,  ye  are  sanctified,  ye  are 
-  justified.'    And  since  justification,  and  the  being  in  the  love 

and  favour  of  God,  are  in  the  New  Testament  one  and  the 
same  thing,  the  remission  of  sins  must  be  an  act  of  God's 
favour:  for  we  cannot  imagine  a  middle  state  of  being  neither 
accepted  of  him,  nor  yet  under  his  wrath,  as  if  the  remission 
of  sins  were  merely  an  extinction  of  the  guilt  of  sin  without 
any  special  favour.  If  therefore  this  remission  of  sins  is  ac- 
knowledged to  be  given  freely  to  us  through  Jesus  Christ, 
this  is  that  which  we  affirm  to  be  justification,  though  under 
another  name :  we  do  also  acknowledge  that  our  natures 
must  be  sanctified  and  renewed,  that  so  God  may  take  plea- 
sure in  vis,  when  his  image  is  again  visible  upon  us ;  and  this 
we  call  sanctification ;  which  we  acknowledge  to  be  the  con- 
stant and  inseparable  effect  of  justification :  so  that  as  to  this, 
we  agree  in  the  same  doctrine,  only  we  differ  in  the  use  of  the 
terms ;  in  which  we  have  the  phrase  of  the  New  Testament 
clearly  with  us. 

But  there  are  two  more  material  differences  between  us :  it 
is  a  tenet  in  the  church  of  Rome,  that  the  use  of  the  sacra- 
ments, if  men  do  not  put  a  bar  to  them,  and  if  they  have  only 
imperfect  acts  of  sorrow  accompanying  them,  does  so  far  com- 
plete those  weak  acts,  as  to  justify  us.*  This  we  do  utterly 
deny,  as  a  doctrine  that  tends  to  enervate  all  religion ;  and  to 
make  the  sacraments,  that  were  appointed  to  be  the  solemn 
acts  of  religion,  for  quickening  and  exciting  our  piety,  and  for 
conveying  grace  to  us,  upon  our  coming  devoutly  to  them, 
become  means  to  flatten  and  deaden  us ;  as  if  they  were  of 
the  nature  of  charms,  which,  if  they  could  be  come  at,  though 

*  '  Si  quis  dixerit,  sacramenta  novae  legis  non  continere  gratiam,  quam  signifi- 
cant, aut  gJatiam  ipsam  non  ponentibus  obicem  non  conferre,  quasi  signa  tantuit 
externa  sint,  acceptae  per  fidem  gratiae,  vel  justitiae,  et  notae  quidam  Christianas 
profcssionis,  quibus  apud  homines  discernuntur  fideles  ab  infidelibus :  Anathema  sit. 

'  Si  quis  dixerit,  per  ipsa  novae  legis  sacramenta  ex  opere  operato  non  conferri 
gratiam,  sed  solam  fidem  divinae  promissionis  ad  gratiam  consequendam  suflicere 
Anathema  sit.'    Cone.  Trident,  canon,  et  rfecrel.  Settio  viii.  Can.  vi.  et  viii. — [Ed. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


165 


with  ever  so  slight  a  preparation,  would  make  up  all  defects.  ART. 
The  doctrine  of  sacramental  justification  is  justly  to  he  reckoned  _■ 
among  the  most  mischievous  of  all  those  practical  errors  that 
are  in  the  church  of  Rome.*  Since,  therefore,  this  is  no  where 
mentioned  in  all  these  large  discourses  that  are  in  the  New 
Testament  concerning  justification,  we  have  just  reason  to 
reject  it :  since  also  the  natural  consequence  of  this  doctrine 
is  to  make  men  rest  contented  in  low  imperfect  acts,  when 
they  can  he  so  easily  made  up  by  a  sacrament,  we  have  just 
reason  to  detest  it,  as  one  of  the  depths  of  Satan ;  the  ten- 
dencv  of  it  being  to  make  those  ordinances  of  the  gospel, 
which  were  given  us  as  means  to  raise  and  heighten  our  u  ith 

*  It  is  of  vital  importance  that  the  doctrine  of  the  church  of  Rome  respecting 
the  justification  of  a  sinner  should  be  well  understood ;  for  this  is,  after  all,  the 
grand  distinguishing  difference  between  us  and  the  papacy.  Unacquaintance  with 
this  article  has  led  many  to  charge  upon  the  papa!  church  w  hat  she  does  not  receive, 
while  it  has  deprived  them  of  the  opportunity  and  power  of  attacking  her  system 
where  it  is  most  vulnerable ;  thereby  giving  to  the  adversary  an  easy  triumph,  and 
to  true  religion  a  severe  blow.  It  will  not,  therefore,  be  deemed  out  of  place  to  here 
paint  out,  in  the  words  of  the  great  Hooker,  how  far  we  agree,  and  wherein  we  differ 
f  rom,  and  protest  against  the  church  of  Rome,  in  this  momentous  question  :  '  There  is 
a  glorifying  righteousness  of  men  in  the  world  to  come  :  as  uiere  is  a  justifying  and 
sanctifying  righteousness  here.  The  righteousness  wherewith  we  shall  be  clothed  in 
the  world  to  come,  is  both  perfect  and  inherent.  That  whereby  here  we  are  justified 
is  perfect ;  but  not  inherent.  That  whereby  we  are  sanctified  is  inherent,  but  not  per- 
fect. This  openeth  a  way  to  the  understanding  of  that  grand  question,  which  hangeth 
yet  in  controversy  between  us  and  the  church  of  Rome,  about  the  matter  of  justifying 
righteousness.  First,  although  they  imagine,  that  the  mother  of  our  Lord  and 
Sjviour  Jesus  Christ  were,  for  his  honour,  and  by  his  special  protection,  preserved 
clean  from  all  sin :  yet  touching  the  rest,  they  teach  as  we  do,  that  infants  that 
never  did  actually  offend,  have  their  natures  defiled,  destitute  of  justice,  averted 
from  God  ;  that  in  making  man  righteous,  none  do  efficiently  work  with  God,  but 
God.  They  teach  as  we  do,  that  unto  justice  no  man  ever  attained,  but  by  the 
merits  of  Jesus  Christ.  They  teach  as  we  do,  that  although  Christ,  as  God,  be  the 
efficient ;  as  man,  the  meritorious  cause  of  our  justice  :  yet  in  us  also  there  is  some- 
thing required.  God  is  the  cause  of  our  natural  life,  in  him  we  live  :  but  he 
quickeneth  not  the  body  without  the  soul  in  the  body.  Christ  hath  merited  to 
make  us  just :  but,  as  a  medicine,  which  is  made  for  health,  doth  not  heal  by  being 
made,  but  by  being  applied,  so,  by  the  merits  of  Christ  there  can  be  no  justification, 
without  the  application  of  his  merit.  Thus  far  we  join  hands  with  the  church  of 
Rome. 

'  Wherein  then  do  we  disagree  ?  We  disagree  about  the  nature  and  essence  of  the 
medicine,  whereby  Christ  cureth  our  disease ;  about  the  manner  of  applying  it ;  about 
the  number  and  the  power  of  means,  which  God  requireth  in  us  for  the  effectual 
applying  thereof  to  our  souls'  comfort.  When  they  are  required  to  shew  what  the 
righteousness  is  whereby  a  Christian  man  is  justified  :  they  answer,  that  it  is  a  divine 
spiritual  quality  ;  which  quality,  received  into  the  soul,  doth  first  make  it  to  be  one  of 
them,  who  aie  born  of  God:  and  secondly,  endue  it  with  power  to  bring  forth  such 
works,  as  they  do  that  are  born  of  him ;  even  as  the  soul  of  man  being  joined  to  his 
body  doth  first  make  him  to  be  of  the  number  of  reasonable  creatures ;  and  secondly, 
enable  him  to  perform  the  natural  functions  which  are  proper  to  his  kind ;  that  it 
maketh  the  soul  amiable  and  gracious  in  the  sight  of  God,  in  regard  whereof  it  is 
termed  grace  ;  that  it  purgeth,  puritieth,  and  washeth  out  all  the  stains  and  pollutions 
of  sins;  that  by  it,  through  the  merit  of  Christ,  we  are  delivered  as  from  sin,  so  from 
eternal  death  and  condemnation,  the  reward  of  sin.  This  grace  thev  will  have  to  be 
applied  by  infusion  ;  to  the  end,  that  as  the  body  is  warm  by  the  heat  which  is  in  the 
body,  so  the  soul  might  be  righteous  by  inherent  grace  :  which  grace  they  make  ca- 
pable  of  increase ;  as  the  body  may  be  more  and  more  warm,  so  the  soul  more  and 
more  justified,  according  as  grace  should  be  augmented  ;  the  augmentation  whereof 
is  merited  by  good  works,  as  good  w  oiks  are  made  meritorious  by  it.  Wherefore  the 
first  receipt  of  grace  in  their  divinity  is,  the  first  justification  ;  the  increase  thereof. 


166 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   and  repentance,  become  engines  to  encourage  sloth  and  im- 

XI-  penitence. 

There  is  another  doctrine  that  is  held  by  many,  and  is  still 
taught  in  the  church  of  Rome,  not  only  with  approbation,  but 
favour ;  that  the  inherent  holiness  of  good  men  is  a  thing  of 
its  own  nature  so  perfect,  that,  upon  the  account  of  it,  God  is 
so  bound  to  esteem  them  just,  and  to  justify  them,  that  he 
were  unjust  if  he  did  it  not.  They  think  there  is  such  a  real 
condignity  in  it,  that  it  makes  men  God's  adopted  children. 
Whereas  we,  on  the  other  hand,  teach,  that  God  is  indeed 
pleased  with  the  inward  reformation  that  he  sees  in  good  men, 
in  whom  his  grace  dwells ;  that  he  approves  and  accepts  of 

the  second  justification.  As  grace  maybe  increased  by  the  merit  of  good  works  :  so 
it  mav  be  diminished  by  the  demerit  of  sins  venial — it  may  be  lost  by  mortal  sin. 
In  as  much,  therefore,  as  it  is  needful  in  the  one  case  to  repair,  in  the  other  to  recover, 
the  loss  which  is  made  :  the  infusion  of  grace  hath  her  sundry  after-meals ;  for  the 
which  cause,  they  make  many  ways  to  apply  the  infusion  of  grace.  It  is  applied  to 
infants,  through  baptism,  without  either  faith  or  works,  and  in  them  really  it  taketh 
away  original  sin,  and  the  punishment  due  unto  it;  it  is  applied  to  infidels  and 
wicked  men  in  the  first  justification,  through  baptism  without  works,  yet  not  with- 
fut  faith:  and  it  taketh  away  both  sins  actual  and  original  together,  with  all  what- 
soever punishment,  eternal  or  temporal,  thereby  deserved.  Unto  such  as  have 
attained  the  first  justification,  that  is  to  say  the  first  receipt  of  grace,  it  is  applied 
farther  by  good  worKS  to  the  increase  of  former  grace,  which  is  the  second  justifi- 
cation. If  thev  work  more  and  more,  grace  doth  more  increase,  and  they  are  more 
and  more  justified.  To  such  as  diminished  it  by  venial  sins,  it  is  applied  by  holy 
water,  Ave  Mary's,  crossings,  pupal  salutations,  and  such  like,  which  serve  for  re- 
parations  of  grace  decayed.  To  such  as  have  lost  it  through  mortal  sin,  it  is 
applied  by  the  sacrament  (as  they  term  it)  of  penance  :  which  sacrament  hath  force 
to  confer  grace  anew,  yet  in  such  sort,  that  being  so  conferred,  it  hath  not  alto- 
gether so  much  power,  as  at  the  first  ;  for  it  only  cleanseth  out  the  stain  or  guilt 
of  sin  committed,  and  changeth  the  punishment  eternal  into  a  temporary  satisfactory 
punishment  here,  if  time  do  serve  ;  if  not,  hereafter  to  be  endured,  except  it  be 
lightened  by  masses,  works  of  charity,  pilgrimages,  fasts,  and  such  like ;  or  else 
shortened  by  pardon  for  term,  or  by  plenary  pardon  quite  removed  and  taken 
sway.  This  is  the  mystery  of  the  man  of  sin.  This  maze  the  church  of  Rome 
doth  cause  her  followers  to  tread  when  they  ask  her  the  way  to  justification. 

'  Whether  they  speak  of  the  first  or  second  justification,  they  make  it  the  essence 
of  a  divine  quality  inherent,  they  make  it  righteousness  which  is  in  us.  If  it  be 
in  us  then  it  is  ours, as  our  souls  are  ours  though  we  have  them  from  God,  and  can 
hold  them  no  longer  than  pleaseth  Him  ;  for  if  he  withdraw  the  breath  of  our 
nostrils,  we  fall  to  dust :  but  the  righteousness  wherein  we  must  be  found,  if  we 
will  be  justified,  is  not  our  own  ;  therefore  we  cannot  be  justified  by  any  inherent 
quality.  Christ  hath  merited  righteousness  for  as  many  as  are  found  in  him.  In 
him  God  findeth  us  if  we  be  faithful,  for  by  faith  we  are  incorporated  into  Christ. 
Then  although  in  ourselves  we  be  altogether  sinful  and  unrighteous,  yet  even  the 
man  which  is  impious  in  himself,  full  of  iniquity,  full  of  sin  ;  him  being  found  in 
Christ  through  faith,  and  having  his  sin  remitted  through  repentance  ;  him  God 
upholdeth  with  a  gracious  eye,  putteth  away  his  sin  by  not  imputing  it,  taketh 
quite  away  the  punishment  due  thereunto,  by  pardoning  it,  and  accepteth  him  in 
Jesus  Christ,  as  perfectly  righteous,  as  if  he  had  fulfilled  all  that  was  commanded 
him  in  the  law  :  shall  I  say  more  perfectly  righteous  than  if  himself  had  fulfilled 
the  whole  law  ?  I  must  take  heed  what  I  say :  but  the  apostle  saith,  "  God  made 
him  to  be  sin  for  us,  who  knew  no  sin  :  that  we  might  be  made  the  righteousness 
of  God  in  him."  Such  we  are  in  the  sight  of  God  the  Father,  as  is  the  very  Son 
of  God  himself.  Let  it  be  counted  folly,  or  frenzy,  or  fury,  whatsoever;  it  is  our 
comfort,  and  our  wisdom  ;  we  care  for  no  knowledge  in  the  world  but  this,  that 
man  hath  sinned,  and  God  has  suffered ;  that  God  hath  made  himself  the  Son  of 
Man,  and  that  men  are  made  the  righteousness  of  God.  You  see  therefore  that 
t  i  ■  church  of  Rome,  in  teaching  justification  by  inherent  grace,  doth  pervert  the 
truth  of  Christ,  and  that,  by  the  hands  of  the  Apostles,  we  have  received  other, 
wise  than  she  teacheth.' — [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


167 


their  sincerity;  but  that  with  this  there  is  still  such  a  mix-  ART. 
ture,  and  in  this  there  is  still  so  much  imperfection,  that  even  x'- 
upon  this  account,  if  God  did  straitly  mark  iniquity,  none 
could  stand  before  him  :  so  that  even  his  acceptance  of  this  is 
an  act  of  mercy  and  grace.    This  doctrine  was  commonly 
taught  in  the  church  of  Rome  at  the  time  of  the  Reformation, 
and,  together  with  it,  they  reckoned  that  the  chief  of  those 
works  that  did  justify,  were  either  great  or  rich  endowments, 
or  excessive  devotions  towards  images,  saints,  and  relics  ;  by 
all  which,  Christ  was  either  forgot  quite,  or  remembered  only 
for  form  sake,  esteemed  perhaps  as  the  chief  of  saints :  not  to 
mention  the  impious  comparisons  that  were  made  between  him 
and  some  saints,  and  the  preferences  that  were  given  to  them 
beyond  him.    In  opposition  to  all  this,  the  reformers  began, 
as  they  ought  to  have  done,  at  the  laying  down  this  as  the 
foundation  of  all  Christianity,  and  of  all  our  hopes,  that  we 
were  reconciled  to  God  merely  through  his  mercy,  by  the 
redemption  purchased  by  Jesus  Christ ;  and  that  a  firm  be- 
lieving the  gospel,  and  a  claiming  to  the  death  of  Christ,  as 
the  great  propitiation  for  our  sins,  according  to  the  terms  on 
which  it  is  offered  us  in  the  gospel,  was  that  which  united  us 
to  Christ ;  that  gave  us  an  interest  in  his  death,  and  thereby 
justified  us.    If,  in  the  management  of  this  controversy,  there 
was  not  so  critical  a  judgment  made  of  the  scope  of  several 
passages  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles ;  and  if  the  dispute  became 
afterwards  too  abstracted  and  metaphysical,  that  was  the  effect 
of  the  infelicity  of  that  time,  and  was  the  natural  consequence 
of  much  disputing :  therefore  though  we  do  not  now  stand  to 
all  the  arguments,  and  to  all  the  citations  and  illustrations, 
used  by  them ;  and  though  we  do  not  deny  but  that  many  of 
the  writers  of  the  church  of  Rome  came  insensibly  off  from 
the  most  practical  errors,  that  had  been  formerly  much  taught, 
and  more  practised,  among  them ;  and  that  this  matter  was  so 
stated  by  many  of  them,  that,  as  to  the  main  of  it,  we  have  no 
just  exceptions  to  it :  yet,  after  all,  this  beginning  of  the  Re- 
formation was  a  great  blessing  to  the  world,  and  has  proved 
so,  even  to  the  church  of  Rome ;  by  bringing  her  to  a  juster 
sense  of  the  atonement  made  for  sins  by  the  blood  of  Christ ; 
and  by  taking  men  off  from  external  actions,  and  turning  them 
to  consider  the  inward  acts  of  the  mind,  faith  and  repentance, 
as  the  conditions  of  our  justification.    And  therefore  the  ap- 
probation given  here  to  the  homily,  is  only  an  approbation 
of  the  doctrine  asserted  and  proved  in  it ;  which  ought  not  to 
be  carried  to  every  particular  of  the  proofs  or  explanations  that 
are  in  it.    To  he  justified,  and  to  be  accounted  righteous,  stand 
for  one  and  the  same  thing  in  the  Article :  and  both  import 
our  being  delivered  from  the  guilt  of  sin,  and  entitled  to  the 
favour  of  God.    These  differ  from  God's  intending  from  all 
eternity  to  save  us,  as  much  as  a  decree  differs  from  the  execu- 
tion of  it. 


168 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  A  man  is  then  only  justified,  when  he  is  freed  from  wrath, 
XI-  and  is  at  peace  with  God :  and  though  this  is  freely  offered  to 
us  in  the  gospel  through  Jesus  Christ,  yet  it  is  applied  to 
none  but  to  such  as  come  within  those  qualifications  and  con- 
ditions set  before  us  in  the  gospel.  That  God  pardons  sin, 
and  receives  us  into  favour  only  through  the  death  of  Christ, 
is  so  fully  expressed  in  the  gospel,  as  was  already  made  out 
upon  the  second  Article,  that  it  is  not  possible  to  doubt  of  it, 
if  one  does  firmly  believe,  and  attentively  read,  the  New  Tes- 
tament. Nor  is  it  less  evident,  that  it  is  not  offered  to  us 
Gal.  v.  6.  absolutely,  and  without  conditions  and  limitations.  These 
l.uke  xxiv.  conditions  are,  repentance,  with  which  remission  of  sins  is  often 
Acts  ii.  38.  joined ;  and  faith,  but  a  'faith  that  worketh  by  love,  that 
purities  the  heart,  and  that  keeps  the  commandments  of  God 
such  a  faith  as  shews  itself  to  be  alive  by  good  works,  bv  acts 
of  charity,  and  every  act  of  obedience ;  by  which  we  demon- 
strate, that  we  truly  and  firmly  believe  the  divine  authority 
of  our  Saviour  and  his  doctrine.  Such  a  faith  as  this  justifies, 
but  not  as  it  is  a  work  or  meritorious  action,  that  of  its  own 
nature  puts  us  in  the  favour  of  God,  and  makes  us  truly  just ; 
but  as  it  is  the  condition  upon  which  the  mercy  of  God  is 
offered  to  us  by  Christ  Jesus ;  for  then  we  correspond  to  his 
Tit.  ii.  14.  design  of  coming  into  the  world,  that  e  he  might  redeem  us 
from  all  iniquity,'  that  is,  justify  us :  and  '  purify  unto  himself 
a  peculiar  people,  zealous  of  good  works ;'  that  is,  sanctify  us. 
Upon  our  bringing  ourselves  therefore  under  these  qualifica- 
tions and  conditions,  we  are  actually  in  the  favour  of  God ; 
our  sins  are  pardoned,  and  we  are  entitled  to  eternal  fife. 

Our  faith  and  repentance  are  not  the  valuable  considera- 
tions for  which  God  pardons  and  justifies  ;  that  is  done  merely 
for  the  death  of  Christ ;  which  God  having  out  of  the  riches 
of  his  grace  provided  for  us,  and  offered  to  us,  justification  is 
upon  those  accounts  said  to  be  free ;  there  being  nothing  on 
our  part  which  either  did  or  could  have  procured  it.  But  still 
our  faith,  which  includes  our  hope,  our  love,  our  repentance, 
and  our  obedience,  is  the  condition  that  makes  us  capable  of 
receiving  the  benefits  of  this  redemption  and  free  grace.  And 
thus  it  is  clear,  in  what  sense  we  believe,  that  we  are  justified 
both  freely,  and  yet  through  Christ;  and  also  through  faith, 
as  the  condition  indispensably  necessary  on  our  part. 

In  strictness  of  words,  we  are  not  justified  till  the  final 
sentence  is  pronounced ;  till  upon  our  death  we  are  solemnly 
acquitted  of  our  sins,  and  admitted  into  the  presence  of  God ; 
this  being  that  which  is  opposite  to  condemnation :  yet  as  a 
man,  who  is  in  that  state  that  must  end  in  condemnation,  is 
John  iii.18.  said  to  be  condemned  already,  and  the  wrath  of  God  is  said 
to  abide  upon  him ;  though  he  be  not  yet  adjudged  to  it :  so, 
on  the  contrary,  a  man  in  that  state  which  must  erd  in  the 
full  enjoyment  of  God,  is  said  now  to  be  justified,  and  to  be 
at  peace  with  God ;  because  he  not  only  has  the  promises  of 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


169 


that  state  now  belonging  to  him,  when  lie  does  perform  the   A  U  T. 
conditions  required  in  them;  but  is  likewise  receiving  daily  **• 
marks  of  God's  favour,  the  protection  of  his  providence,  ~ 
the  ministry  of  angels,  and  the  inward  assistances  of  his  grace 
and  Spirit. 

This  is  a  doctrine  full  of  comfort ;  for  if  we  did  believe  that 
our  justification  was  founded  upon  our  inherent  justice,  or 
sanctification,  as  the  consideration  on  which  we  receive  it,  we 
should  have  just  cause  of  fear  and  dejection ;  since  we  could 
not  reasonably  promise  ourselves  so  great  a  blessing,  upon  so 
poor  a  consideration :  but  when  we  know  that  this  is  only  the 
condition  of  it,  then  when  we  feel  it  is  sincerely  received  and 
believed,  and  carefully  observed  by  us,  we  may  conclude  that 
we  are  justified :  but  we  are  by  no  means  to  think,  that  our 
certain  persuasion  of  Christ's  having  died  for  us  in  particular, 
or  the  certainty  of  our  salvation  through  him,  is  an  act  of 
saving  faith,  much  less  that  we  are  justified  by  it.  Many 
things  have  been  too  crudely  said  upon  this  subject,  which 
have  given  the  enemies  of  the  Reformation  great  advantages, 
and  have  furnished  them  with  much  matter  of  reproach.  We 
ought  to  believe  firmly,  that  Christ  died  for  all  penitent  and 
converted  sinners ;  and  when  we  feel  these  characters  in  our- 
selves, we  may  from  thence  justly  infer,  that  he  died  for  us, 
and  that  we  are  of  the  number  of  those  who  shall  be  saved 
through  him :  but  yet  if  we  may  fall  from  this  state,  in  which 
we  do  now  feel  ourselves,  we  may  and  must  likewise  forfeit 
those  hopes ;  and  therefore  we  must  '  work  out  our  salvation 
with  fear  and  trembling.'  Our  believing  that  we  shall  be 
saved  by  Christ,  is  no  act  of  divine  faith  ;  since  every  act  of 
faith  must  be  founded  on  some  divine  revelation :  it  is  only  a 
collection  and  inference  that  we  may  make  from  this  general 
proposition,  that  Christ  is  the  propitiation  for  the  sins  of  those 
who  do  truly  repent  and  believe  his  gospel ;  and  from  those 
reflections  and  observations  that  we  make  on  ourselves,  by 
which  we  conclude  that  we  do  truly  both  repent  and  believe. 


170 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART. 
XII. 


ARTICLE  XII. 

Of  Good  Works. 

Qlbcit  that  (hoots  Storks,  toljich  are  tfie  fruits  of  dftuty,  ano* 
follou)  after  ^Justification,  cannot  put  atoag  our  &in&,  ant! 
cntiure  the  Scberttn  of  (Sotf'S  Shrtjgmcnt :  vet  art  t\)tv  pleasing 
ant)  accfptablc  to  &ots  in  Christ,  antJ  io  Spring  out  nercS* 
Sarilo  of  a  true  antl  libclp  dfaitlj,  inSomucf)  tljat  by  tljem  a 
Itbeli)  dfaith  mai>  be  as  ebtUentlj)  fenoton,  as  a  GTree  HtSeerneU 
bt>  the  fruit. 

That  good  works  are  indispensably  necessary  to  salvation ; 
that '  without  holiness  no  man  shall  see  the  Lord  f  is  so  fully 
and  frequently  expressed  in  the  gospel,  that  no  doubt  can  be 
made  of  it  by  any  who  reads  it :  and  indeed  a  greater  dispa- 
ragement to  the  Christian  religion  cannot  be  imagined,  than 
to  propose  the  hopes  of  God's  mercy  and  pardon  barely  upon 
believing  without  a  life  suitable  to  the  rules  it  gives  us.  This 
began  early  to  corrupt  the  theories  of  religion,  as  it  still  has 
but  too  great  an  influence  upon  the  practice  of  it.  What  St. 
James  writ  upon  this  subject  must  put  an  end  to  all  doubting 
about  it ;  and  whatever  subtilties  some  may  have  set  up,  to 
separate  the  consideration  of  faith  from  a  holy  life,  in  the  point 
of  justification ;  yet  none  among  us  have  denied  that  it  was 
absolutely  necessary  to  salvation :  and  so  it  be  owned  as  ne- 
cessary, it  is  a  nice  curiosity  to  examine  whether  it  is  of  itself 
a  condition  of  justification,  or  if  it  is  the  certain  distinction 
and  constant  effect  of  that  faith  which  justifies.  These  are 
speculations  of  very  little  consequence,  as  long  as  the  main 
point  is  still  maintained;  that  Christ  came  to  bring  us  to  God, 
to  change  our  natures,  to  mortify  the  old  man  in  us,  and  to 
raise  up  and  restore  that  image  of  God,  from  which  we  had 
fallen  by  sin.  And  therefore  even  where  the  thread  of  men's 
speculations  of  these  matters  may  be  thought  too  fine,  and 
in  some  points  of  them  wrong  drawn ;  yet  so  long  as  this 
2  Tim.  ii.  foundation  is  preserved,  '  that  every  one  who  nameth  the 
19.  name  of  Christ  does  depart  from  iniquity,'  so  long  the  doc- 
trine of  Christ  is  preserved  pure  in  this  capital  and  funda- 
mental point. 

There  do  arise  out  of  this  Article  only  two  points,  about 
which  some  debates  have  been  made.  1  st.  Whether  the  good 
works  of  holy  men  are  in  themselves  so  perfect,  that  they  can 
endure  the  severity  of  God's  judgment,  so  that  there  is  no 
mixture  of  imperfection  or  evil  in  them,  or  not?  The  council 
of  Trent  has  decreed,  that  men  by  their  good  works  have  so 
fully  satisfied  the  law  of  God,  according  to  the  state  of  this 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


171 


life,  that  nothing  is  wanting  to  them.*    The  second  point  is,  ART. 
whether  these  good  works  are  of  their  own  nature  meritorious  XI1- 
of  eternal  life,  or  not  ?  The  council  of  Trent  has  decreed  that  _ 
they  are :  yet  a  long  softening  is  added  to  the  decree,  import- 
ing, That  none  ought  to  glory  in  himself;,  but  in  the  Lord; 
whose  goodness  is  such,  that  he  makes  his  own  gifts  to  us,  to 
he  merits  in  us :  and  it  adds,  That  because  in  many  things  we 
offend  all,  every  one  ought  to  consider  the  justice  and  severity, 
as  well  as  the  mercy  and  goodness,  of  God ;  and  not  to  judge 
himself,  even  though  he  should  know  nothing  by  himself  So 
then  that  in  which  all  are  agreed  about  this  matter,  is,  1.  That 
our  works  cannot  be  good  or  acceptable  to  God  but  as  we  are 
assisted  by  his  grace  and  Spirit  to  do  them  :  so  that  the  real 
goodness  that  is  in  them  flows  from  those  assistances  which 
enable  us  to  do  them.    2.  That  God  does  certainly  reward 
good  works :  he  has  promised  it,  and  '  he  is  faithful,  and  can- 
not lie ;  nor  is  he  unrighteous  to  forget  our  labour  of  love.' 
So  the  favour  of  God  and  eternal  happiness  is  the  reward  of 
good  works.    Mention  is  also  made  of  £a  full  reward,  of  the  j\jatt.  x. 
reward  of  a  righteous  man,  and  of  a  prophet's  reward.'  3.  That  41,  42. 
this  reward  is  promised  in  the  gospel,  and  could  not  be  claimed 
without  that,  by  any  antecedent  merit  founded  upon  equality : 
*  Since,  our  light  affliction,  which  is  but  for  a  moment,  worketh  2  Cor.  iv 
for  us  a  far  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory.'  17- 

The  points  in  which  we  differ  are,  1.  Whether  the  good 
works  of  holy  men  are  so  perfect,  that  there  is  no  defect  in 

*  '  Nihil  ipsis  justificatis  amplius  deesse  credendum  est,  quominus  plene  illis  qui- 
dem  operibus,  quae  in  Deo  sunt  facta,  divinae  legi  pro  hujus  vitae  statu  satisfecisse, 
et  vitam  aetemam  suo  etiam  tempore,  si  tamen  in  gratia  decesserint  consequendam, 
vere  promeruisse  censeantur.' — Sessio  vi.  cap.  xvi. 

'  Si  quis  dixerit  justitiam  acceptam  non  conservari,  atque  etiam  augeri  coram  Deo 
per  bona  opera ;  sed  opera  ipsa  fructus  solummodo  et  signa  esse  justificationis 
adepts,  non  autem  ipsius  augendae  causam  :  anathema  sit. — Can.  xxiv.  Stss.  vi. 

'  Si  quis  dixerit,  hominis  justificati  bona  opera  ita  esse  dona  Dei,  ut  non  sint  etiam 
bona  ipsius  justificati  merita,  aut,  ipsum  justificatum  bonis  operibus,  quae  ab  eo  per 
Dei  gratiam,  et  Jesu  Christi  meritum,  cujus  vivum  membrum  est,  fiunt,  non  vere 
mereri  augmentum  gratiae,  vitam  aetemam,  et  ipsius  vitae  aeternae,  si  tamen  in  gratia 
decesserit,  consecutionem,  atque  etiam  gloriae  augmentum:  anathema  sit.' — Can. 
xxxii.  Sets.  vi. 

'  Turn  thee  yet  again,  and  thou  shalt  see  greater  abominations  that  they  do.'  The 
following,  from  the  same  infallible  source  of  truth,  will  shew  that  good  works  not  only 
deserve  increase  of  grace  and  eternal  life,  but  that  by  them  we  can  make  satisfac- 
tion to  God  the  Father  ;  and,  wonderful  to  relate,  not  only  satisfaction  for  oneself, 
but  actually  for  another  ! ! 

'  Docet  praeterea,  tautam  esse  divinae  munificentiae  largitatem,  ut  non  solum 
poenis  sponte  a  nobis  pro  vindicando  peccato  susceptis,  aut  sacerdotU  arbitrio  pro 
mensura  delicti  impositis,  sed  etiam,  quod  maximum  amoris  argumentum  est,  tem- 
poralibus  flagellis  a  Deo  inflictis,  et  a  nobis  patienter  toleratis,  apud  Deum  Patrem 
per  Christum  Jesum  satisfacere  voleamus. ,— Sessio  xiv.  cap.  ix. 

'  In  eo  vero  summa  Dei  bonitas,  et  dementia  maximis  laudibus,  et  gratiarum 
actionibus  praedicanda  est,  qui  humanae  imbecillitati  hoc  condonavit,  ut  nnus  posset 
pro  altero  satisfacere,  quod  qmdem  hujus  partis  Pcenitentiae  maxime  proprie  est :  ut 
enim,  quod  ad  contritionem,  et  confessionem  attinet,  nemo  pro  altero  dolere,  aut 
confiteri  potest ;  ita,  qui  divina  gratia  praediti  sunt,  alterius  nomine  possunt,  quod 
Deo  debetur,  persolvere ;  quare  fit,  ut  quodam  pacto  alter  alterius  onera  portare 

vidcatur.'    Catechis.  ex  decreto  Concil.  Trident,  ud  Paroch.  De  Pacnitentia  Qute 

ad  veram  tatist  actionem  -equirantur*-  -[Ed.] 


172 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  them ;  or  whether  there  is  still  some  such  defect  mixed  with 
them,  that  there  is  occasion  for  mercy,  to  pardon  somewhat 
even  in  good  men  ?  Those  of  the  church  of  Rome  think  that 
a  work  cannot  he  called  good,  if  it  is  not  entirely  good;  and 
that  nothing  can  please  God  in  which  there  is  a  mixture  of 
sin.  Whereas  we,  according  to  the  Article,  believe  that  human 
nature  is  so  weak  and  so  degenerated,  that  as  far  as  our  natural 
powers  concur  in  any  action,  there  is  still  some  allay  in  it :  and 
that  a  good  roork  is  considered  by  God  according  to  the  main, 
both  of  the  action  and  of  the  intention  of  him  that  does  it ; 
and  as  a  father  pities  his  childsen,  so  God  passes  over  the  de- 
fects of  those  who  serve  him  sincerely,  though  not  perfectly. 
Gen.  vi.  5.  '  The  imaginations  of  the  heart  of  man  are  only  evil  conti- 
Ph™  '13  nua^  :  *n  many  tnmgs  we  offend  all,'  says  St.  James:  and 
)4' '"'  '  St.  Paul  reckons  that  'he  had  not  yet  apprehended,  but  was 
forgetting  the  things  behind,  and  reaching  to  those  before,  and 
still  pressing  forward.' 

We  see,  in  fact,  that  the  best  men  in  all  ages  have  been  com- 
plaining and  humbling  themselves  even  for  the  sins  of  their 
holy  things,  for  their  vanity  and  desire  of  glory,  for  the  dis- 
traction of  their  thoughts  in  devotion,  and  for  the  affection 
which  they  bore  to  earthly  things.    It  were  a  doctrine  of  great 
cruelty,  which  might  drive  men  to  despair,  if  they  thought  that 
no  action  could  please  God,  in  which  they  were  conscious  to 
themselves  of  some  imperfection  or  sin.    The  midwives  of 
Egypt  feared  God,  yet  they  excused  themselves  by  a  lie :  but 
God  accepted  of  what  was  good,  and  passed  over  what  was 
E»od.i.2l.  amiss  in  them,  and  '  built  them  houses.'    St.  Austin  urges  this 
frequently,  that  our  Saviour,  in  teaching  us  to  pray,  has  made 
this  a  standing  petition,  '  Forgive  us  our  trespasses,'  as  well 
as  that,  '  Give  us  this  day  our  daily  bread ;'  for  we  sin  daily, 
and  do  always  need  a  pardon.    Upon  these  reasons  we  con- 
clude, that  somewhat  of  the  man  enters  into  all  that  men  do : 
we  are  made  up  of  infirmities,  and  we  need  the  intercession  of 
Christ  to  make  our  best  actions  to  be  accepted  of  by  God  :  for 
Psal.cxxx. '  if  he  should  straitly  mark  iniquity,  who  can  stand  before  him  ? 
3.  4-       but  mercy  is  with  him,  and  forgiveness.'    So  that  with  Heze- 
2Chr.xxx.  kiah  we  ought  to  pray,  that  '  though  we  are  not  purified  ac- 
18, 19.     cording  to  the  purification  of  the  sanctuary,  yet  the  good  Lord 
would  pardon  every  one  that  prepareth  his  heart  to  seek  God.' 

The  second  question  arises  out  of  this,  concerning  the  merit 
of  good  works  ;  for  upon  the  supposition  of  their  being  com- 
pletely good,  that  merit  is  founded  ;  which  will  be  acknow- 
ledged to  be  none  at  all,  if  it  is  believed  that  there  are  such 
defects  in  them,  that  they  need  a  pardon ;  since  where  there 
is  guilt,  there  can  be  no  pretension  to  merit.  The  word  merit 
has  also  a  sound  that  is  so  daring,  so  little  suitable  to  the  humi- 
lity of  a  creature,  to  be  used  towards  a  Being  of  infinite  ma- 
jesty, and  with  relation  to  endless  rewards,  that  though  we  do 
not  deny  but  that  a  sense  is  given  to  it  by  many  of  the  church 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


1/3 


of  Rome,  to  which  no  just  exception  can  be  made,  yet  there  ART. 
seems  to  be  somewhat  too  bold  in  it,  especially  when  condig-  /XH,_ 
nity  is  added  to  it :  and  since  this  may  naturally  give  us  an 
idea  of  a  buying  and  selling  with  God,  and  that  there  has  been 
a  great  deal  of  this  put  in  practice,  it  is  certain  that  on  many 
respects  this  word  ought  not  to  be  made  use  of.  There  is 
somewhat  in  the  nature  of  man  apt  to  swell  and  to  raise  itself 
out  of  measure,  and  to  that  no  indulgence  ought  to  be  given, 
in  words  that  may  flatter  it ;  for  we  ought  to  subdue  this  tem- 
per by  all  means  possible,  both  in  ourselves  and  others.  On 
the  other  hand,  though  we  confess  that  there  is  a  disorder  and 
weakness  that  hangs  heavy  upon  us,  and  that  sticks  close  to 
us,  yet  this  ought  not  to  make  us  indulge  ourselves  in  our 
sins,  as  if  they  were  the  effects  of  an  infirmity  that  is  insepa- 
rable from  us.  To  consent  to  any  sin,  if  it  were  ever  so  smail 
in  itself,  is  a  very  great  sin :  we  ought  to  go  on,  still  i  cleans- 
ing ourselves'  more  and  more,  'from  all  filthiness  both  of  2  Cor.  vis. 
the  flesh  and  of  the  spirit,  and  perfecting  holiness  in  the  fear 
of  God.'  Our  readiness  to  sin  should  awaken  both  our  dili- 
gence to  watch  against  it,  and  our  humility  under  it.  For 
though  we  grow  not  up  to  a  pitch  of  being  above  all  sin,  and 
of  absolute  perfection,  yet  there  are  many  degrees  both  of 
purity  and  perfection,  to  which  we  may  arrive,  and  to  which 
we  must  constantly  aspire.  So  that  we  must  keep  a  just 
temper  in  this  matter,  neither  to  ascribe  so  much  to  our  own 
works  as  to  be  lifted  up  by  reason  of  them,  or  to  forget  our 
daily  need  of  a  Saviour  both  for  pardon  and  intercession ;  nor 
on  the  other  hand  so  far  to  neglect  them,  as  to  take  no  care 
about  them.  The  due  temper  is  'to  make  our  calling  and  Pbfl.ii.12> 
election  sure,  and  to  work  out  our  own  salvation  with  fear  and 
trembling;'  but  to  do  'all  in  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus/ Col. iii.  17. 
ever  trusting  to  him,  and  '  giving  thanks  to  God  by  him.' 


174 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  RT. 
Mil. 


ARTICLE  XIII. 

Of  Works  before  Justification. 

SSKorftS  Hons  before  the  ©race  of  Christ,  nnts  the  Inspiration  of  his 
Spirit,  are  not  pleasant  to  €>oti ;  forasmuch  as  they  Spring  not 
of  dTatti)  in  SicSuS  Christ,  neither  "Do  then  make  men  meet  to 
reretbe  ©race,  or  (as  the  ^ri)ooU!HuthorS  Saw)  ieSerbe  ©race  of 
Congruity:  f)ca  rather,  for  that  thci>  are  not  oonc  aS  <£>o't)  Ijath 
tommanlJerj  ant)  milled  them  to  be  ttonc,  iue  tioubt  not  but  that 
tijey  ijabe  the  nature  of  £tn. 

There  is  but  one  point  to  be  considered  in  this  Article,  which 
is,  whether  men  can,  without  any  inward  ass  stances  from  God, 
do  any  action  that  shall  be  in  all  its  circumstances  so  good, 
that  it  is  not  only  acceptable  to  God,  but  meritorious  in  his 
sight,  though  in  a  lower  degree  of  merit.  If  what  was  for- 
merly laid  down  concerning  a  corruption  that  was  spread  over 
the  whole  race  of  mankind,  and  that  had  very  much  vitiated 
their  faculties,  be  true,  then  it  will  follow  from  thence,  that 
unassisted  nature  can  do  nothing  that  is  so  good  in  itself,  that 
it  can  be  pleasant  or  meritorious  in  the  sight  of  God.  A  great 
difference  is  here  to  be  made  between  an  external  action  as  it 
is  considered  in  itself,  and  the  same  action  as  it  was  done  by 
such  a  man.  An  action  is  called  good,  from  the  morality  and 
nature  of  the  action  itself ;  so  actions  of  justice  and  charity 
are  in  themselves  good,  whatsoever  the  doer  of  them  may  be: 
but  actions  are  considered  by  God  with  relation  to  him  that 
does  them,  in  another  light ;  his  principles,  ends,  and  motives, 
with  all  the  other  circumstances  of  the  action,  come  into  this 
account ;  for  unless  all  these  be  good,  let  the  action  in  its  own 
abstracted  nature  be  ever  so  good,  it  cannot  render  the  doer 
acceptable  or  meritorious  in  the  sight  of  God. 

Another  distinction  is  also  to  be  made  between  the  methods 
of  the  goodness  and  mercy  of  God,  and  the  strictness  of  jus- 
tice :  for  if  God  had  such  regard  to  the  feigned  humiliation  of 

1  Kings  Ahab,  as  to  grant  him  and  his  family  a  reprieve  for  some  time 
xxi.29.     from  those  judgments  that  had  been  denounced  against  them 

2  Kings  x.  and  him  ;  and  if  Jehu's  executing  the  commands  of  God  upon 
30,  31.     Ahab's  family,  and  upon  the  worshippers  of  Baal,  procured 

him  the  blessing  of  a  long  continuance  of  the  kingdom  in  his 
family,  though  he  acted  in  it  with  a  bad  design,  and  retained 
still  the  old  idolatry  of  the  calves  set  up  by  Jeroboam;  then 
we  have  all  reason  to  conclude,  according  to  the  infinite  mercy 
and  goodness  of  God,  that  no  man  is  rejected  by  him,  or 
i  denied  inward  assistances,  that  is  making  the  most  ol  his  fa- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


175 


cullies,  and  doing  the  best  that  he  can ;  but  that  he  who  is  ART. 
faithful  in  his  little,  shall  be  made  ruler  over  more.   Xl11- 

The  question  is  only,  whether  such  actions  can  be  so  pure, 
as  to  be  free  from  all  sin,  and  to  merit  at  God's  hand,  as  being 
works  naturally  perfect  ?  For  that  is  the  formal  notion  of  the 
merit  of  congruity,  as  the  notion  of  the  merit  of  condignity  is 
that  the  work  is  perfect  in  the  supernatural  order. 

To  establish  the  truth  of  this  Article,  beside  what  was  said 
upon  the  head  of  original  sin,  we  ought  to  consider  what  St. 
Paul's  words  in  the  7th  of  the  Romans  do  import :  nothing 
was  urged  from  them  on  the  former  Articles,  because  there  is 
just  ground  of  doubting  whether  St.  Paul  is  there  speaking  of 
himself  in  the  state  he  was  in  when  he  writ  it,  or  whether  he 
is  personating  a  Jew,  and  speaking  of  himself  as  he  was  while 
yet  a  Jew.    But  if  the  words  are  taken  in  that  lowest  sense, 
they  prove  this,  that  an  unregenerate  man  has  in  himself  such 
a  principle  of  corruption,  that  even  a  good  and  a  holy  law 
revealed  to  him,  cannot  reform  it ;  but  that,  on  the  contrary, 
it  will  '  take  occasion  from  that  very  law  to  deceive  him,  and  Rom.  vii. 
to  slay  him.'    So  that  all  the  benefit  that  he  receives  even  n.  12,13. 
from  that  revelation  is,  that  '  sin  in  him  becomes  exceeding 
sinful ;'  as  being  done  against  such  a  degree  of  light,  by  which 
it  appears  that  he  is  e  carnal,  and  sold  under  sin ;'  and  that  Ver.  14, 
though  his  understanding  may  be  enlightened  by  the  revela- 
tion of  the  law  of  God  made  to  him,  so  that  he  has  some 
inclinations  to  obey  it,  yet  he  does  not  that  which  he  would, 
but  that  which  he  would  not :  and  though  his  mind  is  so  far 
convinced,  that  he  '  consents  to  the  law  that  it  is  good/  yet  16. 
'  he  still  does  that  which  he  would  not ;'  which  was  the  effect 
of  £  sin  that  dwelt  in  him ;'  and  from  hence  he  knew,  c  that  17, 
in  him,  that  is,  in  his  flesh,'  in  his  carnal  part,  or  carnal  state,  18, 
'  there  dwelt  no  good  thing ;  for  '  though  to  will,'  that  is,  to 
resolve  on  obeying  the  law,  '  was  present,  yet  he  found  not  a 
way  how  to  perform  that  which  was  good ;'  the  good  that  he 
wished  to  do,  that  he  did  not  ;  but  he  did  the  evil  that  he 
wished  not  to  do ;  which  he  imputed  to  the  '  sin  that  dwelt 
in  him.'    He  found  then  a  law,  a  bent  and  bias  within  him, 
that  when  he  wished,  resolved,  and  endeavoured,  to  do  good, 
'  evil  was  present  with  him,'  it  sprung  up  naturally  within  21, 
him ;  for  though  in  his  rational  powers  he  might  so  far  ap- 
prove the  law  of  God  as  to  delight  in  it ;  yet  he  found  '  an-  23, 
other  law5  arising  upon  his  mind  from  his  body,  '  which  warred 
against  the  law  of  his  mind,  and  brought  him  into  captivity  to 
the  law  of  sin  which  was  in  his  members :'  all  this  made  him 
conclude,  that  '  he  was  carnal,  and  sold  under  sin ;'  and  cry 
out,  '  O  wretched  man  that  I  am,  who  shall  deliver  me  from  24, 
the  body  of  this  death  ?'    For  this  '  he  thanks  God  through  25. 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ :'  and  he  sums  all  up  in  these  words ;  \ 
'  So  then,  with  the  mind  I  myself  serve  the  law  of  God,  but 
with  the  flesh  the  law  of  sin.' 


176 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  If  all  this  discourse  is  made  by  St.  Paul  of  himself,  when 
he  had  the  light  which  a  divinely  inspired  law  gave  him,  he 
being  educated  in  the  exactest  way  of  that  religion,  both  zea- 
lous for  the  law,  and  blameless  in  his  own  observance  of  it ; 
we  may  from  thence  conclude  how  little  reason  there  is  to 
believe  that  a  heathen,  or  indeed  an  unregenerated  man,  can 
be  better  than  he  was,  and  do  actions  that  are  both  good  in 
themselves,  which  it  is  not  denied  but  that  he  may  do ;  and 
do  them  in  such  a  manner  that  there  shall  be  no  mixture  or 
imperfection  in  them,  but  that  they  shall  be  perfect  in  a  na- 
tural order,  and  be  by  consequence  meritorious  in  a  secondary 
order. 

By  all  this  Ave  do  not  pretend  to  say,  that  a  man  in  that 
state  can  do  nothing ;  or  that  he  has  no  use  of  his  faculties  : 
he  can  certainly  restrain  himself  on  many  occasions ;  he  can 
do  many  good  works,  and  avoid  many  bad  ones ;  he  can  raise 
his  understanding  to  know  and  consider  things  according  to 
the  light  that  he  has ;  he  can  put  himself  in  good  methods 
and  good  circumstances ;  he  can  pray,  and  do  many  acts  of 
devotion,  which  though  they  are  all  very  imperfect,  yet  none 
of  them  will  be  lost  in  the  sight  of  God,  who  certainly  will 
never  be  wanting  to  those  who  are  doing  what  in  them  lies,  to 
make  themselves  the  proper  objects  of  his  mercy,  and  fit  sub- 
jects for  his  grace  to  work  upon.  Therefore  this  Article  is 
not  to  be  made  use  of  to  discourage  men's  endeavours,  but 
only  to  increase  their  humility ;  to  teach  them  not  to  think  of 
themselves  above  measure,  but  soberly ;  to  depend  always  on 
the  mercy  of  God,  and  ever  to  fly  to  it. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  177 


ART. 

XIV. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 

Of  Works  of  Supererogation. 

Voluntary  Wiork.4,  beSfBcS,  obcr  antJ  abobe  ©oU'st  Commantomentg, 
foljtcl)  tl)t»  call  toorltg  of  Supererogation,  cannot  be  taught 
totttjout  &rrogancp  airtJ  flmptctp.  dTor  bp  them  men  Uo  declare, 
Chat  thep  "Oo  not  onlu  rentier  unto  <©oti  asf  much  asf  thep  are 
bounti  to  tfo :  but  that  thru  tio  more  for  hte  dake,  than  of  botmocti 
Qutp  is  requtrcti.  2123hereag  Christ  «jaith  plainlp,  toheu  pe  habe 
tione  all  that  are  rommantieti  to  pou,  Sap,  Wit  are  unprofitable 
SerbantS. 

There  are  two  points  that  arise  out  of  this  Article  to  be  con- 
sidered, 1st.  Whether  there  are  in  the  New  Testament  coun- 
sels of  perfection  given ;  that  is  to  say,  such  rules  which  do 
not  oblige  all  men  to  follow  them,  under  the  pain  of  sin ;  but 
yet  are  useful  to  carry  them  on  to  a  sublimer  degree  of  per-  Luke  xvii. 
fection,  than  is  necessary  in  order  to  their  salvation.  2d.  10. 
Whether  men  by  following  these  do  not  more  than  they  are 
bound  to  do,  and,  by  consequence,  whether  they  have  not 
thereby  a  stock  of  merit  to  communicate  to  others.  The  first 
of  these  leads  to  the  second ;  for  if  there  are  no  such  counsels, 
then  the  foundation  of  supererogation  fails. 

We  deny  both  upon  this  ground,  that  the  great  obbgations 
of  e  loving  God  with  all  our  heart,  soul,  strength,  and  mind,  Matt.  xxfi. 
and  our  neighbour  as  ourselves,'  which  are  reckoned  by  our  36— 40- 
Saviour  the  '  two  great  commandments,  on  which  hang  all  the 
Law  and  the  Prophets,'  are  of  that  extent,  that  it  seems  not 
possible  to  imagine,  how  any  thing  can  be  acceptable  to  God, 
that  does  not  fall  within  them.  Since  if  it  is  acceptable  to 
God,  then  that  obligation  to  love  God  so  entirely  must  bind 
us  to  it ;  for  if  it  is  a  sin  not  to  love  God  up  to  this  pitch, 
then  it  is  a  sin  not  to  do  every  thing  that  we  imagine  will  please 
him :  and,  by  consequence,  if  there  is  a  degree  of  pleasing 
God,  whether  precept  or  counsel,  that  we  do  not  study  to 
attain  to,  we  do  not  love  him  in  a  manner  suitable  to  that.  It 
seems  a  great  many  in  the  church  of  Rome  are  aware  of  this 
consequence,  and  therefore  they  have  taken  much  pains  to 
convince  the  world  that  we  are  not  bound  to  love  God  at  all, 
or,  as  others  more  cautiously  word  it,  that  we  are  only  bound 
to  value  him  above  all  things,  but  not  to  have  a  love  of  such 
a  vast  intention  for  him.  This  is  a  proposition  that,  after  all 
their  softening  it,  gives  so  much  horror  to  every  Christian, 
that  I  need  not  be  at  any  pains  to  confute  it. 

We  are  further  required  in  the  New  Testament, '  to  cleanse  2  Cor.  vii. 

N 


178 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  ourselves  from  all  filthiness  both  of  the  flesh  and  spirit,  per- 
X1V-    fecting  holiness  in  the  fear  of  God :'  and  to  reckon  ourselves 
l  Cor.  vi.  '  his?  and  not  our  own/  and  that  '  we  are  bought  with  a  price ;' 
20.         and  that  therefore  '  we  ought  to  glorify  him  both  in  our  bodies, 
and  in  our  spirits,  which  are  his.'    These  and  many  more  like 
expressions  are  plainly  precepts  of  general  obligation,  for 
nothing  can  be  set  forth  in  more  positive  words  than  these 
are :  and  it  is  not  easy  to  imagine,  how  any  thing  can  go  be- 
yond them ;  for  if  we  are  Christ's  property,  purchased  by  him, 
then  we  ought  to  apply  ourselves  to  every  thing  in  which  his 
honour,  or  the  honour  of  his  religion,  can  be  concerned,  or 
which  will  be  pleasing  to  him. 

Our  Saviour  having  charged  the  Pharisees  so  often,  for 
Isai.  xxix.  adding  so  many  of  their  ordinances  to  the  laws  of  God,  '  teach- 
13.  Matt,  ing  his  fear  by  the  precepts  of  men,'  and  the  apostles  con- 
Colo5s~ii'  demning  'a  show  of  will-worship  and  voluntary  humility,' 
18.    '  '  seem  to  belong  to  this  matter,  and  to  be  designed  on  purpose 
to  repress  the  pride  and  singularities  of  affected  hypocrites. 
Matt.  xi».  Our  Saviour  said  to  him  that  asked,  f  What  he  should  do 
•    '     that  he  might  have  eternal  life  ? — Keep  the  commandments.' 
These  words  I  do  the  rather  cite,  because  they  are  followed 
with  a  passage,  that,  of  all  others  in  the  New  Testament, 
seems  to  look  the  likest  a  counsel  of  perfection ;  for  when  he, 
who  made  the  question,  replied  upon  our  Saviour's  answer, 
Ver.20,21.  that  'he  had  kept  all  these  from  his  youth  up,'  and  added, 
'what  lack  I  yet?' to  that  our  Saviour  answered,  'If  thou  wilt 
be  perfect,  go  sell  all  that  thou  hast,  and  give  to  the  poor,  and 
thou  shalt  have  treasure  in  heaven ;  and  come  and  follow  me :' 
and  by  the  words  that  follow,  of  the  difficulty  of  a  'rich  man's  en- 
tering into  the  kingdom  of  heaven,'  this  is  more  fully  explained. 
The  meaning  of  all  that  whole  passage  is  this  ;  Christ  called 
that  person  to  abandon  all,  and  come  and  follow  him,  in  such 
a  manner  as  he  had  called  his  apostles.    So  that  here  is  no 
counsel,  but  a  positive  command  given  to  that  particular  per- 
son upon  this  occasion.    By  perfect  is  only  to  be  meant  com- 
plete, in  order  to  that  to  which  he  pretended,  which  was  eter- 
nal life.    And  that  also  explains  the  word  in  that  period, 
treasures  in  heaven,  another  expression  for  eternal  life,  to 
compensate  the  loss  which  he  would  have  made  by  the  sale  of 
his  possessions.    So  that  here  is  no  counsel,  but  a  special 
command  given  to  this  person,  in  order  to  his  own  attaining 
eternal  life. 

Nor  is  it  to  be  inferred  from  hence,  that  this  is  proposed  to 
others  in  the  way  of  a  counsel ;  for  as  in  cases  either  of  a 
famine  or  persecution,  it  may  come  to  be  to  some  a  command, 
to  sell  all  in  order  to  the  relief  of  others,  as  it  was  in  the  first 
beginnings  of  Christianity ;  so  in  ordinary  cases  to  do  it,  might 
be  rather  a  tempting  of  Providence  than  a  trusting  to  it,  for 
then  a  man  should  part  with  the  means  of  his  subsistence, 
which  God  has  provided  for  him,  without  a  necessary  and 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


179 


pressing  occasion.    Therefore  our  Saviour's  words,  '  Sell  that  ART. 
ye  have,  and  give  alms,'  as  they  are  delivered  in  the  strain  and  Xlv- 
peremptoriness  of  a  command,  so  they  must  be  understood  to  Luke  X1~ 
bind  as  positive  commands  do :  not  so  constantly  as  a  nega-  33. 
tive  command  does,  since  in  every  minute  of  our  life  that 
binds  :  but  there  is  a  rule  and  order  in  our  obeying  positive 
commands.    We  must  not  rest  on  the  sabbath-day,  if  a  work 
of  necessity  or  charity  calls  us  to  put  to  our  hands :  we  must 
not  obey  our  parents  in  disobeying  a  public  law  :  so  if  we  have 
families,  or  the  necessities  of  a  feeble  body,  and  a  weak  con- 
stitution, for  which  God  hath  supplied  us  with  that  which  will 
afford  us  c  food  convenient  for  us,'  we  must  not  throw  up  Prov.  xxx 
those  provisions,  and  cast  ourselves  upon  others.    Therefore  8- 
that  precept  must  be  moderated  and  expounded,  so  as  to 
agree  with  the  other  rules  and  orders  that  God  has  set  us. 

A  distinction  is  therefore  to  be  made  between  those  things 
that  do  universally  and  equally  bind  all  mankind,  and  those 
things  that  do  more  specially  bind  some  sorts  of  men,  and  that 
only  at  some  times.  There  are  greater  degrees  of  charity, 
gravity,  and  all  other  virtues,  to  which  the  clergy  for  instance 
are  more  bound  than  other  men ;  but  these  are  to  them  pre- 
cepts, and  not  counsels.  And  in  the  first  begin* .ings  of  Chris- 
tianity there  were  greater  obligations  laid  upon  all  Christians, 
as  well  as  greater  gifts  were  bestowed  on  them.  It  is  true,  in 
the  point  of  marriage  St.  Paul  does  plainly  allow,  that  such  as 
'marry  do  well,  but  that  such  as  marry  not  do  better.'  But  1  Cor.  vii, 
the  meaning  of  that  is  not  as  if  an  unmarried  life  were  a  state  38' 
of  perfection,  beyond  that  which  a  man  is  obliged  to :  but 
only  this  ;  that  as  to  the  course  of  this  life,  and  the  present 
distress ;  and  as  to  the  judgment  that  is  to  be  made  of  men 
by  their  actions,  no  man  is  to  be  thought  to  do  amiss  who 
marries ;  but  yet  he  who  marries  not,  is  to  be  judged  to  do 
better.  But  yet  inwardly  and  before  God  this  matter  may  be 
far  otherwise :  for  he  who  marries  not  and  burns,  certainly 
does  worse  than  he  who  marries  and  lives  chastely.  But  he 
who  finding  that  he  can  limit  himself  without  endangering  his 
purity  ;  though  no  law  restrains  him  from  marrying,  yet  seeing 
that  he  is  like  to  be  tempted  to  be  too  careful  about  the  con- 
cerns of  this  life  if  he  marries,  is  certainly  under  obligations 
to  follow  that  course  of  life  in  which  there  are  fewer  tempta- 
tions, and  greater  opportunities  to  attend  on  the  service  of 
God. 

With  relation  to  outward  actions,  and  to  the  judgments  that 
from  visible  appearances  are  to  be  made  of  them,  some  actions 
may  be  said  to  be  better  than  others,  which  yet  are  truly 
good :  but  as  to  the  particular  obligations  that  every  man  is 
under,  with  relation  to  his  own  state  and  circumstances,  and 
for  which  he  must  answer  at  the  last  day,  these  being  secret, 
and  so  not  subject  to  the  judgments  of  men,  certainly  every 
man  is  strictly  bound  to  do  the  best  he  can ;  to  choose  that 

2  N 


180 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   course  of  life  in  which  he  thinks  he  may  do  the  best  services 
X1V-    to  God  and  man :  nor  are  these  free  to  him  to  choose  or  not : 
he  is  under  obligations,  and  he  sins  if  he  sees  a  more  excellent 
thing  that  he  might  have  done,  and  contents  himself  with  a 
lower  or  less  valuable  thing.    St.  Paul  had  wherein  to  (/lory  ; 
for  whereas  it  was  lawful  for  him  as  an  apostle  to  suffer  the  Co- 
rinthians to  supply  him  in  temporals,  when  he  was  serving  them 
in  spiritual  things ;  yet  he  chose  rather  for  the  honour  of  the 
gospel,  and  to  take  away  all  occasion  of  censure  from  those 
Acts  xx.    who  sought  for  it,  c  to  work  with  his  own  hands,  and  not  to  be 
j*;or  .     burdensome  to  them.'    But  in  that  state  of  things,  though 
18.         there  was  no  law  or  outward  obligation  upon  him  to  spare 
2 Cor.  xii.  them;  he  was  under  an  inward  law  of  doing  all  things  to  the 
*3'         glory  of  God :  and  by  this  law  he  was  as  much  bound,  as  if 
there  had  been  an  outward  compulsory  law  lying  upon  him. 

This  distinction  is  to  be  remembered,  between  such  an  obli- 
gation as  arises  out  of  a  man's  particular  circumstances,  and 
such  other  motives  as  can  be  only  known  to  a  man  himself, 
and  such  an  obligation  as  may  be  fastened  on  him  by  stated 
and  general  rules :  he  may  be  absolutely  free  from  the  latter 
of  these,  and  yet  be  secretly  bound  by  those  inward  and 
stronger  constraints  of  the  love  of  God,  and  zeal  for  his  glory. 
Enough  seems  to  be  said  to  prove  that  there  are  no  counsels 
of  perfection  in  the  gospel ;  that  all  the  rules  set  to  us  in  it 
are  in  the  style  and  form  of  precepts ;  and  that,  though  there 
may  be  some  actions  of  more  heroical  virtue,  and  more  sub- 
lime piety,  than  others,  to  which  all  men  are  not  obliged  by 
equal  or  general  rules ;  yet  such  men,  to  whose  circumstances 
and  station  they  do  belong,  are  strictly  obliged  by  them,  so 
that  they  should  sin,  if  they  did  not  put  them  in  practice. 

This  being  thus  made  out,  the  foundation  of  works  of  su- 
pererogation is  destroyed.  But  if  it  should  be  acknowledged 
that  there  were  such  counsels  of  perfection  in  the  scripture, 
there  are  still  two  other  clear  proofs,  to  shew  that  there  can 
be  no  such  thing  as  supererogating  with  God.  First,  every 
man  not  only  has  sinned,  but  has  still  so  much  corruption 
James iii.2. about  him,  as  to  feel  the  truth  of  that  of  St.  James,  'in  many 
things  we  offend  all.'  Now  unless  it  can  be  supposed  that, 
by  obeying  those  counsels,  a  man  can  compensate  with 
Almighty  God  for  his  sins,  there  is  no  ground  to  think  that 
he  can  supererogate.  He  must  first  clear  his  own  score,  be- 
fore he  can  imagine  that  any  thing  upon  his  account  can  be 
forgiven  or  imputed  to  another:  and  if  the  guilt  of  sin  is 
eternal,  and  the  pretended  merit  of  obeying  counsels  is  only 
temporary,  no  temporary  merit  can  take  off  an  eternal  guilt. 
So  that  it  must  first  be  supposed,  that  a  man  both  is  and  has 
been  perfect  as  to  the  precepts  of  obligation,  before  it  can  be 
thought  that  he  should  have  an  overplus  of  merit. 

The  other  clear  argument  from  scripture  against  works  of 
supererogation  is,  that  there  is  nothing  in  the  whole  New 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  181 


Testament  that  does  in  any  sort  favour  thern  ;  we  are  always  A  R  T. 
taught  to  trust  to  the  mercies  of  God,  and  to  the  death  and  X1^* 
intercession  of  Christ,  and  'to  work  out  our  own  salvation  phii.ij.12. 
with  fear  and  trembling :'  but  we  are  never  once  directed  to 
1  >ok  for  any  help  from  saints,  or  to  think  that  we  can  do  any 
thing  for  another  man's  soul,  in  this  way.    The  Psalm  has  it, 
*  No  man  can  by  any  means  give  a  ransom  for  his  brother's  Ps.  xlix.  7. 
soul :'  the  words  of  Christ  cited  in  the  Article  are  full  and 
express  against  it. 

The  words  in  the  parable  of  the  five  foolish  virgins  and  the 
five  wise,  may  seem  to  favour  it,  but  they  really  contradict  it ; 
for  it  was  the  foolish  virgins  that  desired  the  wise  to  give 
them  of  their  oil ;  which  if  any  will  apply  to  a  supposed  com- 
munication of  merit,  they  ought  to  consider  that  the  propo- 
sition is  made  by  the  foolish,  and  the  answer  of  the  wise 
virgins  is  full  against  it :  'Not  so,  lest  there  be  not  enough  M«t.x«v. 
for  us  and  you.'  What  follows,  of  bidding  them  'go  to  ' 
them  that  sell,  and  buy  for  themselves,'  is  only  a  piece  of  the 
fiction  of  the  parable,  which  cannot  enter  into  any  part  of  the 
application  of  it.  What  St.  Paul  says  of  his  'filling  up  thatCol-i'24 
which  was  behind  of  the  afflictions  of  Christ  in  his  flesh,  for 
his  body's  sake,  which  is  the  church,'  is,  as  appears  by  the 
words  that  follow,  'whereof  I  am  made  a  minister,'  only 
applicable  to  the  edification  that  the  church  received  from  the 
sufferings  of  the  apostles  ;  it  being  a  great  confirmation  to 
them  of  the  truth  of  the  gospel,  when  those  who  preached  it 
suffered  so  constantly  and  so  patiently  for  it ;  by  which  they 
both  confirmed  what  they  had  preached,  and  set  an  example 
to  others,  of  adhering  firmly  to  it.  And  since  Christ  is  related 
to  his  church,  as  a  head  to  the  members,  it  is  in  some  sort 
his  suffering  himself,  when  his  members  suffer:  and  that  con- 
formity which  they  ought  to  express  to  him  as  their  head  was 
necessary  to  make  up  the  due  proportion,  that  ought  to  be 
between  the  head  and  the  members.  So  St.  Paul  rejoiced  in 
his  being  made  conformable  to  him :  and  this,  as  it  is  a  sense 
that  the  words  will  well  bear,  so  it  is  certain  they  are  capable 
of  no  other  sense ;  for  if  the  sufferings  of  the  apostles  were 
meritorious  in  behalf  of  the  other  Christians,  some  plain 
account  must  have  been  given  of  this  in  the  New  Testament, 
at  least  to  do  honour  to  the  memory  of  such  apostles  as  had 
then  died  for  the  faith.  If  it  is  suggested,  that  the  living 
apostles  were  too  modest  to  claim  it  to  themselves,  that  will 
not  satisfy ;  all  runs  quite  in  a  contrary  style :  the  mercies  of 
God  and  the  blood  of  Christ  being  always  repeated,  whereas 
these  are  never  once  named.  Now  to  imagine  that  there 
can  be  any  thing  of  such  great  use  to  us,  in  which  the  scrip- 
ture should  be  not  only  silent,  but  should  run  in  a  strain 
totally  different  from  it,  is  not  conceivable  :  for  if  in  any 
thing,  the  gospel  ought  to  be  full  and  explicit  in  all  that  which 


182 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  r.  concerns  our  peace  and  reconciliation  with  God,  and  the 
XIV-    means  of  our  escaping  his  wrath,  and  obtaining  his  favour. 

There  is  another  doctrine  that  does  also  belong  to  this 
head,  which  is  purgatory,  that  is  not  to  be  entered  on  here, 
but  is  referred  to  its  proper  place.  Thus  it  appears,  how  ill 
this  doctrine  of  works  of  supererogation  is  founded  ;  and  upon 
how  many  accounts  it  is  evidently  false ;  and  yet  upon  it  has 
been  built  not  only  a  theory  of  a  communication  of  those 
merits,  and  a  treasure  in  the  church,  but  a  practice  of  so  foul 
a  nature,  that  in  it  the  words  of  our  Saviour  spoken  to  the 
ark  Jews,  1  My  house  is  a  house  of  prayer,  but  ye  have  made  it  a 
den  of  thieves,'  are  accomplished  in  a  high  and  most  scanda- 
lous manner.  It  has  been  pretended  that  this  was  of  the 
nature  of  a  bank,  of  which  the  pope  was  the  keeper;  and  that 
he  could  grant  such  bills  and  assignments  upon  it  as  he 
pleased  :*  this  was  done  in  so  base  and  so  crying  a  manner, 
that  all  who  had  any  sense  of  probity  in  their  own  church 
were  ashamed  of  it. 

In  the  primitive  church  there  were  very  severe  rules  made, 
obliging  all  that  had  sinned  publicly  (and  they  were  after- 
wards applied  to  such  as  had  sinned  secretly)  to  continue  for 
many  years  in  a  state  of  separation  from  the  sacrament,  and 
of  penance  and  discipline.  But  because  all  such  general  rules 
admit  of  a  great  variety  of  circumstances,  taken  from  men's 
sins,  their  persons,  and  their  repentance,  there  was  a  power 
given  to  all  bishops  by  the  council  of  Nice,  to  shorten  the 
time,  and  to  relax  the  severity,  of  those  canons ;  and  such 
favour  as  they  saw  cause  to  grant  was  called  indulgence. 
This  was  just  and  necessary,  and  was  a  provision  without 
which  no  constitution  or  society  can  be  well  governed.  But 
after  the  tenth  century,  as  the  popes  came  to  take  this  power 
in  the  whole  extent  of  it  into  their  own  hands,  so  they  found 
it  too  feeble  to  carry  on  the  great  designs  that  they  grafted 
upon  it. 

They  gave  it  high  names,  and  called  it  a  plenary  remission, 
and  the  pardon  of  all  sins :  which  the  world  was  taught  to 
look  on  as  a  thing  of  a  much  higher  nature,  than  the  bare 
excusing  of  men  from  discipbne  and  penance.    Purgatory  f 

•  *  Upon  the  whole  then  it  is  evident,  that  the  doctrine  of  purgatory  is  of 
heathen  original ;  that  the  tire  of  it  is,  like  the  thunder  of  the  Vatican,  a  harmless 
thing,  which  no  wise  man  would  be  afraid  of,  were  it  not  too  often  attended  with 
church  thunderbolts,  persecutions,  and  massacres ;  and  that  it  only  serves  to  cheat 
the  simple  and  ignorant  out  of  their  money,  by  giving  them  bills  of  exchange 
upon  the  other  world  for  cash  paid  in  this,  without  any  danger  of  the  bills  return- 
ing protested.'  Meagher's  Popish  Mass.  A  just  exposure  of  this  iniquitous  traf- 
fic—[Ed.] 

t  '  The  doctrine  of  purgatory  is  the  mother  of  indulgences,  and  the  fear  of 
that  hath  introduced  these :  for  the  world  happened  to  be  abused  like  the  coun- 
tryman in  the  fable,  who,  being  told  he  was  likely  to  fall  into  a  delirium  in  his  feet, 
was  advised  for  remedy  to  take  the  juice  of  cotton.  He  feared  a  disease  that  was 
not,  and  looked  for  a  cure  as  ridiculous.'    Bishop  Taylor. — [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


183 


was  then  got  to  be  firmly  believed,  and  all  men  were  strangely  ART. 
possessed  with  the  terror  of  it:  so  a  deliverance  from  pur-  XIV- 
gatory,  and  by  consequence  an  immediate  admission  into 
heaven,  was  believed  to  be  the  certain  effect  of  it.  And  to 
support  all  this,  the  doctrine  of  counsels  of  perfection,  of 
works  of  supererogation,  and  of  the  communication  of  those 
merits,  was  set  up ;  and  to  that  this  was  added,  that  a  trea- 
sure made  up  of  these,  was  at  the  pope's  disposal,  and  in  his 
keeping.  The  use  that  this  was  put  to,  was  as  bad  as  the 
forgery  itself.  Multitudes  were  by  these  means  engaged  to 
go  to  the  Holy  Land  to  recover  it  out  of  the  hands  of  the 
Saracens :  afterwards  they  armed  vast  numbers  against  the 
heretics  to  extirpate  them :  they  fought  also  all  those  quarrels 
which  their  ambitious  pretensions  engaged  them  in  with  em- 
perors and  other  princes,  by  the  same  pay ;  and  at  last  they 
set  it  to  sale  with  the  same  impudence,  and  almost  with  the 
same  methods,  that  mountebanks  use  in  the  venting  of  their 
secrets. 

This  was  so  gross  even  in  an  ignorant  age,  and  among  the 
ruder  sort,  that  it  gave  the  first  rise  to  the  Reformation :  and 
as  the  progress  of  it  was  a  very  signal  work  of  God,  so  it  was 
in  a  great  measure  owing  to  the  scandals  that  this  shameless 
practice  had  given  the  world.  And  upon  this  single  reason  it 
is  that  this  matter  has  been  more  fully  examined  than  was 
necessary;  for  the  thing  is  so  plain,  that  it  has  no  sort  of 
difficulty  in  it. 


184 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART. 
XV. 

ARTICLE  XV. 

Of  Christ  alone  without  Sin. 

Christ  in  the  truth  of  our  nature  toas  matte  like  unto  us  in 
all  things  (situ  onlj)  crcept)  from  tuljtci)  he  toaS  clcarlt)  botti 
both  tu  his  flesh  antj  tn  Spirit,  file  came  to  be  a  Hamb  totth* 
out  spot,  tofyo,  bp  sacrifice  of  himself  once  maoe,  SljoulO  taae 
atoay  tl)e  StnS  of  the  UHorlcj:  anti  sin,  as  £>t.  John  Satth,  toaS 
not  tu  him.  93ut  all  toe  the  rest  (although,  bapti$crj  antj  born 
again  tn  Christ)  vtt  offcntl  tn  main)  things ;  antj  if  toe  say  toe 
ijabe  no  sm,  toe  tfecetbe  ourSelbcS,  antj  ti)e  truth  is  not  in  us. 

This  Article  relates  to  the  former,  and  is  put  here  as  another 
foundation  against  all  works  of  supererogation  :  for  that  doc- 
trine, with  the  consequences  of  it,  having  given  the  first  occa- 
sion to  the  Reformation,  it  was  thought  necessary  to  overthrow 
it  entirely ;  and  because  the  perfection  of  the  saints  must  be 
supposed,  before  their  supererogation  can  be  thought  on,  that 
was  therefore  here  opposed, 
j^eb.v".       That  Christ  was  'holy,  without  spot  and  blemish,  harm- 
lPet.ii.22. less,  undefiled,  and  separate  from  sinners;'  that  there  was 
Acts  x.  38. '  no  guile  in  his  mouth ;'  that  he  never  did  amiss,  but  '  went 
l  Pet.  i.  19.  akout  alWays  doing  good,'  and  was  as  a  '  lamb  without  spot,' 
is  so  oft  affirmed  in  the  New  Testament,  that  it  can  admit 
of  no  debate.    This  was  not  only  true  in  his  rational  powers, 
the  superior  part  called  the  spirit,  in  opposition  to  the  lower 
part,  but  also  in  those  appetites  and  affections  that  arise  from 
our  bodies,  and  from  the  union  of  our  souls  to  them,  called 
the  flesh.    For  though  in  these  Christ,  having  the  human 
nature  truly  in  him,  had  the  appetites  of  hunger  in  him, 
yet  the  Devil  could  not  tempt  him  by  that  to  distrust  God, 
or  to  desire  a  miraculous  supply  sooner  than  was  fitting :  he 
overcame  even  that  necessary  appetite,  whensoever  there  was 
Johniv.34.  an  occasion  given  him  'to  do  the  will  of  his  heavenly  Father:' 
he  had  also  in  him  the  aversions  to  pain  and  suffering,  and 
the  horror  at  a  violent  and  ignominious  death,  which  are 
planted  in  our  natures ;  and  in  this  it  was  natural  to  him  to 
wish  and  to  pray  that  the  cup  might  pass  from  him.    But  in 
this  his  purity  appeared  the  most  eminently,  that  though  he 
felt  the  weight  of  his  nature  to  a  vast  degree,  he  did,  not- 
withstanding that,  limit  and  conquer  it  so  entirely,  that  he 
37at,39XVI  resigned  himself  absolutely  to  his  Father's  will:  'Not  my  will, 
—  '    but  thy  will  be  done.' 

Besides  all  that  has  been  already  said  upon  the  former 
Articles,  to  prove  that  some  taint  and  degree  of  the  original 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


185 


corruption  remains  in  all  men;  the  peculiar  character  of  ART. 
Christ's  holiness  so  oft  repeated,  looks  plainly  to  be  a  dis-  xv- 
tinction  proper  to  him,  and  to  him  only.   We  are  called  upon 
to  follow  him,  to  learn  of  him,  and  to  imitate  him,  without 
restriction  ;  whereas  we  are  required  to  'follow  the  apostles,  lCor. xi.l. 
only  as  they  were  the  followers  of  Christ:'  and  though  we  1  Pet- '• 15> 
are  commanded  '  to  be  holy  as  he  was  holy  in  all  manner  of 
conversation ;'  that  does  no  more  prove  that  any  man  can 
arrive  at  that  pitch,  than  our  being  commanded  '  to  be  perfect  Matt.v.48. 
as  our  heavenly  Father  is  perfect,'  will  prove  that  we  may 
become  as  perfect  as  God  is  :  the  importance  of  these  words 
being  only  this,  that  we  ought  in  all  things  to  make  God  and 
Christ  our  patterns  ;  and  that  we  ought  to  endeavour  to  imi- 
tate and  resemble  them  all  we  can. 

There  seems  to  be  a  particular  design  in  the  contexture 
and  writing  of  the  scriptures,  to  represent  to  us  some  of 
the  failings  of  the  best  men :  for  though  Zacharias  and  Eliza- 
beth are  said  to  have  been  blameless,  that  must  only  be  Luke  i.  6. 
meant  of  the  exterior  and  visible  part  of  their  conversation, 
that  it  was  free  from  blame,  and  of  their  being  accepted  of 
God  ;  but  that  is  not  to  be  carried  to  import  a  sinless  purity 
before  God :  for  we  find  the  same  Zachary  guilty  of  mis-  Ver.  20. 
believing  the  message  of  the  angel  to  him,  to  such  a  degree, 
that  he  was  punished  for  it  with  a  dumbness  of  above  nine 
months'  continuance.    Perhaps  the  Virgin's  question  to  the 
angel  had  nothing  blameworthy  in  it :  but  our  Saviour's  an- 
swers to  her,  both  when  she  came  to  him  in  the  temple,  Luke  ii.49. 
when  he  was  twelve  years  old,  and  more  particularly  when 
she  moved  him,  at  the  marriage  in  Cana,  to  furnish  them  John  U.  4. 
with  wine,  look  like  a  reprimand.    The  contentions  among 
the  apostles  about  the  pre-eminence,  and  in  particular  the 
ambition  of  James  and  John,  cannot  be  excused.    St.  Peter's  Matt.  xx. 
dissimulation  at  Antioch  in  the  Judaizing  controversy,  and  20, 24. 
the  sharp  contention  that  happened  between  Paul  and  Bar-  j2a  j3'-  j J' 
nabas,  are  recorded  in  scripture,  and  they  are  both  characters  Acts  Xv. 
of  the  sincerity  of  those  who  penned  them,  and  likewise  39. 
marks  of  the  frailties  of  human  nature,  even  in  its  greatest 
elevation,  and  with  its  highest  advantages.    So  that  all  the 
high  characters  that  are  given  of  the  best  men,  are  to  be 
understood  either  comparatively  to  others  whom  they  ex- 
ceeded, or  with  relation  to  their  outward  actions,  and  the 
visible  parts  of  their  life :  or  they  are  to  be  meant  of  their 
zeal  and  sincerity,  which  is  valued  and  accepted  of  God : 
and,  as  it  was  to  Abraham,  is  imputed  to  them  for  right- 
eousness. 

Yet  this  is  not  to  be  abused  by  any  to  be  an  encourage- 
ment to  live  in  sin  ;  for  we  may  carry  this  purity  and  perfec- 
tion certainly  very  far,  by  the  grace  of  God.  In  every  sin 
that  we  commit  we  do  plainly  perceive,  that  we  do  it  with  so 
umch  freedom,  that  we  might  not  have  done  it ;  here  is  still 


186 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


art.  just  matter  for  humiliation  and  repentance.  By  this  doctrine 
XV.  our  church  intends  only  to  repress  the  pride  of  vain-glorious 
and  hypocritical  men,  and  to  strike  at  the  root  of  that  filthy 
merchandise  that  has  been  brought  into  the  house  of  God, 
under  the  pretence  of  the  perfection,  and  even  the  overdoing 
or  supererogating,  of  the  saints. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


187 


ART. 
XVI. 

ARTICLE  XVI. 

Of  Sin  after  Baptism. 

$ot  rberp  trea"blv  tin  fotttmgtg  committctt  after  33apttsim  t£i  tfie 
Jim  against  the  ?§olp  ©IjoSt,  airtJ  unpardonable.  SMherefore 
the  grant  of  repentance  it  not  to  lie  ticmctf  to  Such  a£i  fall  into 
sftn  after  33aptuSm.  Sifter  toe  babe  reretbelf  the  flolp  €>))ott, 
toe  map  depart  from  grace  gtbcu,  anK  fall  into  sitn,  antl  bp  the 
grace  of  &ols  toe  map  arise  again  ano"  amenU  our  iLtbeS.  <3ntl 
therefore  thep  are  to  be  contJcmneK,  tohtch  Sap  thep  tan  no  more 
tin  at  long  as  tl)ep  libc  here,  or  iJcnp  the  place  of  forgibcneSS  to 
Such  as!  truln  repent. 

This  Article,  as  it  relates  to  the  sect  of  the  Novatians  of 
old,  so  it  is  probable  it  was  made  a  part  of  our  doctrine,  upon 
the  account  of  some  of  the  enthusiasts,  who,  at  that  time,  as 
well  as  some  do  in  our  days,  might  boast  their  perfection, 
and  join  with  that  part  of  the  character  of  a  Pharisee,  this 
other  of  an  unreasonable  rigour  of  censure  and  punishment 
against  offenders.  By  deadly  sin  in  the  Article,  we  are  not 
to  understand  such  sins  as  in  the  church  of  Rome  are  called 
mortal,  in  opposition  to  others  that  are  venial :  as  if  some  sins, 
though  offences  against  God,  and  violations  of  his  law,  could 
be  of  their  own  nature  such  slight  things,  that  they  deserved 
oidy  temporal  punishment,  and  were  to  be  expiated  by  some 
piece  of  penance  or  devotion,  or  the  communication  of  the 
merits  of  others.  The  scripture  no  where  teaches  us  to  think 
so  slightly  of  the  majesty  of  God,  or  of  his  law.  There  is  a 
curse  upon  every  one  '  that  continueth  not  in  all  things  which  Gal.  iii.10. 
are  written  in  the  book  of  the  law  to  do  them  P  and  the  same 
curse  must  have  been  on  us  all,  if  Christ  had  not  redeemed 
us  from  it :  '  The  wages  of  sin  is  death.5  And  St.  James  Rom.  vi. 
asserts,  that  there  is  such  a  complication  of  all  the  precepts  23. 
of  the  law  of  God,  both  with  one  another,  and  with  the  au- 
thority of  the  lawgiver,  that  e  he  who  offends  in  one  point  is  jam.ii.  10, 
guilty  of  all.'  So,  since  God  has  in  his  word  given  us  such  11. 
dreadful  apprehensions  of  his  wrath  and  of  the  guilt  of  sin,  we 
dare  not  soften  these  to  a  degree  below  the  majesty  of  the 
eternal  God,  and  the  dignity  of  his  most  holy  laws.  But, 
after  all,  we  are  far  from  the  conceit  of  the  Stoics,  who  made 
all  sins  alike.  We  acknowledge  that  some  sins  of  ignorance 
and  infirmity  may  consist  with  a  state  of  grace ;  which  is 
either  quite  destroyed,  or  at  least  much  eclipsed  and  clouded 
by  other  sins,  that  are  more  heinous  in  their  nature,  and  more 
deliberately  gone  about.  It  is  in  this  sense  that  the  word 
deadly  sin  is  to  be  understood  in  the  Article:  for  though  in 


188 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  RT.   the  strictness  of  justice  every  sin  is  deadly,  yet  in  the  dispen- 
XV1,    sation  of  the  gospel,  those  sins  are  only  deadly,  that  do  deeply 
wound  the  conscience,  and  that  drive  away  grace. 

Another  term  in  the  Article  needs  also  to  be  a  little  ex- 
plained ;  the  sin  against  the  Holy  Ghost ;  concerning  which; 
since  there  is  so  severe  a  sentence  pronounced  by  Christ,  it  is 
necessary  that  it  be  rightly  understood ;  and  that  can  only  be 
done  by  considering  the  occasion  of  those  words,  as  well  as 
the  words  themselves.  Christ  wrought  such  miracles  in  the 
sight  of  his  enemies,  that  when  there  was  no  room  left  for 
Matt.  xii.  any  other  cavil,  they  betook  themselves  to  that,  that  '  he  did 
24,31.  not  cast  out  devils  but  by  Beelzebub,  the  prince  of  devils.' 
And  this  was  the  occasion  that  led  our  Saviour  to  speak  of 
the  sin  or  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost.  It  was  their 
rejecting  the  clearest  evidence  that  God  could  give  to  prove 
any  thing  by:  the  power  by  which  those  miracles  were  wrought, 
and  which  was  afterwards  communicated  to  the  apostles,  is 
called  through  the  whole  New  Testament,  the  Holy  Ghost. 
By  which  is  not  to  be  meant  here  the  third  person  of  the 
Trinity,  but  the  wonderful  effusion  of  those  extraordinary 
gifts  and  powers  that  were  then  communicated,  the  economy 
and  dispensation  of  which  is  said  to  be  derived  from  that  one 
Spirit.  This  was  the  utmost  proof  that  could  be  given  of 
truth :  and  when  men  set  themselves  to  blaspheme  this,  and 
to  ascribe  the  works  of  Christ  to  a  collusion  with  the  Devil, 
they  did  thereby  so  wilfully  oppose  God,  and  reproach  his 
power,  they  did  so  stifle  their  own  conviction,  and  set  them- 
selves against  the  conviction  of  others,  that  nothing  could  be 
done  further  for  their  conviction  ;  this  being  the  highest  de- 
gree of  evidence  and  proof :  and  this  was  so  high  an  indignity 
to  God,  when  he  descended  so  far  to  satisfy  their  scruples,  that 
it  was  not  to  be  pardoned ;  as  their  impenitence  and  incredu- 
lity was  so  obstinate  as  not  to  be  overcome. 

Upon  this  occasion  given,  our  Saviour  makes  a  difference 
between  their  blaspheming  him,  and,  instead  of  owning  him 
to  be  the  Messias,  calling  him  a  deceiver,  a  glutton,  and  a 
vnne-bibber ;  of  which,  upon  hearing  his  doctrine,  and  seeing 
his  life,  they  were  still  guilty.  This  was  indeed  a  great  sin, 
but  yet  there  were  means  left  of  convincing  them  of  the  truth 
of  his  being  the  great  prophet  sent  of  God ;  and  by  these  they 
might  be  so  far  prevailed  on  as  to  repent  and  believe,  and  so 
to  obtain  pardon :  but  when  they  had  those  means  set  before 
them  ;  when  they  saw  plain  and  uncontested  miracles  done 
before  them ;  and  when,  instead  of  yielding  to  them,  they  set 
up  such  an  opposition  to  them,  which  might  have  been  as 
reasonably  said  of  every  miracle  that  could  have  been  wrought, 
then  it  was  not  possible  to  convince  them.  This  is  an  im- 
pious rejecting  of  the  highest  method  that  God  himself  uses 
for  proving  a  thing  to  us.  The  scorn  put  upon  it,  as  it  flows 
from  a  nature  so  depraved,  that  it  cannot  be  wrought  on,  so 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


189 


it  is  a  sin  not  to  be  pardoned.  All  things  of  extreme  severity  A  RT. 
in  a  doctrine  that  is  so  full  of  grace  and  mercy  as  the  gospel  XVL 
is,  ought  to  be  restrained  as  much  as  may  be.  From  thence 
we  infer,  that  those  dreadful  words  of  our  Saviour's  ought  to 
be  restrained  to  the  subject  to  which  they  are  applied,  and 
ought  not  to  be  carried  further.  Since  miracles  have  ceased, 
no  man  is  any  more  capable  of  this  sin. 

These  terms  being  thus  explained,  the  question  in  the  Arti- 
cle is  now  to  be  explained.    There  are  words  in  St.  John's 
Epistle,  and  elsewhere,  that  seem  to  import,  that  men  born  of 
God,  that  is  to  say,  baptized  or  regenerated  Christians,  sin  i  John  iii. 
not :  'Whosoever  abhleth  in  him,  sinneth  not:  Whosoever  6- 9- v- 18- 
sinneth  hath  not  seen  him,  neither  known  Lim :  Whoso- 
ever is  born  of  God  doth  not  commit  sin,  for  his  seed  re- 
maineth  in  him ;  and  he  cannot  sin,  for  he  is  born  of  God.' 
This  is  again  repeated  in  the  end  of  that  Epistle,  together  with 
these  words,  '  He  that  is  begotten  of  God  keepeth  himself, 
and  that  wicked  one  toucheth  him  not.5    As  these  words  seem 
to  import  that  a  true  Christian  sins  not,  so  in  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews  it  is  said  to  be  'impossible  to  renew  again,  by  Heb. vi.4, 
repentance,  those  who  fall  away,  after  they  had  been  once  5,  6. 
enlightened,  and  had  tasted  of  the  heavenly  gift,  had  been 
made  partakers  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  had  tasted  the  good 
word  of  God,  and  the  powers  of  the  world  to  come.'  Upon 
these  expressions,  and  some  others,  though  not  quite  of  their 
force,  it  was,  that  in  the  primitive  church,  some  that  fell  after 
baptism  were  cast  out  of  the  communion  of  the  church ;  and 
though  they  were  not  cut  off  from  all  hopes  of  the  mercy  of 
God,  yet  they  were  never  restored  to  the  peace  of  the  church ; 
this  was  done  in  Tertullian's  time,  if  what  he  says  on  this  sub- 
ject is  not  to  be  reckoned  as  a  piece  of  his  Montanism. 

But  soon  after  there  were  great  contests  upon  this  head, 
while  the  Novatians  withdrew  from  the  communion  of  the 
church,  and  believed  it  was  defiled  by  the  receiving  of  apos- 
tates into  it :  though  that  was  not  done  so  easily  as  some  pro- 
posed, but  after  a  long  separation  and  a  severe  course  of  pe- 
nance. Upon  this  followed  all  those  penitentiary  canons  con- 
cerning the  several  measures  and  degrees  of  penance,  and  that 
not  only  for  acts  of  apostacy  from  the  Christian  religion,  but 
for  all  other  crying  sins.  According  to  what  has  been  already 
said  upon  the  former  Articles,  it  has  appeared,  that  the  sancti- 
fication  of  regenerated  men  is  not  so  perfected  in  this  life,  but 
that  there  is  still  a  mixture  of  defects  and  imperfections  left  in 
them :  and  the  state  of  the  new  covenant  is  a  continuance  of 
repentance  and  remission  of  sins ;  for  as  oft  as  one  sins,  if  he 
repents  truly  of  it,  and  fors.Jces  his  sins,  there  is  a  standing 
offer  of  the  pardon  of  all  sins ;  and  therefore  Christ  has  taught 
us  to  pray  daily,  '  Forgive  us  our  sins.'  If  there  were  but  one 
general  pardon  offered  in  baptism,  this  would  signify  little  to 
those  who  feel  their  infirmities,  and  the  sins  that  do  so  easily 


190 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  beset  them,  so  apt  to  return  upon  them.    It  was  no  wonder 

 XVI-    if  the  entertaining  this  conceit  brought  in  a  superstitious  error 

in  practice  among  the  ancient  Christians,  of  delaying  baptism 
till  death ;  as  hoping  that  all  sins  were  then  certainly  par- 
doned ;  a  much  more  dangerous  error  than  even  the  fatal  one 
of  trusting  to  a  death-bed  repentance.  For  baptism  might 
have  been  more  easily  compassed  ;  and  there  was  more  offered 
in  the  way  of  argument  for  building  upon  it,  than  has  been 
offered  at  for  a  death-bed  repentance. 

St.  Peter's  denial,  his  repentance,  and  his  being  restored  to 
his  apostolical  dignity,  seem  to  be  recorded,  partly  on  this  ac- 
count, to  encourage  us,  even  after  the  most  heinous  offences, 
to  return  to  God,  and  never  to  reckon  our  condition  despe- 
rate, were  our  sins  ever  so  many,  but  as  we  find  our  hearts 
hardened  in  them  into  an  obstinate  impenitency.  Our  Saviour 
has  made  our  pardoning  the  offences  that  others  commit  against 
us,  the  measure  upon  which  we  may  expect  pardon  from  God ; 
and  he  being  asked  what  limits  he  set  to  the  number  of  the 
faults  that  we  were  bound  to  pardon,  by  the  day,  if  seven 
was  not  enough,  he  carried  it  up  to  seventy  times  seven,  a  vast 
number,  far  beyond  the  number  of  offences  that  any  man  will 
in  all  probability  commit  against  another  in  a  day.  But  if 
they  should  grow  up  to  all  that  vast  number  of  four  hundred 
Luke  xvii.  and  ninety,  yet  if  our  brother  still  '  turns  again  and  repents,' 
we  are  still  bound  to  forgive.  Now  since  this  is  joined  with 
what  he  declared,  that  if  we  pardoned  our  brother  his  offences, 
Matt,  xviii. e  our  heavenly  Father  would  also  forgive  us,'  then  we  may  de- 
3o-  pend  upon  this,  that  according  to  the  sincerity  of  our  repent- 
ance, our  sins  are  always  forgiven  us.  And  if  this  is  the  nature 
of  the  new  covenant,  then  the  church,  which  is  a  society  formed 
upon  it,  must  proportion  the  rules  both  of  her  communion  and 
censure  to  those  set  in  the  gospel :  a  heinous  sin  must  give  us 
a  deeper  sorrow,  and  higher  degrees  of  repentance ;  scandals 
must  also  be  taken  off  and  forgiven,  when  the  offending  per- 
sons have  repaired  the  offence  that  was  given  by  them,  with 
suitable  degrees  of  sorrow.  St.  Paul,  in  the  beginnings  of 
Christianity,  in  which  it,  being  yet  tender  and  not  well  known 
to  the  world,  was  more  apt  to  be  both  blemished  and  cor- 
rupted, did  yet  order  the  Corinthians  to  receive  back  into  their 
communion  the  incestuous  person,  whom  by  his  own  directions 
1  Cor.  v.  5.  they  had  '  delivered  to  Satan ;'  they  had  excommunicated  him, 
and,  by  way  of  reverse  to  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost  poured 
out  upon  all  Christians,  he  was  possessed  or  haunted  with  an 
evil  spirit :  and  yet,  as  St.  Paul  declares  that  he  forgave  him, 
so  he  orders  them  to  forgive  him  likewise ;  and  he  gives  a 
reason  for  this  conduct,  from  the  common  principles  of  pity 
2Cor.ii.7.  an(]  humanity,  'lest  he  should  be  swallowed  up  by  overmuch 
sorrow.'  What  is  in  that  place  mentioned  only  in  a  particular 
instance,  is  extended  to  a  general  rule  in  the  Epistle  to  the 
Galatians :  '  If  any  one  is  overtaken  in  a  fault,  ye  which  are 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


191 


spiritual  restore  such  a  one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness,  con-  ART. 
sidering  thyself,  lest  thou  also  be  tempted.'    Where  both  the    xx  '• 
supposition  that  is  made,  and  the  reason  that  is  given,  do  Gal.  vi. !. 
plainly  insinuate  that  all  men  are  subject  to  their  several  infir- 
mities ;  so  that  every  man  may  be  overtaken  in  faults.  The 
charge  given  to  Timothy  and  Titus  to  'rebuke  and  exhort,'  2 Tim.iv.-2. 
does  suppose  that  Christians,  and  even  bishops  and  deacons,  Tit.  '• 13* 
were  subject  to  faults  that  might  deserve  correction. 

In  that  passage,  cited  out  of  St.  John's  Epistle,  as  mention  i  j0hn  v. 
is  made  of  a  '  sin  unto  death,'  for  which  they  were  not  to  16. 
pray,  so  mention  is  made  both  there  and  in  St.  James's 
Epistle  of  'sins  for  which  they  were  to  pray,'  and  which  upon  Jam.  v.  15, 
their  prayers  were  to  be  forgiven.    All  which  places  do  not 16- 
only  express  this  to  be  the  tenor  of  the  new  covenant,  that 
the  sins  of  regenerated  persons  were  to  be  pardoned  in  it,  but 
they  are  also  clear  precedents  and  rules  for  the  churches  to 
follow  them  in  their  discipline.    And  therefore  those  words 
in  St.  John,  that  '  a  man  born  of  God  doth  not  and  cannot 
sin,  must  be  understood  in  a  larger  sense,  of  their  not  living 
in  the  practice  of  known  sins ;  of  their  not  allowing  them- 
selves in  that  course  of  life,  nor  going  on  deliberately  with  it. 

By  the  c  sin  unto  death,'  is  meant  the  same  thing  with  that 
apostasy  mentioned  in  the  6th  of  the  Hebrews.  Among  the 
Jews  some  sins  were  punished  by  a  total  excision  or  cutting 
off,  and  this  probably  gave  the  rise  to  that  designation  of  a 
'  sin  unto  death.'  The  words  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  Heb.  vi.  6. 
do  plainly  import  those  who,  being  not  only  baptized,  but 
having  also  received  a  share  of  the  extraordinary  effusion  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  had  totally  renounced  the  Christian  religion, 
and  apostatized  from  the  faith,  which  '  was  a  crucifying  of 
Christ  anew.'  Such  apostates  to  Judaism  were  thereby  in- 
volved in  the  crime  and  guilt  of  the  crucifying  of  Christ,  and 
'  the  putting  him  to  open  shame.'  Now  persons  so  apostatiz- 
ing could  not  be  renewed  again  by  repentance,  it  not  being 
possible  to  do  any  thing  toward  their  conviction  that  had  not 
been  already  done ;  and  they,  hardening  themselves  against 
all  that  was  offered  for  their  conviction,  were  arrived  at  such  a 
degree  in  wickedness,  that  it  was  impossible  to  work  upon 
them ;  there  was  nothing  left  to  be  tried  that  had  not  been 
already  tried,  and  proved  to  be  ineffectual.  Yet  it  is  to  be  ob- 
served, that  it  was  an  unjustifiable  piece  of  rigour,  to  apply 
these  words  to  all  such  as  had  fallen  in  a  time  of  trial  and 
persecution ;  for  as  they  had  not  those  miraculous  means  of 
conviction,  which  must  be  acknowledged  to  be  the  strongest, 
the  sensiblest,  and  the  most  easily  apprehended,  of  all  argu- 
ments ;  so  they  could  not  sin  so  heinously  as  those  had  done, 
who,  after  what  they  had  seen  and  felt,  revolted  from  the  faith. 

Great  difference  is  also  to  be  made  between  a  deliberate 
sin,  that  a  man  goes  into  upon  choice,  and  in  which  he  con- 
tinues ;  and  a  sin,  that  the  fears  of  death  and  the  infirmities 


192  AN  EXPOSITION  OF 

A  R  T.  of  human  nature  betray  him  into,  and  out  of  which  he  quickly 
■^Vl-  recovers  himself,  and  for  which  he  mourns  bitterly.  There 
was  no  reason  to  apply  what  is  said  in  the  New  Testament 
against  the  wicked  apostates  of  that  time,  to  those  who  were 
overcome  in  the  persecution.  The  latter  sinned  grievously ; 
yet  it  was  not  in  the  same  kind,  nor  are  they  in  any  sort  to 
be  compared  to  the  former.  All  affectations  of  excessive 
severity  look  like  pharisaical  hypocrisy;  whereas  the  Spirit  of 
Christ,  which  is  made  up  of  humility  and  charity,  will  make 
us  look  so  severely  to  ourselves,  that  on  that  very  account 
we  will  be  gentle  even  to  the  failings  of  others. 

Yet,  on  the  other  hand,  the  church  ought  to  endeavour  to 
conform  herself  so  far  to  her  Head,  and  to  his  doctrine,  as  to 
•2Thess.iii. c  note  those  who  obey  not  the  gospel,  and  to  have  no  com- 
6, 14, 15.  pany  with  them,  that  they  may  be  ashamed ;  yet  not  so  as  to 
hate  such  a  one,  or  count  him  as  an  enemy,  but  to  admonish 
him  as  a  brother.'  Into  what  neglect  or  prostitution  soever 
any  church  may  have  fallen  in  this  great  point  of  separating 
offenders,  of  making  them  ashamed,  and  of  keeping  others 
from  being  corrupted  with  their  ill  example  and  bad  influence, 
that  must  be  confessed  to  be  a  very  great  defect  and  blemish. 
The  church  of  Rome  had  slackened  all  the  ancient  rules  of 
discipline,  and  had  perverted  this  matter  in  a  most  scandalous 
manner ;  and  the  world  is  now  sunk  into  so  much  corruption, 
and  to  such  a  contempt  of  holy  things,  that  it  is  much  more 
easy  here  to  find  matter  for  lamentation,  than  to  see  how  to 
remedy  or  correct  it. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


193 


ART. 
XVII. 

ARTICLE  XVII. 

Of  Predestination  and  Election. 

predestination  to  life  is  the  ebcrlaSting  purpose  of  <£>od,  tohcrcbp 
(before  the  foundations  of  ti)r  tEZUorld  lucre  laid)  he  hath  com 
Stantlp  decreed  bp  his  Counsel,  Secret  to  uS,  to  delibcr  from  rtirSe 
and  damnation,  those  luhont  he  hath  chosen  in  Christ  out  of 
mankind,  antj  to  bring  them  bp  Christ  unto  ebcrlaSting  J?alba* 
tun  as  bcSSclS  made  to  honour.  SBIfjercfore  thru  luhich  be  endued 
ujith  So  crrellent  a  benefit  of  ©otf,  be  called  according  to  £5od'S 
purpose,  bp  his  Spirit  working  in  Sue  Season.  Chep  through 
grace  obep  tfjc  calling,  tfjeu  be  justified  frrelp,  thep  be  made  ^onS 
of  C>od  b»  Sldoptioa,  thep  be  made  like  the  fmage  of  his  onlp 
begotten  £on  ScSuS  Christ:  Chep  walk  religiously  in  goot/ 
works,  antj  at  length  bp  <©od'S  mercp  then  attain  to  ebertasling 
felicitp. 

8s  tl)e  godlu  roasidcrattoa  of  Predestination  and  our  (Election  in 
Christ  is  full  of  Slueet,  pleasant,  aad  unspeakable  comfort  to 
gotllp  persons,  anil  Such  as  feel  in  thcmSclbcS  the  hoiking  of  the 
Spirit  of  Christ,  mortifping  the  works  of  the  dflcsh,  and  thctr 
eartblp  members,  anil  drawing  up  their  mint*  to  high  and  hea* 
benlp  things,  as  luell  because  it  doth  greatlp  establish  and  con* 
firm  their  dFaith  of  eternal  ^albation  to  be  enjoped  through 
Christ,  as  because  it  doth  ferbentlp  kindle  their  lobe  towards 
(Soo:  Jz>o  for  curious  antj  carnal  persons,  lacking  the  Spirit  of 
Christ,  to  fjabe  ronttnualln  before  their  3£pcS  the  Sentence  of 
Cwd'S  rPrcdcStiaatton,  is  a  most  dangerous  downfall,  toherrbp 
the  Sebil  doth  thrust  them  cither  into  desperation,  or  into  wretch* 
lessness  of  most  unclean  libing,  no  less  perilous  than  despc* 
ration. 

furthermore,  Wit  must  vtctibt  <©od'S  promises  in  SucI)  fotSe,  aS 
thep  be  gcnerallp  Set  forth  to  us  in  holp  Scripture:  9 ad  ta  our 
doings,  that  aSHtll  of  <&od  is  to  be  followed,  which  toe  habe 
erpresslu  declared  unto  us  in  the  UBord  of  ©od. 

There  are  many  things  in  several  of  the  other  Articles  which 
depend  upon  this ;  and  therefore  I  will  explain  it  more  fully : 
for  as  this  has  given  occasion  to  one  of  the  longest,  the  sub- 
tilest,  and  indeed  the  most  intricate,  of  all  the  questions  in 
dwinity ;  so  it  will  be  necessary  to  open  and  examine  it  as 
fully  as  the  importance  and  difficulties  of  it  do  require.  In 
treating  of  it,  I  shall, 

First,  State  the  question,  together  with  the  consequences, 
that  arise  out  of  it. 

o 


194 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


Secondly,  Give  an  account  of  the  differences  that  have  arisen 
upon  it. 

Thirdly,  I  shall  set  out  the  strength  of  the  opinions  of 
the  contending  parties,  with  all  possible  impartiality  and  ex- 
actness. 

Fourthly,  I  shall  shew  how  far  they  agree,  and  how  far  they 
differ ;  and  shall  shew  what  reason  there  is  for  bearing  with 
one  another's  opinions  in  these  matters ;  and  in  the 

Fifth  and  last  place,  I  shall  consider  how  far  we  of  this 
church  are  determined  by  this  Article,  and  how  far  we  are  at 
liberty  to  follow  any  of  those  different  opinions. 

The  whole  controversy  may  be  reduced  to  this  single  point 
as  its  head  and  source :  Upon  what  views  did  God  form  his 
purposes  and  decrees  concerning  mankind  ?  Whether  he  did 
it  merely  upon  a  design  of  advancing  his  own  glory,  and  for 
manifesting  his  own  attributes,  in  order  to  which  he  settled 
the  great  and  universal  scheme  of  his  whole  creation  and  pro- 
vidence ?  Or  whether  he  considered  all  the  free  motions  of 
those  rational  agents  that  he  did  intend  to  create,  and  accord- 
ing to  what  he  foresaw  they  would  choose  and  do,  in  all  the 
various  circumstances  in  which  he  might  put  them,  formed 
his  decrees  ?  Here  the  controversy  begins  :  and  when  this 
is  settled,  the  three  main  questions  that  arise  out  of  it  will  be 
soon  determined. 

The  first  is,  whether  both  God  and  Christ  intended  that 
Christ  should  only  die  for  that  particular  number  whom  God 
intended  to  save  ?  Or  whether  it  was  intended  that  he  should 
die  for  all,  so  that  even*  man  that  would,  might  have  the  be- 
nefit of  his  death,  and  that  no  man  was  excluded  from  it,  but 
because  he  willingly  rejected  it  ? 

The  second  is,  Whether  those  assistances,  that  God  gives 
to  men  to  enable  them  to  obey  him,  are  of  their  own  nature 
so  efficacious  and  irresistible,  that  they  never  fail  of  producing 
the  effect  for  which  they  are  given  ?  Or  whether  they  are 
only  sufficient  to  enable  a  man  to  obey  God ;  so  that  their 
efficacy  comes  from  the  freedom  of  the  will,  that  either  may 
co-operate  with  them,  or  may  not,  as  it  pleases  ? 

The  third  is,  Whether  such  persons  do,  and  must  certainly 
persevere  to  whom  such  grace  is  given  ?  Or,  whether  they 
may  not  fall  away  both  entirely  and  finally  from  that  state  ? 

There  are  also  other  questions  concerning  the  true  notion 
of  liberty,  concerning  the  feebleness  of  our  powers  in  this 
lapsed  state,  with  several  lesser  ones ;  all  which  do  necessarily 
take  their  determination  from  the  decision  of  the  first  and 
main  question ;  about  which  there  are  four  opinions. 

The  first  is  of  those  commonly  called  Supralapsarians,  who 
think  that  God  does  only  consider  his  own  glory  in  all  that  he 
does :  and  that  whatever  is  done  arises,  as  from  its  first  cause, 
from  the  decree  of  God :  that  in  this  decree  God,  considering 
only  the  manifestation  of  his  own  irLarv  i^-ended  to  make  the 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


195 


world,  to  put  a  race  of  men  in  it,  to  constitute  them  under  ART. 
Adam  as  their  fountain  and  head:  that  he  decreed  Adam's  XV11- 
sin,  the  lapse  of  his  posterity,  and  Christ's  death,  together 
with  the  salvation  or  damnation  of  such  men  as  should  be 
most  for  his  own  glory :  that  to  those  who  were  to  be  saved 
he  decreed  to  give  such  efficacious  assistances,  as  should  cer- 
tainlj  put  them  in  the  way  of  salvation ;  and  to  those  whom 
he  rejected  he  decreed  to  give  such  assistances  and  means 
only  as  should  render  them  inexcusable  :  that  all  men  do  con- 
tinue in  a  state  of  grace,  or  of  sin,  and  shall  be  saved  or 
damned,  according  to  that  first  decree :  so  that  God  views 
himself  only,  and  in  that  view  he  designs  all  things  singly  for 
his  own  glory,  and  for  the  manifesting  of  his  own  attributes. 

The  second  opinion  is  of  those  called  the  Sublapsarians, 
who  say,  that  Adam  having  sinned  freely,  and  his  sin  being 
imputed  to  all  his  posterity,  God  did  consider  mankind,  thus 
lost,  with  an  eye  of  pity ;  and,  having  designed  to  rescue  a 
great  number  out  of  this  lost  state,  he  decreed  to  send  his 
Son  to  die  for  them,  to  accept  of  his  death  on  their  account, 
and  to  give  them  such  assistances  as  should  be  effectual  both 
to  convert  them  to  him,  and  to  make  them  persevere  to  the 
end :  but  for  the  rest,  he  framed  no  positive  act  about  them, 
only  he  left  them  in  that  lapsed  state,  without  intending  that 
they  should  have  the  benefit  of  Christ's  death,  or  of  efficacious 
and  persevering  assistances. 

The  third  opinion  is  of  those  who  are  called  Remonstrants, 
Arminians,*  or  Universalists,  who  think  that  God  intended  to 
create  all  men  free,  and  to  deal  with  them  according  to  the 
use  that  they  should  make  of  their  liberty :  that  therefore  he, 
foreseeing  how  every  one  would  use  it,  did,  upon  that,  decree 
all  things  that  concerned  them  in  this  life,  together  with  their 
salvation  and  damnation  in  the  next :  that  Christ  died  for  all 
men ;  that  sufficient  assistances  are  given  to  every  man,  but 
that  all  men  may  choose  whether  they  will  use  them,  and  per- 
severe in  them,  or  not. 

The  fourth  opinion  is  of  the  Socinians,t  who  deny  the  cer- 
tain prescience  of  future  contingencies ;  and  therefore  they 
think  the  decrees  of  God  from  all  eternity  were  only  general ; 
that  such  as  believe  and  obey  the  gospel  shall  be  saved,  and 
that  such  as  live  and  die  in  sin  shall  be  damned :  but  that 
there  were  no  special  decrees  made  concerning  particular  per- 
sons, these  being  only  made  in  time,  according  to  the  state  in 
which  they  are :  they  do  also  think  that  man  is  by  nature  so 
free  and  so  entire,  that  he  needs  no  inward  grace ;  so  they 
deny  a  special  predestination  from  all  eternity,  and  do  also 
deny  inward  assistances. 

This  is  a  controversy  that  arises  out  of  natural  religion  :  for 
if  it  is  believed  that  God  governs  the  world,  and  that  the  wills 

*  See  note,  p.  202. 
f  For  an  account  of  the  heresv  of  Socinus,  sec  note  '  .  60. 

o  2 


196 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   of  men  are  free ;  then  it  is  natural  to  inquire  which  of  these  is 
x^  _    subject  to  the  other,  or  how  they  can  be  both  maintained  ? 
whether  God  determines  the  will  ?  or  if  his  Providence  follows 
the  motions  of  the  will  ?    Therefore  all  those  that  believed  a 
Providence  have  been  aware  of  this  difficulty.    The  Stoics  put 
all  things  under  a  fate ;  even  the  gods  themselves :  if  this  fate 
was  a  necessary  series  of  things,  a  chain  of  matter  and  motion 
that  was  fixed  and  unalterable,  then  it  was  plain  and  down- 
right atheism.    The  Epicureans  set  all  things  at  liberty,  and 
either  thought  that  there  was  no  God,  or  at  least  that  there 
was  no  Providence.    The  philosophers  kneAV  not  how  to  avoid 
this  difficulty,  by  which  we  see  Tully  and  others  were  so  differ- 
ently moved,  that  it  is  plain  they  despaired  of  getting  out  of 
Joseph.     it.    The  Jews  had  the  same  question  among  them ;  for  they 
Ant.  Jud.  could  not  believe  their  law,  without  acknowledging  a  Provi- 
1— deBelV  dence  :  and  yet  the  Sadducees  among  them  asserted  liberty  in 
Jud.  lib.  ii.  so  entire  a  manner,  that  they  set  it  free  from  all  restraints  :  on 
c>  7*        the  other  hand,  the  Essens  put  all  things  urder  an  absolute 
fate :  and  the  Pharisees  took  a  middle  way ;  they  asserted  the 
freedom  of  the  will,  but  thought  that  all  things  were  governed 
by  a  Providence.    There  are  also  subtle  disputes  concerning 
this  matter  among  the  Mahometans,  one  sect  asserting  liberty, 
and  another  fate,  which  generally  prevails  among  them. 

In  the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  the  Gnostics  fancied  that  the 
souls  of  men  were  of  different  ranks,  and  that  they  sprang  from 
Iren.  adv.  different  principles,  or  gods,  who  made  them.    Some  were 
c!T  sect'  carna^  tnat  were  devoted  to  perdition  ;  others  were  spiritual, 
ll.      '  and  were  certaiidy  to  be  saved ;  others  were  animal  of  a  middle 
Epiph.     order,  capable  either  of  happiness  or  misery.    It  seems  that 
Clem3  Al  *ne  Marcionites  and  Manichees  thought  that  some  souls  were 
Psd.  lib.  i.  made  by  the  bad  god,  as  others  were  made  by  the  good.  In 
c- 6-     .  opposition  to  all  these,  Origen  asserted,  that  all  souls  were  by 
archon"6""  nature  equally  capable  of  being  either  good  or  bad  ;  and  that 
l.iii.Philo-  the  difference  among  men  arose  merely  from  the  freedom  of 
cal  c.  21.  the  will,  and  the  various  use  of  that  freedom :  that  God  left 
Ep^ad     men  *°  this  liberty,  and  rewarded  and  punished  them  accord- 
Rom.  1.  vi. ing  to  the  use  of  it;  yet  he  asserted  a  Providence:  but  as  he 
c-3-        brought  in  the  Platonical  doctrine  of  pre-existence  into  the 
government  of  the  world ;  and  as  he  explained  God's  loving 
Jacob,  and  his  hating  of  Esau,  before  they  were  born,  and  had 
done  either  good  or  evil,  by  this  of  a  regard  to  what  they  had 
done  formerly ;  so  he  asserted  the  fall  of  man  in  Adam,  and 
his  being  recovered  by  grace ;  but  he  still  maintained  an  un- 
restrained liberty  in  the  will.     His  doctrine,  though  much 
hated  in  Egypt,  was  generally  followed  over  all  the  east,  par- 
ticularly in  Palestine  and  at  Antioch.    St.  Gregory  Nazianzen 
and  St.  Basil  drew  a  system  of  divinity  out  of  his  works,  in 
which  that  which  relates  to  the  liberty  of  the  will  is  very  fully 
Orig.  Phi-  set  forth :  that  book  was  much  studied  in  the  east.  Chrysos- 
Iocal-      torn,  Isidore  of  Damiete,  and  Theodoret,  with  all  their  followers, 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


197 


taught  it  so  copiously,  that  it  became  the  received  doctrine  of  A  RT. 
the  eastern  church.    Jerome  was  so  much  in  love  with  Origen,    x  VIL 
that  he  translated  some  parts  of  him,  and  set  lluffin  on  trans- 
lating the  rest.    But  as  he  had  a  sharp  quarrel  with  the  bi- 
shops of  Palestine,  so  that  perhaps  disposed  him  to  change  his 
thoughts  of  Origen :  for  ever  after  that,  he  set  himself  much 
to  disgrace  his  doctrine ;  and  he  was  very  severe  on  Ruffin  for 
translating  him:  though  Ruffin  confesses,  that,  in  translating  Ruffin. 
las  works,  he  took  great  liberties  in  altering  several  passages  VersCom 
that  he  disliked.    One  of  Origen's  disciples  was  Pelagius,  a  Ong.  in 
Scottish  monk,  in  great  esteem  at  Rome,  both  for  his  learning  Kp.  ad. 
and  the  great  strictness  of  his  life.    He  carried  these  doctrines  E 
further  than  the  Greek  church  had  done;  so  that  he  was  4.  aj ' 
reckoned  to  have  fallen  into  great  errors  both  by  Chrysostom  Qlymp. 
and  Isidore  (as  it  is  represented  by  Jansenius,  though  that  is  Jl  ™ 
denied  by  others,  who  think  they  meant  another  of  the  same  514. 
name).    He  denied  that  we  had  suffered  any  harm  by  the  fall 
of  Adam,  or  that  there  was  any  need  of  inward  assistances ; 
and  he  asserted  an  entire  liberty  in  the  will.    St.  Austin, 
though  in  his  disputes  with  the  Manichees  he  had  said  many 
things  on  the  side  of  liberty,  yet  he  hated  Pelagius's  doctrine, 
which  he  thought  asserted  a  sacrilegious  liberty,  and  he  set 
himself  to  beat  down  his  tenets,  which  had  been  but  feebly 
attacked  by  Jerome.    Cassian,  a  disciple  of  St.  Chrysostom's, 
came  to  Marseilles  about  this  time,  having  left  Constantinople 
perhaps  when  his  master  was  banished  out  of  it.    He  taught 
a  middle  doctrine,  asserting  an  inward  grace,  but  subject  to 
the  freedom  of  the  will ;  and  that  all  things  were  both  decreed 
and  done,  according  to  the  prescience  of  God,  in  which  all 
future  contingents  were  foreseen :  he  also  taught,  that  the 
first  conversion  of  the  soul  to  God  was  merely  an  effect  of  its 
free  choice ;  so  that  all  preventing  grace  was  denied  by  him ; 
which  came  to  be  the  peculiar  distinction  of  those  who  were 
afterwards  called  the  Semipelagians.    Prosper  and  Hilary  gave 
an  account  of  this  system  to  St.  Austin,  upon  which  he  writ 
against  it,  and  his  opinions  were  defended  by  Prosper,  Ful- 
gentius,  Orosius,  and  others,  as  Cassian's  were  defended  by 
Faustus,  Vincentius,  and  Gennadius.    In  conclusion,  St.  Aus- 
tin's opinions  did  generally  prevail  in  the  west ;  only  Pelagius, 
it  seems,  retiring  to  his  own  country,  he  had  many  followers 
among  the  Britains  :  but  German  and  Lupus,  being  sent  over 
once  and  again  from  France,  are  said  to  have  conquered  them 
so  entirely,  that  they  were  all  freed  from  those  errors :  what- 
ever they  did  by  their  arguments,  the  writers  of  their  legends 
took  care  to  adorn  their  mission  with  many  very  wonderful  mi- 
racles, of  which  the  gathering  all  the  pieces  of  a  calf,  som«  of 
which  had  been  dressed,  and  the  putting  them  together  in  its 
skin,  and  restoring  it  again  to  life,  is  none  of  the  least.  The 
ruin  of  the  Roman  empire,  and  the  disorders  that  the  western 
provinces  fell  under  by  their  new  and  barbarous  masters,  occa- 


198 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  sioned  in  those  ages  a  great  decay  of  learning :  so  that  few 
XVII.  writers  of  fame  coming  after  that  time,  St.  Austin's  great 
lahours  and  piety,  and  the  many  vast  volumes  that  he  had  left 
behind  him,  gave  him  so  great  a  name,  that  few  durst  contest 
what  had  been  so  zealously  and  so  copiously  defended  by 
him  :  and  though  it  is  highly  probable,  that  Celestine  was  not 
satisfied  with  his  doctrine  ;  yet  both  he  and  the  other  bishops 
of  Rome,  together  with  many  provincial  synods,  have  so  often 
declared  his  doctrine  in  those  points  to  be  the  doctrine  of  the 
church,  that  this  is  very  hardly  got  over  by  those  of  that  com- 
munion. 

The  chief,  and  indeed  the  only  material,  difference  that  is 
between  St.  Austin's  doctrine  and  that  of  the  Sublapsarians 
is,  that  he,  holding  that  with  the  sacrament  of  baptism  there 
was  joined  an  inward  regeneration,  made  a  difference  between 
the  regenerate  and  the  predestinate,  which  these  do  not :  he 
thought  persons  thus  regenerate  might  have  all  grace,  besides 
that  of  perseverance ;  but  he  thought  that  they,  not  being 
predestinated,  were  certainly  to  fall  from  that  state,  and  from 
the  grace  of  regeneration.  The  other  differences  are  but 
forced  strains  to  represent  him  and  the  Calvinists  as  of  differ- 
ent principles :  he  thought,  that  overcoming  delectation,  in 
which  he  put  the  efficacy  of  grace,  was  as  irresistible,  though 
he  used  not  so  strong  a  word  for  it  as  the  Calvinists  do ;  and 
he  thought  that  the  decree  was  as  absolute,  and  made  without 
any  regard  to  what  the  free-will  would  choose,  as  any  of  these 
do.  So  in  the  main  points,  the  absoluteness  of  the  decree, 
the  extent  of  Christ's  death,  the  efficacy  of  grace,  and  the 
certainty  of  perseverance,  their  opinions  are  the  same,  though 
their  ways  of  expressing  themselves  do  often  differ.  But  if 
St.  Austin's  name  and  the  credit  of  his  books  went  far,  yet 
no  book  was  more  read  in  the  following  ages  than  Cassian's 
Collations.  There  was  in  them  a  clear  thread  of  good  sense, 
and  a  very  high  strain  of  piety  that  run  through  them;  and 
they  were  thought  the  best  institutions  for  a  monk  to  form 
his  mind,  by  reading  them  attentively :  so  they  still  carried 
down,  among  those  who  read  them,  deep  impressions  of  the 
doctrine  of  the  Greek  church. 

This  broke  out  in  the  ninth  century,  in  which  Godescalcus, 
a  monk,  was  severely  used  by  Hinemar,  and  by  the  church  of 
Rhemes,  for  asserting  some  of  St.  Austin's  doctrines  ;  against 
which  Scotus  Erigena  wrote  ;  as  Bertram,  or  Ratramne,  wrote 
for  them.  Remigms,  bishop  of  Lyons,  with  his  church,  did 
zealously  assert  St.  Austin's  doctrine,  not  without  great 
sharpness  against  Scotus.  After  this,  the  matter  slept,  till 
the  school-divinity  came  to  be  in  great  credit :  and  Thomas 
Aquinas  being  accounted  the  chief  glory  of  the  Dominican 
order,  he  not  only  asserted  all  St.  Austin's  doctrine,  but  added 
this  to  it ;  that  whereas  formerly  it  was  in  general  held,  that 
the  providence  of  God  did  extend  itself  to  all  things  whatso- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


199 


ever,  he  thought  this  was  done  by  God's  concurring  imme-  ART. 
diately  to  the  production  of  every  thought,  action,  motion,  or  ^VI[- 
mode ;  so  that  God  was  the  first  and  immediate  cause  of 
every  thing  that  was  done:  and  in  order  to  the  explaining  the 
joint  production  of  every  thing  by  God  as  the  first,  and  by 
the  creature  as  the  second  cause,  he  thought,  at  least  as  his 
followers  have  understood  him,  that  by  a  physical  influence 
the  will  was  predetermined  by  God  to  all  things,  whether  good 
or  bad  ;  so  that  the  will  could  not  be  said  to  be  free  in  that 
particular  instance  in  sensu  composito,  though  it  was  in  gene- 
ral still  free  in  all  its  actions  in  sensu  diviso :  a  distinction  so 
sacred,  and  so  much  used  among  them,  that  I  choose  to  give 
it  in  their  own  terms,  rather  than  translate  them.  To  avoid 
the  consequence  of  making  God  the  author  of  sin,  a  distinc- 
tion was  made  between  the  positive  act  of  sin,  which  was  said 
not  to  be  evil,  and  the  want  of  its  conformity  to  the  law  of 
God,  which  being  a  negation  was  no  positive  being,  so  that 
it  was  not  produced.  And  thus,  though  the  action  was  pro- 
duced jointly  by  God  as  the  first  cause,  and  by  the  creature 
as  the  second,  yet  God  was  not  guilty  of  the  sin,  but  only  the 
creature.  This  doctrine  passed  down  among  the  Dominicans, 
and  continues  to  do  so  to  this  day.  Scotus,  who  was  a  Fran- 
ciscan, denied  this  predetermination,  and  asserted  the  freedom 
of  the  will.  Durandus  denied  this  immediate  concourse ;  in 
which  he  has  not  had  many  followers,  except  Adola,  and  some 
few  more. 

When  Luther  began  to  form  his  opinions  into  a  body,  he 
clearly  saw,  that  nothing  did  so  plainly  destroy  the  doctrine 
of  merit  and  justification  by  works,  as  St.  Austin's  opinions: 
he  found  also  in  his  works  very  express  authorities  against 
most  of  the  corruptions  of  the  Roman  church :  and  being  of 
an  order  that  carried  his  name,  and  by  consequence  was  accus- 
tomed to  read  and  reverence  his  works,  it  was  no  wonder  if 
he,  without  a  strict  examining  of  the  matter,  espoused  all  his 
opinions.  Most  of  those  of  the  church  of  Rome  who  wrote 
against  him,  being  of  the  other  persuasions,  any  one  reading 
the  books  of  that  age  would  have  thought  that  St.  Austin's 
doctrine  was  abandoned  by  the  church  of  Rome :  so  that 
when  Michael  Baius,  and  some  others  at  Louvain,  began  to 
revive  it,  that  became  a  matter  of  scandal,  and  they  were  con- 
demned at  Rome :  yet  at  the  council  of  Trent  the  Domini- 
cans had  so  much  credit,  that  great  care  was  taken,  in  the 
penning  their  decrees,  to  avoid  all  reflections  upon  that  doc- 
trine. It  was  at  first  received  by  the  whole  Jesuit  order,  so 
that  Bellarmine  formed  himself  upon  it,  and  still  adhered  to 
it  :  but  soon  after,  that  order  changed  their  mind,  and  left 
their  whole  body  to  a  full  liberty  in  those  points,  and  went 
all  quickly  over  to  the  other  hypothesis,  that  differed  from 
the  Semipelagians  only  in  this,  that  they  allowed  a  preventing- 
grace,  but  such  as  was  subject  to  the  freedom  of  the  will* 


200 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  Molina  and  Fonseca  invented  a  new  way  of  explaining 
*  ■  God's  foreseeing  future  contingents,  which  they  called  a  mid- 
dle, or  mean  science ;  by  which  they  taught,  that  as  God  sees 
all  things  as  possible  in  his  knowledge  of  simple  apprehension, 
and  all  things  that  are  certainly  future,  as  present  in  his  know- 
ledge of  vision;  so  by  this  knowledge  he  also  sees  the  chain 
of  all  conditionate  futurities,  and  all  the  connections  of  them, 
that  is,  whatsoever  would  follow  upon  such  or  such  condi- 
tions. Great  jealousies  arising  upon  the  progress  that  the 
order  of  the  Jesuits  was  making,  these  opinions  were  laid 
hold  on  to  mortify  them ;  so  they  were  complained  of  at 
Rome  for  departing  from  St.  Austin's  doctrine,  which  in  these 
points  was  generally  received  as  the  doctrine  of  the  Latin 
church:  and  many  conferences  were  held  before  pope  Clement 
the  Eighth,  and  the  cardinals  ;  where  the  point  in  debate  was 
chiefly,  What  was  the  doctrine  and  tradition  of  the  church? 
The  advantages  that  St.  Austin's  followers  had  were  such, 
that  before  fair  judges  they  must  have  triumphed  over  the 
other:  pope  Clement  had  so  resolved;  but  he  dying,  though 
pope  Paul  the  Fifth  had  the  same  intentions,  yet  he  happen- 
ing then  to  be  engaged  in  a  quarrel  with  the  Venetians  about 
the  ecclesiastical  immunities,  and  having  put  that  republic 
under  an  interdict,  the  Jesuits  who  were  there  chose  to  be 
banished,  rather  than  to  break  the  interdict:  and  their  adher- 
ing so  firmly  to  the  papal  authority,  when  most  of  the  other 
orders  forsook  it,  was  thought  so  meritorious  at  Rome,  that  it 
saved  them  the  censure :  so,  instead  of  a  decision,  all  sides 
were  commanded  to  be  silent,  and  to  quarrel  no  more  upon 
those  heads. 

About  forty  years  after  that,  Jansenius,*  a  doctor  of  Lou- 

*  Cornelius  Jansenius,  bishop  of  Ypres,  a  man  of  much  learning  and  piety,  flou- 
rished in  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  He  was  the  author  of  a  cele- 
brated work,  entitled  '  Augustinus,'  tho  publication  of  which,  after  his  death, 
revived  the  controversy  respecting  the  nature  and  extent  of  grace,  and  disturbed 
the  temporary  calm  into  which  the  fierce  contests  between  the  Jesuits  and  Domi- 
nicans had,  owing  to  the  skilful  management  of  Paul  V.,  subsided.  '  This  cele- 
brated work,'  writes  Mosheim,  'which  gave  such  a  wound  to  the  Romish  church,  as 
neither  the  power  nor  wisdom  of  the  pontiffs  will  ever  be  able  to  heal,  is  divided 
into  three  parts.  The  first  is  historical,  and  contains  a  relation  of  the  Pelagian 
controversy,  which  arose  in  the  fifth  century.  In  the  second,  we  find  an  accurate 
account  and  illustration  of  the  doctrine  of  Augustin,  relating  to  the  constitution 
and  powers  of  the  human  nature,  in  its  original,  fallen,  and  renewed  state.  The 
third  contains  the  doctrine  of  the  same  great  man,  relating  to  the  aids  of  sancti- 
fying grace,  procured  by  Christ,  and  to  the  eternal  predestination  of  men  and 
angels.' 

The  publication  of  this  work  was  so  detrimental  to  the  cause  of  the  Jesuits,  by 
placing  them  in  direct  opposition  to  Augustin,  that  they  left  no  means  untried  to 
procure  the  condemnation  of  it  by  the  papal  see.  In  this  they  succeeded  by,  in 
the  first  place,  having  the  perusal  of  it  prohibited  by  the  Roman  inquisitors,  and  in 
the  next  place  by  inducing  Urban  VIII.  to  issue  a  bull  against  it  as  a  work  infected 
with  errors.  This  condemnation  was,  however,  very  far  from  reaching  the  end 
proposed — the  overthrow  of  the  system  of  Divine  truth  propounded  in  Jansenius's 
work;  and  manv  distinguished  men  (amongst  them  the  doctors  of  Louvain)  set  at 
nought  the  papal  bull  by  openly  espousing  the  cause  of  Jansenius.  Each  party  con- 
tinued to  defend  their  peculiar  tenets  with  much  zeal  and  no  small  degree  of 
sophistry,  by  means  of  which  the  followers  of  Jansenius  contrived  to  evade  the  fury 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


201 


vain,  being  a  zealous  disciple  of  St.  Austin's,  and  seeing  the  ART. 
progress  that  the  contrary  doctrines  were  making,  did,  with  XVH. 
great  industry,  and  an  equal  fidelity,  publish  a  voluminous 
system  of  St.  Austin's  doctrine  in  all  the  several  branches  of 
the  controversy :  and  he  set  forth  the  Pelagians  and  the 
Semipelagians  in  that  work  under  very  black  characters  ;  and, 
not  content  with  that,  he  compared  the  doctrines  of  the  mo- 
dern innovators  with  theirs.  This  book  was  received  by  the 
whole  party  with  great  applause,  as  a  work  that  had  decided 
the  controversy.  But  the  author  having  writ  with  an  extra- 
ordinary force  against  the  French  pretensions  on  Flanders, 
which  recommended  him  so  much  to  the  Spanish  court,  that 
he  was  made  a  bishop  upon  it :  all  those  in  France  who  fol- 
lowed St.  Austin's  doctrine,  and  applauded  this  book,  were 
represented  by  their  enemies  as  being  in  the  same  interests 
with  him,  and  by  consequence  as  enemies  to  the  French  great- 
ness ;  so  that  the  court  of  France  prosecuted  the  whole  party. 
This  book  was  at  first  only  prohibited  at  Rome,  as  a  violation 
of  that  silence  that  the  pope  had  enjoined ;  afterwards  articles 
were  picked  out  of  it,  and  condemned,  and  all  the  clergy  of 
France  were  required  to  sign  the  condemnation  of  them. 


of  the  Jesuits,  who  were  the  more  powerful  party,  and  who  scrupled  not  to  have 
recourse  to  their  familiar  weapons, '  even  the  secular  arm,  and  a  competent  number 
i if  dragoons.'  The  Jansenists  endeavoured  to  establish  the  truth  of  their  system 
by  an  appeal  to  miracles;  and  must  have  triumphed  over  their  opponents,  were  it 
not  that  at  that  time  the  papacy  was  deeply  interested  in  keeping  itself  apart  from 
the  truth  laid  down  by  Augustin,  and  which  had  been  wielded  with  such  force 
against  it  by  Luther,  and  his  followers.  Accordingly,  on  the  31st  of  May,  1653, 
Innocent  X.,  turning  a  deaf  ear  to  the  numerous  entreaties  of  a  large  body  of  the 
clergv  to  suspend  his  decision,  condemned  by  a  bull  these  five  propositions,  ex- 
tracted by  his  opponents  from  the  book  of  Jansenius: — '  1st.  That  there  are  divine 
precepts  which  good  men,  notwithstanding  their  desire  to  observe  them,  are, 
nevertheless,  absolutely  unable  to  obey  ;  nor  has  God  given  them  that  measure  of 

grace  that  is  essentially  necessary  to  render  them  capable  of  such  obedience  

2d.  That  no  person,  in  his  corrupt  state  of  nature,  can  resist  the  influence  of  divine 
grace,  when  it  operates  upon  the  mind. — 3d.  That  in  order  to  render  human  actions 
meritorious,  it  is  not  requisite  that  they  be  exempt  from  necessity,  but  only  that 
they  be  free  from  constraint. — 4th.  That  the  Semipelagians  err  grievously  in 
maintaining  that  the  human  will  is  endowed  with  the  power  of  either  receiving  or 

resisting  the  aids  and  influences  of  preventing  grace  5th.  That  whosoever  affirms 

that  Jesus  Christ  made  expiations,  by  his  sufferings  and  death,  for  the  sins  of  all  man- 
kind, is  a  Semipelagian.'  The  four  first  of  these  propositions  were  declared  heretical, 
the  fifth  rash,  impious,  and  injurious  to  the  Supreme  Being.  An  ingenious  device 
was  then  set  up,  by  means  of  which  the  Jansenists  contrived,  notwithstanding  the 
pope's  bull,  to  maintain  their  opinions,  and  yet  remain  within  the  pale  of  the  papal 
church.  This  was  by  subscribing  to  the  correctness  of  the  pope's  decision  respecting 
these  propositions  ;  which  was  the  quei,tio  de  jure.  The  other,  by  denying  that  these 
propositions  were  in  the  book  of  Jansenius,  on  the  ground  that  the  pope  had  not 
declared  himself  in  this  point;  this  was  the  quest'w  de  facto.  Alexander  VII.  put 
an  end  to  this  distinction  by,  in  the  year  1656,  issuing  a  bull,  in  which  it  was  posi- 
tively declared,  that  the  five  propositions  were  the  tenets  of  Jansenius,  and  were  to 
be  found  in  his  book. 

After  this  the  Jesuits  set  upon  their  opponents  with  such  fury  and  persecution, 
that  those  who  refused  to  comply  with  the  papal  decree  were  cast  into  prison,  or 
banished;  others  escaped  by  flight,  and  many  took  refuge  under  the  wing  of  the 
Dutch  government,  and  were  thus  enabled  to  smile  at  the  storm,  and  defy  the  per- 
secuting fury  of  the  papal  see  [Ed.] 


202 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  These  articles  were  certainly  in  his  book,  and  were  manifest 
_  _  consequences  of  St.  Austin's  doctrine,  which  was  chiefly  driven 
at;  though  it  was  still  declared  at  Rome,  that  nothing  was  in- 
tended to  be  done  in  prejudice  of  St.  Austin's  doctrine.  Upon 
this  pretence  his  party  have  said,  that  those  articles  being 
capable  of  two  senses,  the  one  of  which  was  strained,  and 
was  heretical,  the  other  of  which  was  clear,  and  according  to 
St.  Austin's  doctrine,  it  must  be  presumed  it  was  not  in  that 
second,  but  in  the  other  sense,  that  they  were  condemned  at 
Rome,  and  so  they  signed  the  condemnation  of  them :  but 
then  they  said,  that  thev  were  not  in  Jansenius's  book  in  the 
sense  in  which  they  condemned  them. 

Upon  that  followed  a  most  extravagant  question  concerning 
the  pope's  infallibility  in  matters  of  fact :  it  being  said  on  the 
one  side,  that  the  pope  having  condemned  them  as  Jansenius's 
opinions,  the  belief  of  his  infallibility  obliged  them  to  conclude 
that  they  must  be  in  his  book :  whereas  the  others  with  great 
truth  affirmed,  that  it  had  never  been  thought  that  in  matters 
of  fact  either  popes  or  councils  were  infallible.  At.  last  a  new 
cessation  of  hostilities  upon  these  points  was  resolved  on  ;  vet 
the  hatred  continues  and  the  war  goes  on,  though  more  co- 
vertly and  more  indirectly  than  before. 

Nor  are  the  reformed  more  of  a  piece  than  the  church  of 
Rome  upon  these  poi.its.  Luther  went  on  long,  as  he  at  first 
set  out,  with  so  little  disguise,  that  whereas  all  parties  had 
always  pretended  that  thev  asserted  the  freedom  of  the  will, 
he  plainly  spoke  out,  and  said  the  will  was  not  free,  but  en- 
slaved :  yet  before  he  died,  he  is  reported  to  have  changed  his 
mind ;  for  though  he  never  owned  that,  yet  Melancthon,  who 
had  been  of  the  same  opinion,  did  freely  retract  it ;  for  which 
he  was  never  blamed  by  Luther.  Since  that  time  all  the  Lu- 
therans have  gone  into  the  Semipelagian  opinions  so  entirely 
and  so  eagerlv,  that  they  will  neither  tolerate  nor  hold  com- 
munion with  any  of  the  other  persuasion.  Calvin  not  only 
taught  St.  Austin's  doctrine,  but  seemed  to  go  on  to  the 
Supralapsarian  way;  which  was  more  openly  taught  by  Beza, 
and  was  generally  followed  by  the  reformed ;  only  the  differ- 
ence between  the  Sapralapsarians  and  the  Sublapsarians  was 
never  brought  to  a  decision ;  divines  being  in  all  the  Calvin- 
ists'  churches  left  to  their  freedom  as  to  that  point. 

In  England  the  first  reformers  were  generally  in  the  Sub- 
lapsarian  hypothesis :  but  Perkins  and  others  having  asserted 
the  Supralapsarian  way,  Arminius,*  a  professor  in  Leyden, 

*  James  Arminius,  professor  of  divinity  in  the  university  of  Leyden,  was  '  a  man 
who  joined  to  unquestionable  pietv  and  meekness  of  spirit,  a  clear  and  acute  judg- 
ment ;  and  who  had  obtained  no  slight  eminence  by  the  talent  with  which  he  had 
extricated  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  from  the  dry  and  technical  mode  in  which 
they  had  hitherto  been  stated  and  discussed.  His  celebrity  placed  him  in  a  situa- 
tion ill  suited  to  his  habits  and  temper.  As  a  pupil  of  Beza,  he  had  embraced  the 
extreme  views  to  which  that  divine  had  carried  the  tenets  advocated  by  the  power- 
ful pen  of  Calvin.     It  happened  that  one  Coornhert  had  advanced  some  opinions, 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


203 


writ  against  him  :  upon  this  Gomarus  and  he  had  many  dis-  ART. 
putes  ;  and  these  opinions  bred  a  great  distraction  over  all  the  xvl1- 
United  Provinces.  At  the  same  time  another  political  matter 
occasioning  a  division  of  opinion,  whether  the  war  should  be 
carried  on  with  Spain,  or  if  propositions  for  a  peace  or  truce 
should  be  entertained  ?  it  happened  that  Arminius's  followers 
were  all  for  a  peace,  and  the  others  were  generally  for  carrying 
on  the  war ;  which  being  promoted  by  the  prince  of  Orange, 
he  joined  to  them :  and  the  Arminians  were  represented  as 
men,  whose  opinions  and  affections  leaned  to  popery :  so  that 
this,  from  being  a  doctrinal  point,  became  the  distinction  of  a 
party,  and  by  that  means  the  differences  were  inflamed.  A 


which,  if  not  loose  in  themselves,  were,  at  least,  expressed  in  a  very  unguarded  way. 
The  ministers  of  Delft  published  a  reply :  in  which  the  moderate  and  generally 
reoeiv^d  Sublapsarian  hypothesis  was  sustained ;  which  gave  little  less  offence  to 
the  high  Calvinists  than  did  the  heterodox  language  of  Coornhert.  Arminius, 
therefore,  as  the  most  talented  divine  of  the  day,  was  applied  to,  in  order  to  take 
up  the  pen,  on  both  sides.  On  the  one  hand,  his  friend  Martin  Lydius,  solicited 
him  to  vindicate  the  Supralapsarian  views  of  his  former  tutor,  Beza,  against  the 
reply  of  the  ministers ;  and,  on  the  other,  he  was  invited  by  the  synod  of  Amster- 
dam, to  defend  this  same  reply  against  Coornhert.  Placed  in  this  remarkable 
situation,  Arminius  felt  compelled  to  enter  into  an  examination  of  the  whole  ques- 
tion, and  was  induced  to  change  his  sentiments,  and  to  adopt  that  view  of  the 
Divine  dispensations  which  now  bears  his  name.' — Allport. 

The  sentiments  of  the  Arminians,  or  Remonstrants,  concerning  the  questions 
of  predestination  and  grace,  were  comprehended  in  five  articles,  generally  denomi- 
nated the  five  points,  and  which  have  been  the  subject  of  much  discussion  in  our  own 
church.  They  are — 1st.  'That  God,  from  all  eternity,  determined  to  bestow  salvation 
on  those  whom  he  foresaw  would  persevere  unto  the  end  in  their  faith  in  Christ 
Jesus;  and  to  inflict  everlasting  punishment  on  those  who  should  continue  in  their 
unbelief,  and  resist  unto  the  end  his  Divine  succours. 

'  2d.  That  Jesus  Christ,  by  his  death  and  sufferings,  made  an  atonement  for  the 
sins  of  all  mankind  in  general,  and  of  every  individual  in  particular; — that,  how- 
ever, none  but  those  who  believe  in  him  can  be  partakers  of  this  divine  benefit. 

'  3d.  That  true  faith  cannot  proceed  from  the  exercise  of  our  natural  faculties  and 
powers,  nor  from  the  force  and  operation  of  free-will ;  since  man,  in  consequence  of 
his  natural  corruption,  is  incapable  either  of  thinking  or  of  doing  any  good  thing  ; 
and  that  therefore  it  is  necessary,  to  his  conversion  and  salvation,  that  he  be  rege- 
nerated and  renewed  by  the  operation  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  is  the  gift  of  God 
through  Jesus  Christ. 

'  4th.  That  this  Divine  grace,  or  energy  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  heals  the  dis- 
order of  a  corrupt  nature,  begins,  advances,  and  brings  to  perfection,  every  thing 
that  ean  be  called  good  in  man ;  and  that,  consequently,  all  good  works,  without 
exception,  are  to  be  attributed  to  God  alone,  and  to  the  operation  of  his  grace : 
that,  nevertheless,  this  grace  does  not  force  the  man  to  act  against  his  inclination, 
but  may  be  resisted  and  rendered  ineffectual  by  the  perverse  will  of  the  impenitent 
t-inner. 

'  5th.  That  they  who  are  united  to  Christ  by  faith  are  thereby  furnished  with 
abundant  strength,  and  with  succours  sufficient  to  enable  them  to  triumph  over  the 
seductions  of  Satan,  and  the  allurements  of  sin  and  temptation  ;  but  that  the  ques- 
tion, '  Whether  such  may  fall  from  their  faith,  and  perfect  finally  this  state  of 
grace  ?'  has  not  been  yet  resolved  with  sufficient  perspicuity  ;  and  must,  therefore, 
be  yet  more  carefully  examined  by  an  attentive  study  of  what  the  Holy  Scriptures 
have  declared  in  relation  to  this  important  point.  "  It  is  to  be  observed,  that  this 
last  article  was  afterwards  changed  by  the  Arminians,  who,  in  process  of  time,  de- 
clared their  sentiments  with  less  caution,  and  positively  affirmed  that  the  saints 
might  fall  from  a  state  of  grace.'" — Mosheim. 

The  opinions  of  Arminius  were  condemned  at  the  famous  synod  of  D»rt.  Of 
the  life  of  Arminius,  and  the  proceedings  of  the  synod  of  Dort,  the  reader  will  find 
a  concise  and  interesting  account  in  Allport's  translation  of  Davenant  on  the 
Col  ossians.  — [  En,  1 


204 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  great  synod  met  at  Dort ;  to  which  the  divines  were  sent  from 
XVI1,  hence,  as  well  as  from  other  churches.  The  Arminian  tenets 
were  condemned ;  but  the  difference  between  the  Supralapsa- 
rians  and  Sublapsarians  was  not  meddled  with.  The  divines 
of  this  church,  though  very  moderate  in  the  way  of  proposing 
their  opinions,  vet  upon  the  main  adhered  to  St.  Austin's 
doctrine.  So  the  breach  was  formed  in  Holland :  but  when 
the  point  of  state  was  no  more  mixed  with  it,  these  questions 
were  handled  with  less  heat. 

Those  disputes  quicklv  crossed  the  seas,  and  divided  us : 
the  abbots  adhered  to  St.  Austin's  doctrine ;  while  bishop 
Overal,  but  chiefly  archbishop  Laud,  espoused  the  Arminian 
tenets.  All  divines  were  by  proclamation  required  not  to 
preach  upon  those  heads  :  but  those  that  favoured  the  new 
opinions  were  encouraged,  and  the  others  were  depressed. 
And  unhappy  disputes  falling  in  at  that  time  concerning  the 
extent  of  the  royal  prerogative  beyond  law,  the  Arminians 
having  declared  themselves  highly  for  that,  they  were  as  much 
favoured  at  court,  as  thev  were  censured  in  the  parliament : 
which  brought  that  doctrine  under  a  very  hard  character  over 
all  the  nation. 

Twisse  carried  it  high  to  the  Supialapsarian  hvpothesis, 
which  grew  to  be  generally  followed  by  those  of  that  side : 
but  that  sounded  harshly ;  and  Hobbes  grafting  afterwards 
a  fate  and  absolute  necessity  upon  it,  the  other  opinions  were 
again  revived ;  and  no  political  interests  falling  in  with  them, 
as  all  prejudices  against  them  went  off,  so  they  were  more 
calmly  debated,  and  became  more  generally  acceptable  than 
they  were  before.  Men  are  now  left  to  their  liberty  in  them, 
and  all  anger  upon  those  heads  is  now  so  happily  extinguished, 
that  diversity  of  opinions  about  them  begets  no  alienation  nor 
animosity. 

So  far  have  I  prosecuted  a  short  view  of  the  history  of  this 
controversy.  I  come  now  to  open  the  chief  grounds  of  the 
different  parties  :  and  first,  for  the  Supralapsarians. 

They  lay  this  down  for  a  foundation,  that  God  is  essentially 
perfect  and  independent  in  all  his  acts  :  so  that  he  can  con- 
sider nothing  but  himself  and  his  own  glory :  that  therefore 
lie  designed  every  thins:  in  and  for  himself:  that  to  make  him 
stay  his  decrees  till  he  sees  what  free  creatures  will  do,  is  to 
make  him  decree  dependently  upon  them ;  which  seems  to 
fall  short  of  infinite  perfection  :  that  he  himself  can  be  the 
only  end  of  his  counsels ;  and  that  therefore  he  could  only 
consider  the  manifestation  of  his  own  attributes  and  perfection; 
that  infinite  wisdom  must  begin  its  designs  at  that  which  is  to 
come  last  in  the  execution  of  them ;  and  since  the  conclusion 
of  all  tilings  at  the  last  day  will  be  the  manifestation  of  the 
wisdom,  goodness,  and  justice  of  God,  we  ought  to  suppose, 
that  God,  in  the  order  of  things  designed  that  first,  though  in 
the  order  of  time  there  is  no  first  nor  second  in  God,  this 


THE  XXX IX  ARTICLES. 


205 


being  supposed  to  be  from  all  eternity.  After  this  great  de-  ART. 
sign  was  laid,  all  the  means  in  order  to  the  end  were  next  to  XVII. 
be  designed.  Creatures  in  the  sight  of  God  are  as  nothing, 
and,  by  a  strong  figure,  are  said  to  be  less  than  nothing,  and 
vanity.  Now  if  we  in  our  designs  do  not  consider  ants  or 
insects,  not  to  say  straws,  or  grains  of  sand  and  dust,  then  what 
lofty  thoughts  soever  our  pride  may  suggest  to  us,  we  must 
be  confessed  to  be  very  poor  and  inconsiderable  creatures 
before  God;  therefore  he  himself  and  his  own  glory  can  only 
be  his  own  end  in  all  that  he  designs  or  does. 

This  is  the  chief  hasis  of  their  doctrine,  and  so  ought  to  be 
well  considered.  They  add  to  this,  that  there  can  be  no  cer- 
tain prescience  of  future  contingents.  They  say  it  involves  a 
contradiction,  that  things  which  are  not  certainly  to  be,  should 
be  certainly  foreseen ;  for  if  they  are  certainly  foreseen,  they 
must  certainly  be :  so  while  they  are  supposed  to  be  contin- 
gent, they  are  yet  affirmed  to  be  certain,  by  saying  that  they 
are  certainly  foreseen.  When  God  decrees  that  any  thing 
shall  be,  it  has  from  that  a  certain  futurition,  and  as  such  it  is 
certainly  foreseen  by  him  :  an  uncertain  foresight  is  an  act  of 
its  nature  imperfect,  because  it  may  be  a  mistake,  and  so  is 
inconsistent  with  the  divine  perfection.  And  it  seems  to  im- 
ply a  contradiction  to  say  that  a  thing  happens  freely,  that  is, 
may  be,  or  may  not  be,  and  yet  that  it  is  certainly  foreseen  by 
God.  God  cannot  foresee  things,  but  as  he  decrees  them, 
and  so  gives  them  a  futurition,  and,  therefore,  this  prescience 
antecedent  to  his  decree  must  be  rejected  as  a  thing  impossible. 

They  say  further,  that  conditionate  decrees  are  imperfect  in 
their  nature,  and  that  they  subject  the  will  and  acts  of  God  to 
a  creature :  that  a  conditionate  decree  is  an  act  in  suspense, 
whether  it  shall  be  or  not ;  which  is  inconsistent  with  infinite 
perfection.  A  general  will,  or  rather  a  willing  that  all  men 
should  be  saved,  has  also  plain  characters  of  imperfection  in 
it :  as  if  God  wished  somewhat  that  he  could  not  accomplish, 
so  that  his  goodness  should  seem  to  be  more  extended  than 
his  power.  Infinite  perfection  can  wish  nothing  but  what  it 
can  execute ;  and  if  it  is  fit  to  wish  it,  it  is  fit  also  to  execute 
it.  Therefore  all  that  style,  that  ascribes  passions  or  affec- 
tions to  God,  must  be  understood  in  a  figure ;  so  that  when 
his  providence  exerts  itself  in  such  acts  as  among  us  men 
would  be  the  effects  of  those  passions,  then  the  passions 
themselves  are  in  the  phrase  of  the  scripture  ascribed  to  God. 
They  say  we  ought  not  to  measure  the  punishments  of  sin  by 
our  notions  of  justice :  God  afflicts  many  good  men  very  se- 
verely, and  for  many  years  in  this  life,  and  this  only  for  the 
manifestation  of  his  own  glory,  for  making  their  faith  and  pa- 
tience to  shine  ;  and  yet  none  think  that  this  is  unjust.  It  is 
a  method  in  which  God  will  be  glorified  in  them  :  some  sins 
are  punished  with  other  sins,  and  likewise  with  a  course  of 
severe  miseries:  if  we  transfer  this  from  time  to  eternity,  the 


206 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  whole  will  be  then  more  conceivable;  for  if  God  may  do  for 
x^  _  a  little  time  that  which  is  inconsistent  with  our  notions,  and 
with  our  rules  of  justice,  he  may  do  it  for  a  longer  duration; 
since  it  is  as  impossible  that  he  can  be  unjust  for  a  day,  as 
for  all  eternity. 

As  God  does  every  thing  for  himself  and  his  own  glory,  so 
the  scriptures  teach  us  every  where  to  offer  up  all  praise  and 
glory  to  God;  to  acknowledge  that  all  is  of  him,  and  to  humble 
ourselves  as  being  nothing  before  him.  Now  if  we  were 
elected  not  by  a  free  act  of  his,  but  bv  what  he  foresaw  that 
we  would  be,  so  that  his  grace  is  not  efficacious  by  its  own 
force,  but  by  the  good  use  that  we  make  of  it.  then  the  glory 
and  praise  of  all  the  good  we  do,  and  of  God's  purposes  to  us, 
were  due  to  ourselves :  he  desisms,  according  to  the  other 
doctrine,  equally  well  to  all  men  ;  and  all  the  difference  among 
them  will  arise  neither  from  God's  intentions  to  them,  nor 
from  his  assistances,  but  from  the  good  use  that  he  foresaw 
they  would  make  of  these  favours  that  he  was  to  give  in  com- 
mon to  all  mankind :  man  should  have  whereof  to  glory,  and 
he  might  say,  that  he  himself  made  himself  to  differ  from 
others.  The  whole  strain  of  the  scriptures  in  ascribing  all 
good  things  to  God,  and  in  charging  us  to  offer  up  the  honour 
of  all  to  him,  seems  very  expressly  to  favour  this  doctrine ; 
since  if  all  our  good  is  from  God,  and  is  particularly  owing  to 
his  grace,  then  good  men  have  somewhat  from  God  that  bad 
men  have  not;  for  which  they  ought  to  praise  him.  The 
stvle  of  all  the  pravers  that  are  used  or  directed  to  be  used 
in  the  scripture,  is  for  a  grace  that  opens  our  eyes,  that  turns 
our  hearts,  that  makes  us  to  go,  that  leads  us  not  into  tempta- 
tion, but  delivers  us  from  evil.  All  these  phrases  do  plainly 
import  that  we  desire  more  than  a  power  or  capacity  to  act, 
such  as  is  given  to  all  men,  and  such  as,  after  we  have  received 
it,  may  be  still  ineffectual  to  us.  For  to  pray  for  such  assist- 
ances as  are  alwavs  given  to  all  men,  and  are  such  that  th3 
whole  good  of  them  shall  wholly  depend  upon  ourselves,  would 
sound  very  oddlv ;  whereas  we  pray  for  somewhat  that  is 
special,  and  that  we  hope  shall  be  effectual.  We  do  not  and 
cannot  prav  earnestly  for  that,  which  we  know  all  men  as  well 
as  we  ourselves  have  at  all  times. 

Humility  and  earnestness  in  prayer  seem  to  be  among  the 
chief  means  of  working  in  us  the  image  of  Christ,  and  of 
deriving  to  us  all  the  blessings  of  heaven.  That  doctrine 
which  blasts  both,  which  swells  us  up  with  an  opinion  that  all 
come  ?  from  ourselves,  and  that  we  receive  nothing  from  God 
but  what  is  given  in  common  with  us  to  all  the  world,  is 
certainly  contrary  both  to  the  spirit  and  to  the  design  of  the 
gospel. 

To  this  they  add  observations  from  Providence.  The  world 
was  for  many  ages  delivered  up  to  idolatry ;  and  since  the 
Christian  religion  has  appeared,  we  see  vast  tracts  of  coun- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


207 


tries  which  have  continued  ever  since  in  idolatry:  others  are  ART. 
fallen  under  Mahometanism ;  and  the  state  of  Christendom  XVH- 
is  in  the  eastern  parts  of  it  under  so  much  ignorance,  and  the 
greatest  part  of  the  west  is  under  so  much  corruption,  that 
we  must  confess  the  far  greatest  part  of  mankind  has  been  in 
all  ages  left  destitute  of  the  means  of  grace,  so  that  the  pro- 
mulgating the  gospel  to  some  nations,  and  the  denying  it  to 
others,  must  be  ascribed  to  the  unsearchable  ways  of  God, 
that  are  past  finding  out.  If  he  thus  leaves  whole  nations 
in  such  darkness  and  corruption,  and  freely  chooses  others 
to  communicate  the  knowledge  of  himself  to  them,  then  we 
need  not  wonder  if  he  should  hold  the  same  method  with  in- 
dividuals, that  he  does  with  whole  bodies  :  for  the  rejecting  of 
whole  nations  by  the  lump  for  so  many  ages,  is  much  more 
unaccountable  than  the  selecting  of  a  few,  and  the  leaving 
others  in  that  state  of  ignorance  and  brutality.  And  what- 
ever may  be  said  of  his  extending  mercy  to  some  few  of  those 
who  have  made  a  good  use  of  that  dim  light  which  they  had ; 
yet  it  cannot  be  denied  but  their  condition  is  much  more  de- 
plorable, and  the  condition  of  the  others  is  much  more  hope- 
ful ;  so  that  great  numbers  of  men  are  born  in  such  circum- 
stances, that  it  is  morally  impossible  that  they  should  not 
perish  in  them ;  whereas  others  are  more  happily  situated  and 
enlightened. 

This  argument  taken  from  common  observation  becomes 
much  stronger,  when  we  consider  what  the  apostle  says,  par- 
ticularly in  the  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  the  Ephesians,  Rom- 
even  according  to  the  exposition  of  those  of  the  other  side :  E  'h  ; 
for  if  God  loved  Jacob,  so  as  to  choose  his  posterity  to  be  his  6,  9— 11. 
people,  and  rejected  or  hated  Esau  and  his  posterity,  and  if  "■ 1_ 9- 
that  was  according  to  the  purpose  and  design  of  his  election ; 
if  by  the  same  purpose  the  Gentiles  were  to  be  grafted  upon 
that  stock,  from  which  the  Jews  were  then  to  be  cut  off ;  and 
if  the  counsel  or  purpose  of  God  had  appeared  in  particular  to 
those  of  Ephesus,  though  the  most  corrupted  both  in  magic, 
idolatry,  and  immorality,  of  any  in  the  east ;  then  it  is  plain, 
that  the  applying  the  means  of  grace,  arises  merely  from  a 
great  design  that  was  long  hid  in  God,  which  did  then  break 
out.    It  is  reasonable  to  believe,  that  there  is  a  proportion 
between  the  application  of  the  means,  and  the  decree  itself 
concerning  the  end.    The  one  is  resolved  into  the  unsearch- 
able riches  of  God's  grace,  and  declared  to  be  free  and  abso- 
lute.   God's  choosing  the  nation  of  the  Jews  in  such  a  dis- 
tinction beyond  all  other  nations,  is  by  Moses  and  the  pro-  Deut.  vii. 
phets  frequently  said  not  to  be  on  their  own  account,  or  on  7»  8^_g 
the  account  of  any  thing  that  God  saw  in  them,  but  merely  x  ']5>  ^ 
from  the  goodness  of  God  to  them.    From  all  this  it  seems, 
say  they,  as  reasonable  to  believe  that  the  other  is  likewise 
free,  according  to  those  words  of  our  Saviour's,  '  1  thank  thee,  Matt.  xi. 
O  Father.  Lord  of  heaven  and  earth,  because  thou  hast  hid  25>  261 


208 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent,  and  hast  revealed 
x%  them  unto  bahes  :'  the  reason  of  which  is  given  in  the  follow- 
ing words,  '  Even  so,  Father,  for  it  seemed  good  in  thy  sight.' 
21— 231'  ^'nat  »oes  before,  of  Tyre  and  Sidon,  and  the  land  of  Sodom, 
that  would  have  made  a  better  use  of  his  preaching,  than  the 
towns  of  Galilee  had  done,  among  whom  he  lived,  confirms 
this,  that  the  means  of  grace  are  not  bestowed  on  those  cf 
whom  it  was  foreseen  that  thev  would  have  made  a  good  us<j 
of  them  ;  or  denied  to  those  who,  as  was  foreseen,  would  have 
made  an  ill  use  of  them;  the  contrary  of  this  being  plainly 
asserted  in  those  words  of  our  Saviours.  It  is  further  ob- 
servable, that  he  seems  not  to  be  speaking  here  of  different 
nations,  but  of  the  different  sorts  of  men  of  the  same  nation  : 
the  more  learned  of  the  Jews,  the  wise  and  prudent,  rejected 
him,  while  the  simpler,  but  better  sort,  the  babes,  received 
him  :  so  that  the  difference  between  individual  persons  seems 
here  to  be  resolved  into  the  good  pleasure  of  God. 

It  is  further  urged,  that  since  those  of  the  other  side  con- 
fess, that  God  by  his  prescience  foresaw  what  circumstances 
might  be  happy,  and  what  assistances  might  prove  efficacious, 
to  bad  men ;  then  his  not  putting  them  in  those  circum- 
stances, but  giving  them  such  assistances  only,  which,  how 
effectual  soever  they  might  be  to  others,  he  saw  would  have 
no  efficacy  on  them,  and  his  putting  them  in  circumstances, 
and  giving  them  assistances,  which  he  foresaw  thov  would 
abuse,  if  it  may  seem  to  clear  the  justice  of  God,  yet  it  cannot 
clear  his  infinite  holiness  and  goodness  ;  which  must  ever  carrv 
him,  according  to  our  notions  of  these  perfections,  to  do  all 
that  mav  be  done,  and  that  in  the  most  effectual  way,  to  res- 
cue others  from  misery,  to  make  them  truly  good,  and  to  put 
them  in  a  way  to  be  happv.  Since  therefore  this  is  not  alwavs 
done,  according  to  the  other  opinion,  it  is  plain  that  there  is 
an  unsearchable  depth  in  the  ways  of  God,  which  we  are  not 
able  to  fathom.  Therefore  it  must  be  concluded,  that  since 
all  are  not  actually  good,  and  so  put  in  a  way  to  be  saved,  that 
Rom.  ii.  God  did  not  intend  that  it  should  be  so;  for  'who  hath  re- 
?£"  ...  sisted  his  will  ?  The  counsel  of  the  Lord  standeth  fast,  and 
11.  '  the  thoughts  of  his  heart  to  all  generations.'  It  is  true,  his 
laws  are  his  will  in  one  respect :  he  requires  all  to  obey  them  : 
he  approves  them,  and  he  obliges  all  men  to  keep  them.  All 
the  expressions  of  his  desires  that  all  men  should  be  saved, 
are  to  be  explained  of  the  will  of  revelation,  commonly  called 
the  sign  of  his  will.  "When  it  is  said,  What  more  could  have 
been  done  ?  that  is  to  be  understood  of  outward  means  and 
Isa.  v.  4.  blessings  :  but  still  God  has  a  secret  will  of  his  good  pleasure, 
in  which  he  designs  all  things ;  and  this  can  never  be  frus- 
trated. 

From  this  they  do  also  conclude,  that  though  Christ's  death 
was  to  be  offered  to  all  Christians,  yet  that  intentionally  and 
actually  he  only  died  for  those  whom  the  Father  had  chosen 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


209 


and  given  to  him  to  be  saved  by  him.    They  cannot  think  that  A  Tt  T. 
Christ  could  have  died  in  vain,  which  St.  Paul  speaks  of  as  a  xvn- 
vast  absurdity.    Now  since,  if  he  had  died  for  all,  he  should  t^uT^l. 
have  died  in  vain,  with  relation  to  the  far  greater  part  of  man- 
kind, who  are  not  to  be  saved  by  him  ;  they  from  thence  con- 
clude, that  all  those  for  whom  he  died  are  certainly  saved  by 
him.     Perhaps  with  relation  to  some  subaltern  blessings, 
which  are  through  him  communicated,  if  not  to  all  mankind, 
yet  to  all  Christians,  he  may  be  said  to  have  died  for  all :  but 
as  to  eternal  salvation,  they  believe  his  design  went  no  further 
than  the  secret  purpose  and  election  of  God,  and  this  they 
think  is  implied  in  these  words,  'all  that  are  given  me  of  my 
Father :  thine  they  were,  and  thou  gavest  them  me.'    He  also 
limits  his  intercession  to  those  onlv ;  '  I  pray  not  for  the  world,  -T°hn  *vii. 
but  for  those  that  thou  hast  given  me  ;  for  they  are  thine  :  and  6'  9'  10, 
all  thine  are  mine,  and  mine  are  thine.'    They  believe  that  he 
also  limited  to  them  the  extent  of  his  death,  and  of  that  sacri- 
fice which  he  offered  in  it. 

It  is  true,  the  Christian  religion  being  to  be  distinguished 
from  the  Jewish  in  this  main  point,  that  whereas  the  Jewish 
was  restrained  to  Abraham's  posterity,  and  confined  within 
one  race  and  nation,  the  Christian  was  to  be  preached  to  every 
creature;  universal  words  are  used  concerning  the  death  of 
Christ :  but  as  the  words,  '  preaching  to  every  creature,'  and  Mark  *vi- 
to  '  all  the  world,'  are  not  to  be  understood  in  the  utmost 15' 
extent,  for  then  they  have  never  been  verified ;  since  the  gos- 
pel has  never  yet,  for  aught  that  appears  to  us,  been  preached 
to  every  nation  under  heaven ;  but  are  only  to  be  explained 
generally  of  a  commission  not  limited  to  one  or  more  nations ; 
none  being  excluded  from  it :  the  apostles  were  to  execute  it 
in  going  from  city  to  city,  as  they  should  be  inwardly  moved 
to  it  by  the  Holy  Ghost :  so  they  think  that  those  large  words, 
that  are  applied  to  the  death  of  Christ,  are  to  be  understood 
in  the  same  qualified  manner;  that  no  nation  or  sort  of  men 
are  excluded  from  it,  and  that  some  of  all  kinds  and  sorts  shall 
be  saved  by  him.  And  this  is  to  be  carried  no  further,  with- 
out an  imputation  on  the  justice  of  God :  for  if  he  has  received 
a  sufficient  oblation  and  satisfaction  for  the  sins  of  the  whole 
world,  it  is  not  reconcileable  to  justice,  that  all  should  not  be 
saved  by  it,  or  should  not  at  least  have  the  offer  and  promulga- 
tion of  it  made  them ;  that  so  a  trial  may  be  made  whether 
they  will  accept  of  it  or  not. 

The  grace  of  God  is  set  forth  in  scripture  by  such  figures 
and  expressions  as  do  plainly  intimate  its  efficacy  ;  and  that 
it  does  not  depend  upon  us  to  use  it,  or  not  to  use  it,  at  plea- 
sure.   It  is  said  to  be  a  creation;  'we  are  created  unto  good  Eph.h.io. 
works,  and  we  become  new  creatures :'  it  is  called  a  regenera-  p^^'Jg* 
tion,  or  a  new  birth;  it  is  called  a  quickening  and  a  resurrec-  ps.  cX.  3  ' 
tion  ;  as  our  former  state  is  compared  to  a  feebleness,  a  blind-  Jer.  xxxi. 
ness,  and  a  death.    God  is  said  '  to  work  in  us  both  to  will  33,  34, 

F 


210 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.   and  to  do :   His  people  shall  be  willing  in  the  day  of  his 
x^ I!-    power:  He  will  write  his  laws  in  their  hearts,  and  make  them 
£zell<       to  walk  in  them.'    Mankind  is  compared  to  a  mass  of  clay  in 
xxxvi.  26,  the  hand  of  the  potter,  who  of  the  same  lump  makes  at  his 
pleasure  '  vessels  of  honour  or  of  dishonour.'   These  passages, 
21°m"       this  last  in  particular,  do  insinuate  an  absolute  and  a  conquer- 
ing power  in  grace ;  and  that  the  love  of  God  constrains  us, 
as  St.  Paul  speaks  expressly. 

All  outward  coaction  is  contrary  to  the  nature  of  liberty, 
and  all  those  inward  impressions  that  drove  on  the  prophets, 
so  that  they  had  not  the  free  use  of  their  faculties,  but  felt 
themselves  carried  they  knew  not  how,  are  inconsistent  with 
it ;  yet  when  a  man  feels  that  his  faculties  go  in  their  method, 
and  that  he  assents  or  chooses  from  a  thread  of  inward  con- 
viction and  ratiocination,  he  still  acts  freely,  that  is,  by  an  in- 
ternal principle  of  reason  and  thought.  A  man  acts  as  much 
according  to  his  faculties,  when  he  assents  to  a  truth,  as  when 
he  chooses  what  he  is  to  do :  and  if  his  mind  were  so  en- 
lightened, that  lie  saw  as  clearly  the  good  of  moral  things,  as 
he  perceives  speculative  truths,  so  that  he  felt  himself  as  little 
able  to  resist  the  one  as  the  other,  he  would  be  no  less  a  free 
and  a  rational  creature,  than  if  he  were  left  to  a  more  unlimited 
range :  nay  the  more  evidently  that  he  saw  the  true  good  of 
things,  and  the  more  that  he  were  determined  by  it,  he  should 
then  act  more  suitably  to  his  faculties,  and  to  the  excellence 
of  his  nature.  For  though  the  saints  in  heaven  being  made 
perfect  in  glory  are  no  more  capable  of  further  rewards,  yet  it 
cannot  be  denied  but  they  act  with  a  more  accomplished 
liberty,  because  thev  see  all  things  in  a  true  light,  according 
Pi.  xxxvi.  to  that,  '  in  thy  light  we  shall  see  light :'  and  therefore  they 
conclude  that  such  an  overcoming  degree  of  grace,  by  which  a 
man  is  made  willing  through  the  illumination  of  his  under- 
standing, and  not  by  any  blind  or  violent  impulse,  is  no  way 
contrary  to  the  true  notion  of  liberty. 

After  all,  they  think,  that  if  a  debate  falls  to  be  between 
the  sovereignty  of  God,  his  acts  and  his  purposes,  and  the 
freedom  of  man's  will,  it  is  modest  and  decent  rather  to  make 
the  abatement  on  man's  part,  than  on  God's ;  but  they  think 
there  is  no  need  of  this.  Thev  infer,  that  besides  the  outward 
enlightening  of  a  man  by  knowledge,  there  is  an  inward  en- 
lightening of  the  mind,  and  a  secret  forcible  conviction 
stamped  on  it ;  otherwise  Avhat  can  be  meant  by  the  prayer  of 
St.  Paul  for  the  Ephesians,  who  had  already  heard  the  gospel 
Eph.i.  17,  preached,  and  were  instructed  in  it;  'that  the  eyes  of  their 
18. 19-  understanding  being  enlightened,  they  might  know  what  was 
the  hope  of  his  calling,  and  what  the  riches  of  the  glorv  of 
his  inheritance  in  the  saints,  and  what  was  the  exceeding 
greatness  of  his  power  towards  them  that  believed.'  This 
seems  to  be  somewhat  that  is  both  internal  and  efficacious. 
Christ  compares  the  union  and  influence  that  he  communi- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


211 


cates  to  believers,  to  that  union  of  a  head  with  the  members,  ART. 
and  of  a  root  with  the  branches,  which  imports  an  internal,  XVII. 
a  vital,  and  an  efficacious  influence.    And  though  the  outward  " 
means  that  are  offered  may  be,  and  always  are,  rejected,  when 
not  accompanied  with  this  overcoming  grace,  yet  this  never 
returns  empty  ;  these  outward  means  coming  from  God,  the 
resisting  of  them  is  said  to  be  the  '  resisting  God,  the  grieving  Acts  vii. 
or  quenching  his  Spirit;'  and  so  in  that  sense  we  resist  the 
grace  or  favour  of  God ;  but  we  can  never  withstand  him  3^  ' lv' 
when  he  intends  to  overcome  us. 

As  for  perseverance,  it  is  a  necessary  consequence  of  abso- 
lute decrees,  and  of  efficacious  grace ;  for  since  all  depends 
upon  God,  and  that  as  'of  his  own  will  he  begat  us,'  so  with  Jam.  i.  17, 
him  'there  is  neither  variableness  nor  shadow  of  turning:  18- 
whom  he  loves  he  loves  to  the  end;'  and  he  has  promised,  Joh.xiii.i. 
that  'he  will  never  leave  nor  forsake  those  to  whom  he  be-  Heb.xiii.5. 
comes  a  God :'  we  must  from  thence  conclude,  that  'the  pur-  Rom.  xi, 
pose  and  calling  of  God  is  without  repentance.'    And  there-  29, 
fore  though  good  men  may  fall  into  grievous  sins,  to  keep 
them  from  which  there  are  dreadful  things  said  in  scripture, 
against  their  falling  away,  or  apostasy ;  yet  God  does  so  up- 
hold them,  that,  though  he  suffers  them  often  to  feel  the 
weight  of  their  natures,  yet  of  all  that  are  given  by  the  Father  i^"™'* 
to  the  Son  to  be  saved  by  him,  none  are  lost.  xvi'ii.  8, 9. 

Upon  the  whole  matter,  they  believe  that  God  did  in  himself 
and  for  his  own  glory  foreknow  such  a  determinate  number, 
whom  he  pitched  upon,  to  be  the  persons  in  whom  he  would 
be  both  sanctified  and  glorified:  that,  having  thus  foreknown 
them,  he  predestinated  them  to  be  holy,  conformable  to  the 
image  of  his  Son  :  that  these  were  to  be  called  not  by  a  general 
calling  in  the  sense  of  these  words,  '  many  are  called,  but  few  Matt.  xx. 
are  chosen  ;'  but  to  be  '  called  according  to  his  purpose  :'  and  j^jm  ... 
those  he  justified  upon  their  obeying  that  calling ;  and  he  29,  30. 
will  in  conclusion  glorify  them.    Nor  are  these  words  only 
to  be  limited  to  the  sufferings  of  good  men;  they  are  to  be 
extended  to  all  the  effects  of  the  love  of  God,  according  to 
that  which  follows,  that  '  nothing  can  separate  us  from  the 
love  of  God  in  Christ.'    The  whole  reasoning  in  the  9th  of 
the  Romans  does  so  plainly  resolve  all  the  acts  of  God's  Rom«  «• 
mercy  and  justice,  his  hardening  as  well  as  his  pardoning,  into  l8- 
an  absolute  freedom,  and  an  unsearchable  depth,  that  more 
express  words  to  that  effect  can  hardly  be  imagined. 

It  is  in  general  said,  that  'the  children  being  yet  unborn,  Ver.  11— 
neither  having  done  good  or  evil ;  that  the  purpose  of  God  13, 
according  to  election  might  stand,  not  of  works,  but  of  him 
that  calleth ;  Jacob  was  loved  and  Esau  hated ;'  that  God 
4  raised  up  Pharaoh,  that  he  might  shew  his  power  in  him  ;'  Ver- 17- 
and  when  an  objection  is  suggested  against  all  this,  instead  of 
answering  it,  it  is  silenced  with  this,  '  Who  art  thou,  O  man,  Ver- 20- 
that  repliest  against  God  ?'    And  all  is  illustrated  with  the 

p  2 


212 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  figure  of  the  potter :  and  concluded  with  this  solemn  question, 
x^  [*■    '  What  if  God,  willing  to  shew  his  wrath,  and  to  make  his 
Ver.  22.    power  known,  endured  with  much  long-suffering  the  vessels 
of  wrath  fitted  to  destruction  ?'    This  carries  the  reader  to 
consider  what  is  so  often  repeated  in  the  book  of  Exodus,  eon- 
Exod.iv.   cerning  God's  'hardening  the  heart  of  Pharaoh,  so  that  he 
21.x. 20.  would  not  let  his  people  go.'    It  is  said,  that  God  'has  made 
*J'v'g'      the  wicked  man  for  the  day  of  evil:'  as  it  is  written  on  the 
Prov.'xvi.  other  hand,  that  'as  many  believed  the  gospel,  as  were  ap- 
4.  pointed  to  eternal  life.'    Some  are  said  to  be  '  written  in  the 

Acts  jcm.   b00k:  of  life,  of  the  Lamb  slain  before  the  foundation  of  the 
Rev.  riS.  world,  or  according  to  God's  purpose  before  the  world  began.' 
8.  iii.  5.     Ungodly  men  are  said  to  be  'of  old  ordained  to  condemnation, 
2^     and  to  be  given  up  by  God  unto  vile  affections,  and  to  be 
2  fim. i. 9.  given  over  by  him  to  a  reprobate  mind.'  Therefore  they  think 
Jude  4.     that  reprobation  is  an  absolute  and  free  act  of  God,  as  well  as 
Roi&.i. 26,  e]ection?  to  manifest  his  holiness  and  justice  in  them  who  are 
under  it,  as  well  as  his  love  and  mercy  is  manifested  in  the 
elect.    Nor  can  they  think  with  the  Sublapsarians,  that  re- 
probation is  only  God's  passing  by  those  whom  he  does  not 
elect ;  this  is  an  act  unworthy  of  God,  as  if  he  forgot  them, 
which  does  clearly  imply  imperfection.  And  as  for  that  which 
is  said  concerning  their  being  fallen  in  Adam,  they  argue,  that 
either  Adam's  sin,  and  the  connection  of  all  mankind  to  him 
as  their  head  and  representative,  was  absolutely  decreed,  or  it 
was  not :  if  it  was,  then  all  is  absolute ;  Adam's  sin  and  the 
fall  of  mankind  were  decreed,  and  by  consequence  all  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end  are  under  a  continued  chain  of  absolute 
decrees ;  and  then  the  Supralapsarian  and  the  Sublapsarian 
hypothesis  will  be  one  and  the  same,  only  variously  expressed. 
But  if  Adam's  sin  was  only  foreseen  and  permitted,  then  a 
conditionate  decree  founded  upon  prescience  is  once  admitted, 
so  that  all  that  follows  turns  upon  it ;  and  then  all  the  argu- 
ments either  against  the  perfection  of  such  acts,  or  the  cer- 
tainty of  such  a  prescience,  turn  against  this ;  for  if  they  are 
admitted  in  any  one  instance,  then  they  may  be  admitted  in 
others  as  well  as  in  that. 

The  Sublapsarians  do  always  avoid  to  answer  this ;  and  it 
seems  they  do  rather  incline  to  think  that  Adam  was  under 
an  absolute  decree ;  and  if  so,  then  though  their  doctrine  may 
seem  to  those,  who  do  not  examine  things  nicely,  to  look 
more  plausible  ;  yet  really  it  amounts  to  the  same  thing  with 
the  other.  For  it  is  all  one  to  say,  that  God  decreed  that 
Adam  should  sin,  and  that  all  mankind  should  fall  in  him,  and 
that  then  God  should  choose  out  of  mankind,  thus  fallen  by 
his  decree,  such  as  he  would  save,  and  leave  the  rest  in  that 
lapsed  state  to  perish  in  it ;  as  it  is  to  say,  that  God  intending 
to  save  some,  and  to  damn  others,  did,  in  order  to  the  carry- 
ing this  on  in  a  method  of  justice,  decree  Adam's  fall,  and  the 
fall  of  mankind  in  him,  in  order  to  the  saving  of  his  elect,  and 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


213 


the  damning  of  the  rest.  AU  that  the  Sublapsarians  say  in  ART. 
this  particular  for  themselves  is,  that  the  scripture  has  not  xv 
declared  any  thing  concerning  the  fall  of  Adam,  in  such  formal  ~~ 
terms,  that  they  can  affirm  any  thing  concerning  it.  A  liberty  of 
another  kind  seems  to  have  been  then  in  man,  when  he  was 
made  after  the  image  of  God,  and  before  he  was  corrupted  by 
sin.  And  therefore  though  it  is  not  easy  to  clear  all  difficulties 
in  so  intricate  a  matter,  yet  it  seems  reasonable  to  think,  that 
man  in  a  state  of  innocency  was  a  purer  and  a  freer  creature  to 
good,  than  now  he  is.  But  after  all,  this  seems  to  be  only  a 
fleeing  from  the  difficulty,  to  a  less  offensive  way  of  talking  of 
it ;  for  if  the  prescience  of  future  contingents  cannot  be  cer- 
tain, unless  they  are  decreed,  then  God  could  not  certainly 
foreknow  Adam's  sin,  without  he  had  made  an  absolute  decree 
about  it;  and  that,  as  was  just  now  said,  is  the  same  thing 
with  the  Supralapsarian  hypothesis ;  of  which  I  shall  say  no 
more,  having  now  laid  together  in  a  small  compass  the  full 
strength  of  this  argument.  I  go  next  to  set  out  with  the  same 
fidelity  and  exactness  the  Remonstrants'  arguments. 

They  begin  with  this,  that  God  is  just,  holy,  and  merciful: 
that,  in  speaking  of  himself  in  the  scripture  with  relation  to 
those  attributes,  he  is  pleased  to  make  appeals  to  men,  to  call 
them  to  reason  with  him :  thus  his  prophets  did  often  bespeak 
the  Jewish  nation  ;  the  meaning  of  which  is,  that  God  acts  so, 
that  men,  according  to  the  notions  that  they  have  of  those 
attributes,  may  examine  them,  and  will  be  forced  to  justify 
and  approve  them.  Nay,  in  these  God  proposes  himself  to 
us,  as  our  pattern ;  we  ought  to  imitate  him  in  them,  and  by 
consequence  we  may  frame  just  notions  of  them.  We  are  re- 
quired to  be  holy  and  merciful  as  he  is  merciful.  What  then 
can  we  think  of  a  justice  that  shall  condemn  us  for  a  fact  that 
we  never  committed,  and  that  was  done  many  years  before  we 
were  born  ?  as  also  that  designs  first  of  all  to  be  glorified  by 
our  being  eternally  miserable,  and  that  decrees  that  we  shall 
commit  sins,  to  justify  the  previous  decree  of  our  reprobation  ? 
If  those  decrees  are  thus  originally  designed  by  God,  and  are 
certainly  effectuated,  then  it  is  inconceivable  how  there  should 
be  a  justice  in  punishing  that  which  God  himself  appointed 
by  an  antecedent  and  irreversible  decree  should  be  done :  so 
this  seems  to  lie  hard  upon  justice.  It  is  no  less  hard  upon 
infinite  holiness,  to  imagine  that  a  Being  of  '  purer  eyes  than  nab.  i.  13. 
that  it  can  behold  iniquity,'  should  by  an  antecedent  decree 
fix  our  committing  so  many  sins,  in  such  a  manner  that  it  is 
not  possible  for  us  to  avoid  them :  this  is  to  make  us  to  be 
born  indeed  under  a  necessity  of  sin ;  and  yet  this  necessity 
is  said  to  flow  from  the  act  and  decrees  of  God :  God  repre- 
sents himself  always  in  the  scriptures  as  '  gracious,  merciful,  Ex.  xxxiv. 
slow  to  anger,  and  abundant  in  goodness  and  truth.'  It  is  6- 
often  said;  that  'he  desires  that  no  man  should  perish,  but  2 Pet. iii.9. 
that  all  should  come  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth  :'  and  this 


214 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R,  T.  is  said  sometimes  w  ith  the  solemnity  of  an  oath  ;  e  As  I  live, 
xv  1     saith  the  Lord,  I  take  no  pleasure  in  the  death  of  sinners.' 
Kzek.xviii.  They  ask,  what  sense  can  such  words  bear,  if  we  can  believe 
32  that  God  did  by  an  absolute  decree  reprobate  so  many  of 

xxxiii.ll.  them?  If  all  things  that  happen  do  arise  out  of  the  de- 
cree of  God  as  its  first  cause,  then  we  must  believe  that  God 
takes  pleasure  both  in  his  own  decrees  and  in  the  execution 
of  them  ;  and,  by  consequence,  that  he  takes  pleasure  in  the 
death  of  sinners,  and  that  in  contradiction  to  the  most  ex- 
press and  most  solemn  words  of  scripture.  Besides,  what  can 
Ave  think  of  the  truth  of  God,  and  of  the  sincerity  of  those 
offers  of  grace  and  mercy,  with  the  obtestations,  the  exhorta- 
tions, and  expostulations  upon  them,  that  occur  so  often  in 
scripture,  if  we  can  think  that  by  antecedent  acts  of  God  he 
determined  that  all  these  should  be  ineffectual ;  so  that  they 
are  only  so  many  solemn  words  that  do  indeed  signify  nothing, 
if  God  intended  that  all  things  should  fall  out  as  they  do,  and 
if  they  do  so  fall  out  only  because  he  intended  it  ?  The  chief 
foundation  of  this  opinion  lies  in  this  argument  as  its  basis, 
that  nothing  can  be  believed  that  contradicts  the  justice,  ho- 
liness, the  truth,  and  purity,  of  God  ;  that  these  attributes  are 
in  God  according  to  our  notions  concerning  them,  only  they 
are  in  him  infinitely  more  perfect ;  since  we  are  required  to 
imitate  them.  Whereas  the  doctrine  of  absolute  decrees  does 
manifestly  contradict  the  clearest  ideas  that  we  can  form  of 
justice,  holiness,  truth,  and  goodness. 

From  the  nature  of  God  they  go  to  the  nature  of  man ;  and 
they  think  that  such  an  inward  freedom  by  which  a  man  is 
the  master  of  his  own  actions,  and  can  do  or  not  do  what  he 
pleases,  is  so  necessary  to  the  morality  of  our  actions,  that 
without  it  our  actions  are  neither  good  nor  evil,  neither  capa- 
ble of  rewards  or  punishment.  Mad  men,  or  men  asleep,  are 
not  to  be  charged  with  the  good  or  evil  of  wrhat  they  do ; 
therefore  at  least  some  degrees  of  liberty  must  be  left  with 
us,  otherwise  why  are  we  praised  or  blamed  for  any  thing 
that  we  do  ?  If  a  man  thinks  that  he  is  under  an  inevitable 
decree,  as  he  will  have  little  remorse  for  all  the  evil  he  does, 
while  he  imputes  it  to  that  inevitable  force  that  constrains 
him,  so  he  will  naturally  conclude  that  it  is  to  no  purpose  for 
him  to  struggle  with  impossibilities :  and  men  being  inclined 
both  to  throw  all  blame  off  from  themselves,  and  to  indulge 
themselves  in  laziness  and  sloth,  these  practices  are  too 
natural  to  mankind  to  be  encouraged  by  opinions  that  favour 
them.  All  virtue  and  religion,  all  discipline  and  industry, 
must  arise  from  this  as  their  first  principle ;  that  there  is  a 
power  in  us  to  govern  our  own  thoughts  and  actions,  and  to 
raise  and  improve  our  faculties.  If  this  is  denied,  all  endea- 
vours, all  education,  all  pains  either  on  ourselves  or  others,  are 
vain  and  fruitless  things.  Nor  is  it  possible  to  make  a  man 
believe  other  than  this    for  he  does  so  plainly  perceive  that 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


215 


he  is  a  free  agent ;  he  feels  himself  balance  matters  in  his  ART. 
thoughts,  and  deliberate  about  them  so  evidently,  that  he  XVII. 
certainly  knows  he  is  a  free  being. 

This  is  the  image  of  God  that  is  stamped  upon  his  nature ; 
and  though  he  feels  himself  often  hurried  on  so  impetuously, 
that  he  may  seem  to  have  lost  his  freedom  in  some  turns, 
and  upon  some  occasions  :  yet  he  feels  that  he  might  have 
restrained  that  heat  in  its  first  beginnings ;  he  feels  he  can 
divert  his  thoughts,  and  master  himself  in  most  things,  when 
he  sets  himself  to  it :  he  finds  that  knowledge  and  reflection, 
that  good  company  and  good  exercises,  do  tame  and  soften 
him,  and  that  bad  ones  make  him  wild,  loose,  and  irregular. 
From  all  this  they  conclude  that  man  is  free,  and  not  under 
inevitable  fate,  or  irresistible  motions  either  to  good  or  evil. 
All  this  they  confirm  from  the  whole  current  of  the  scripture, 
that  is  full  of  persuasions,  exhortations,  reproofs,  expostula- 
tions, encouragements,  and  terrors ;  which  are  all  vain  and 
theatrical  things,  if  there  are  no  free  powers  in  us  to  which 
they  are  addressed :  to  what  purpose  is  it  to  speak  to  dead 
men,  to  persuade  the  blind  to  see,  or  the  lame  to  run  ?  If 
we  are  under  an  impotence  till  the  irresistible  grace  comes, 
and  if,  when  it  comes,  nothing  can  withstand  it,  then  what 
occasion  is  there  for  all  those  solemn  discourses,  if  they  can 
have  no  effect  on  us  ?  They  cannot  render  us  inexcusable, 
unless  it  were  in  our  power  to  be  bettered  by  them ;  and  to 
imagine  that  God  gives  light  and  blessings  to  those  whom  he 
before  intended  to  damn,  only  to  make  them  inexcusable, 
when  they  could  do  them  no  good,  and  they  will  serve  only 
to  aggravate  their  condemnation,  gives  so  strange  an  idea  of 
that  infinite  goodness,  that  it  is  not  fit  to  express  it  by  those 
terms  which  do  naturally  arise  upon  it. 

It  is  as  hard  to  suppose  two  contrary  wills  in  God,  the 
one  commanding  us  our  duty,  and  requiring  us  with  the  most 
solemn  obtestations  to  do  it,  and  the  other  putting  a  certain 
bar  in  our  way,  by  decreeing  that  we  shall  do  the  contrary. 
This  makes  God  look  as  if  he  had  a  will  and  a  will ;  though 
a  heart  and  a  heart  import  no  good  quality,  when  applied  to 
men :  the  one  will  requires  us  to  do  our  duty,  and  the  other 
makes  it  impossible  for  us  not  to  sin :  the  ivill  for  the  good 
is  ineffectual,  while  the  will  that  makes  us  sin  is  infallible. 
These  things  seem  very  hard  to  be  apprehended;  and  whereas 
the  root  of  true  religion  is  the  having  right  and  high  ideas  of 
God  and  of  his  attributes,  here  such  ideas  arise  as  naturally 
give  us  strange  thoughts  of  God ;  and  if  they  are  received  by 
us  as  originals,  upon  which  we  are  to  form  our  own  natures, 
such  notions  may  make  us  grow  to  be  spiteful,  imperious,  and 
without  bowels,  but  do  not  seem  proper  to  inspire  us  with 
love,  mercy,  and  compassion;  though  God  is  always  proposed 
to  us  in  that  view.  All  preaching  and  instruction  does  also 
suppose  this :  for  to  what  purpose  are  men  called  upon,  taught, 


216 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


T.  and  endeavoured  to  be  persuaded,  if  they  are  not  free  agents, 
II*  and  have  not  a  power  over  their  own  thoughts,  and  if  they  are 
not  to  be  convinced  and  turned  by  reason  ?  The  offers  of 
peace  and  pardon  that  are  made  to  all  men  are  delusory  things, 
if  they  are  by  an  antecedent  act  of  God  restrained  only  to  a 
few,  and  all  others  are  barred  from  them. 

It  is  further  to  be  considered,  say  they,  that  God  having 
made  men  free  creatures,  his  governing  them  accordingly,  and 
making  his  own  administration  of  the  world  suitable  to  it,  is 
no  diminution  of  his  own  authority :  it  is  only  the  carrying 
on  of  his  own  creation  according  to  the  several  natures  that 
he  has  put  in  that  variety  of  beings  of  which  this  world  is 
composed,  and  with  which  it  is  diversified :  therefore  if  some 
of  the  acts  of  God,  with  relation  to  man,  are  not  so  free  as 
his  other  acts  are,  and  as  we  may  suppose  necessary  to  the 
ultimate  perfection  of  an  independent  Being,  this  arises  not 
from  any  defect  in  the  acts  of  God,  but  because  the  nature  of 
the  creature  that  he  intended  to  make  free  is  inconsistent  with 
such  acts. 

The  Divine  Omnipotence  is  not  lessened  when  we  observe 
some  of  his  works  to  be  more  beautiful  and  useful  than  others 
are ;  and  the  irregular  productions  of  nature  do  not  derogate 
from  the  order  in  which  all  things  appear  lovely  to  the  Divine 
Mind.  So  if  that  liberty,  with  which  he  intended  to  endue 
thinking  beings,  is  incompatible  with  such  positive  acts,  and 
so  positive  a  providence  as  governs  natural  things  and  this 
material  world,  then  this  is  no  way  derogatorv  to  the  sove- 
reignty of  his  mind.  This  does  also  give  such  an  account  of 
the  evil  that  is  in  the  world,  as  does  no  way  accuse  or  lessen 
the  purity  and  holiness  of  God ;  since  he  only  suffers  his 
creatures  to  go  on  in  the  free  use  of  those  powers  that  he  has 
given  them ;  about  which  he  exercises  a  special  providence, 
making  some  men's  sins  to  be  the  immediate  punishments 
of  their  own  or  of  other  men's  sins,  and  restraining  them 
often  in  a  great  deal  of  that  evil  that  they  do  design,  and 
bringing  out  of  it  a  great  deal  of  good  that  they  did  not  de- 
sign ;  but  all  is  done  in  a  way  suitable  to  their  natures,  without 
any  violence  to  them. 

It  is  true,  it  is  not  easy  to  shew  how  those  future  contin- 
gencies, which  depend  upon  the  free  choice  of  the  will,  should 
be  certain  and  infallible.  But  we  are  on  other  accounts  cer- 
tain that  it  is  so ;  for  we  see  through  the  whole  scriptures  a 
thread  of  very  positive  prophecies,  the  accomplishment  of 
which  depended  on  the  free  will  of  man ;  and  these  predic- 
tions, as  they  were  made  very  precisely,  so  they  were  no  less 
punctuallv  accomplished.  Not  to  mention  any  other  pro- 
phecies, all  those  that  related  to  the  death  and  sufferings  of 
Christ  were  fulfilled  by  the  free  acts  of  the  priests  and  people 
of  the  Jews :  they  sinned  in  doing  it,  which  proves  that  they 
acted  in  it  with  their  natural  libertv.    Bv  these  and  all  the 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


217 


other  prophecies  that  are  in  both  Testaments,  it  must  be  ART. 
confessed,  that  these  things  were  certainly  foreknown ;  but  XV11- 
where  to  found  that  certainty,  cannot  be  easily  resolved ;  the 
infinite  perfection  of  the  Divine  Mind  ought  here  to  silence 
all  objections.  A  clear  idea,  by  which  we  apprehend  a  thing 
to  be  plainly  contrary  to  the  attributes  of  God,  is  indeed  a 
just  ground  of  rejectingit;  and  therefore  they  think  that  they 
are  in  the  right  to  deny  all  such  to  be  in  God,  as  they  plainly 
apprehend  to  be  contrary  to  justice,  truth,  and  goodness:  but 
if  the  objection  against  any  thing  supposed  to  be  in  God  lies 
only  against  the  manner  and  the  unconceivableness  of  it,  there 
the  infinite  perfection  of  God  answers  all. 

It  is  further  to  be  considered,  that  this  prescience  does  not 
make  the  effects  certain,  because  they  are  foreseen ;  but  they 
are  foreseen  because  they  are  to  be ;  so  that  the  certainty  of 
the  prescience  is  not  antecedent  or  causal,  but  subsequent 
and  eventual.  Whatsoever  happens,  was  future  before  it 
happened;  and  since  it  happened,  it  was  certainly  future  from 
all  eternity;  not  by  a  certainty  of  fate,  but  by  a  certainty 
that  arises  out  of  its  being  once,  from  which  this  truth,  that  it 
was  future,  was  eternally  certain :  therefore  the  Divine  Pre- 
science being  only  the  knowing  all  things  that  were  to  come, 
that  does  not  infer  a  necessity  or  causality. 

The  scripture  plainly  shews  on  some  occasions  a  condition- 
ate  prescience :  God  answered  David,  that  Saul  was  come  to  1  Sam- 
Keilah,  and  that  the  men  of  Keilah  were  to  deliver  him  up  ;  J™1, 
and  yet  both  the  one  and  the  other  was  upon  the  condition  of 
his  staying  there ;  and  he  going  from  thence,  neither  the  one 
nor  the  other  ever  happened :  here  was  a  conditionate  pre- 
science.   Such  was  Christ's  saying,  that  those  of  Tyre  and  ^Iatt- 
Sidon,  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  would  have  turned  to  him,  if2,-x,15> 
they  had  seen  the  miracles  that  he  wrought  in  some  of  the 
towns  of  Galilee.    Since  then  this  prescience  may  be  so  cer- 
tain, that  it  can  never  be  mistaken,  nor  misguide  the  designs 
or  providence  of  God ;  and  since  by  this  both  the  attributes 
of  God  are  vindicated,  and  the  due  freedom  of  the  will  of  man 
is  asserted,  all  difficulties  seem  to  be  easily  cleared  this  way. 

As  for  the  giving  to  some  nations  and  persons  the  means  of 
salvation,  and  the  denying  these  to  others,  the  scriptures  do 
indeed  ascribe  that  wholly  to  the  riches  and  freedom  of  God's 
grace ;  but  still  they  think,  that  he  gives  to  all  men  that  which 
is  necessary  to  the  state  in  which  they  are,  to  answer  the 
obligations  they  are  under  in  it;  and  that  this  fight  and 
common  grace  is  sufficient  to  carry  them  so  far,  that  God  will 
either  accept  of  it,  or  give  them  further  degrees  of  illumina- 
tion :  from  which  it  must  be  inferred,  that  all  men  are  inex- 
cusable in  his  sight ;  and  that  (  God  is  always  just  and  clear  Psal  h.4. 
when  he  judges ;'  since  every  man  had  that  which  was  suf- 
ficient, if  not  to  save  him,  yet  at  least  to  bring  him  to  a  state 
of  salvation.    But  besides  what  is  thus  simply  necessary,  and 


2\3 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  is  of  itself  sufficient,  there  are  innumerable  favours,  like 
x^ llj   largesses  of  God's  grace  and  goodness;  these  God  gives 
freely  as  he  pleases. 

And  thus  the  great  designs  of  Providence  go  on  according 
to  the  goodness  and  mercy  of  God.  None  can  complain, 
though  some  have  more  cause  to  rejoice  and  glory  in  God 
than  others.  What  happens  to  nations  in  a  body  may  also 
happen  to  individuals ;  some  may  have  higher  privileges,  be 
put  in  happier  circumstances,  and  have  such  assistances  given 
them  as  God  foresees  will  become  effectual,  and  not  only 
those,  which  though  thev  be  in  their  nature  sufficient,  yet  in 
the  event  will  be  ineffectual:  every  man  ought  to  complain  of 
himself  for  not  using  that  which  was  sufficient,  as  he  might 
have  done ;  and  all  good  men  will  have  matter  of  rejoicing  in 
God,  for  giving  them  what  he  foresaw  would  prove  effectual. 
After  all,  they  acknowledge  there  is  a  depth  in  this,  of  God's 
not  giving  all  nations  an  equal  measure  of  light,  nor  putting 
all  men  into  equally  happy  circumstances,  which  they  cannot 
unriddle :  but  still  justice,  goodness,  and  truth,  are  saved ; 
though  we  may  imagine  a  goodness  that  may  do  to  all  men 
what  is  absolutely  the  best  for  them :  and  there  they  confess 
there  is  a  difficulty,  but  not  equal  to  those  of  the  other  side. 

From  hence  it  is  that  they  expound  all  those  passages  in 
the  New  Testament,  concerning  the  purpose,  the  election,  the 
foreknowledge,  and  the  predestination,  of  God,  so  often  men- 
tioned. All  those,  they  say,  relate  to  God's  design  of  calling 
the  Gentile  world  to  the  knowledge  of  the  Messias  :  this  was 
kept  secret,  though  hints  of  it  are  given  in  several  of  the 
Prophets ;  so  it  was  a  mystery ;  but  it  was  then  revealed, 
when,  according  to  Christ's  commission  to  his  apostles,  to 
'  go  and  teach  all  nations,'  they  went  preaching  the  gospel  to 
the  Gentiles.  This  was  a  stumbling-block  to  the  Jews,  and  it 
was  the  chief  subject  of  controversy  betwixt  them  and  the 
apostles  at  the  time  when  the  Epistles  were  writ :  so  it  was 
necessary  for  them  to  clear  this  very  fully,  and  to  come  often 
over  it.  But  there  was  no  need  of  amusing  people  in  the  be- 
ginnings of  Christianity,  and  in  that  first  infancy  of  it,  with 
high  and  unsearchable  speculations  concerning  the  decrees  of 
God  :  therefore  they  observe,  that  the  apostles  shew  how  that 
Abraham  at  first,  Isaac  and  Jacob  afterwards,  were  chosen  by 
a  discriminating  favour,  that  they  and  their  posterity  should 
be  in  covenant  with  God:  and  upon  that  occasion  the  apostle 
goes  on  to  shew,  that  God  had  always  designed  to  call  in 
the  Gentiles,  though  that  was  not  executed  but  by  their 
ministry. 

With  this  key  one  will  find  a  plain  coherent  sense  in  all  St. 
Paul's  discourses  on  this  subject,  without  asserting  antecedent 
and  special  decrees  as  to  particular  persons.  Things  that 
happen  under  a  permissive  and  directing  Providence,  may  be 
also  in  a  largeness  of  expression  ascribed  to  the  will  and 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


counsel  of  God;  for  a  permissive  and  directing  will  is  really  ART. 
a  will,  though  it  he  not  antecedent  nor  causal.    The  harden-  XV1L 
ing  Pharaok's  heart  may  be  ascribed  to  God,  though  it  is  Kxodi  vii 
said  that  his  heart  hardened  itself;  because  he  took  occa-  22. 
sion,  from  the  stops  God  put  in  those  plagues  that  he  sent  f^fg^'j 
upon  him  and  his  people,  to  encourage  himself,  when  he  saw 
there  was  a  new  respite  granted  him:  and  he  who  was  a  cruel 
and  bloody  prince,  deeply  engaged  in  idolatry  and  magic,  had 
deserved  such  judgments  for  his  other  sins ;  so  that  he  may 
be  well  considered  as  actually  under  his  final  condemnation, 
only  under  a  reprieve,  not  swallowed  up  in  the  first  plagues, 
but  preserved  in  them,  and  raised  up  out  of  them,  to  be  a 
lasting  monument  of  the  justice  of  God  against  such  hardened 
iinpenitency.    '  Whom  he  will  he  hardeneth,'  must  be  still  R°m-  >*• 
restrained  to  such  persons  as  that  tyrant  was. 

It  is  endless  to  enter  into  the  discussion  of  all  the  passages 
cited  from  the  scripture  to  this  purpose ;  this  key  serving,  as 
they  think  it  does,  to  open  most  of  them.    It  is  plain  these 
words  of  our  Saviour  concerning  those  'whom  the  Father  had  J°hn  *vii. 
given  him,'  are  only  to  be  meant  of  a  dispensation  of  Provi-  12' 
dence,  and  not  of  a  decree;  since  he  adds,  'And  I  have  lost 
none  of  them,  except  the  son  of  perdition :'  for  it  cannot  be 
said,  that  he  was  in  the  decree,  and  yet  was  lost.    And  in  the 
same  period  in  which  God  is  said  'to  work  in  us  both  to  will  Phil. ii.  12, 
and  to  do,'  we  are  required  to  'work  out  our  own  salvation  13- 
with  fear  and  trembling.'    The  word  rendered,  '  ordained  to  Acts  xiii. 
eternal  life,'  does  also  signify,  fitted  or  predisposed  to  eternal 
life.    That  question,  'Who  made  thee  to  differ?'  seems  to  iCor.iv.7. 
refer  to  those  gifts  which  in  different  degrees  and  measures 
were  poured  out  on  the  first  Christians ;  in  which  men  were 
only  passive,  and  discriminated  from  one  another  by  the  free- 
dom of  those  gifts,  without  any  thing  previous  in  them  to  dis- 
pose them  to  them. 

Christ  is  said  to  be  the  'propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  Uohnii.2. 
whole  world  ;'  and  the  wicked  are  said  to  '  deny  the  Lord  that  2  Pet.  ii.  l. 
bought  them ;'  and  his  death,  as  to  its  extent  to  all  men,  is 
set  in  opposition  to  the  sin  of  Adam :  so  that  '  as  by  the  Rom.v.18. 
offence  of  one,  judgment  came  upon  all  men  to  condemnation  ; 
so  by  the  righteousness  of  one,  the  free  gift  came  upon  all  men 
to  justification  of  life.'    The  all  of  the  one  side  must  be  of  the 
same  extent  with  the  all  of  the  other :  so  since  all  are  con- 
cerned in  Adam's  sin,  all  must  be  likewise  concerned  in  the 
death  of  Christ.    This  they  urge  further,  with  this  argument, 
that  all  men  are  obliged  to  believe  in  the  death  of  Christ,  but 
no  man  can  be  obliged  to  believe  a  lie ;  therefore  it  follows 
that  he  must  have  died  for  all.    Nor  can  it  be  thought  that 
grace  is  so  efficacious  of  itself,  as  to  determine  us ;  otherwise 
why  are  we  required  '  not  to  grieve  God's  Spirit  ?'  Why  is  it  Acts  nt. 
said,  'Ye  do  always  resist  the  Holy  Ghost:  as  your  fathers 
did,  so  do  ye.    How  often  would  I  have  gathered  you  under  37. 


220 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


X\U     my  w'n§s'       ye  would  not?    What  more  could  I  have  done 

 '_  in  my  vineyard,  that  has  not  heen  done  in  it  ?'    These  seem 

Isa.  v.  4.  to  he  plain  intimations  of  a  power  in  us,  by  which  we  not  only 
can,  but  often  do,  resist  the  motions  of  grace. 

If  the  determining  efficacy  of  grace  is  not  acknowledged,  it 
will  be  yet  much  harder  to  believe  that  we  are  efficaciously 
determined  to  sin.  This  seems  to  be  not  only  contrary  to  the 
purity  and  holiness  of  God,  but  is  so  manifestly  contrary  to  the 
whole  strain  of  the  scriptures,  that  charges  sin  upon  men,  that 
in  so  copious  a  subject  it  is  not  necessary  to  bring  proofs. 
Hos.xiii.9. '  O  Israel,  thou  hast  destroyed  thyself;  but  in  me  is  thy 
John  v. 40.  help and,  'Ye  will  not  come  unto  me,  that  ye  may  have 
»xxiii'  ll  ^e  :  wny  wm"  yon  ®  house  of  Israel?'  And  as  for  that 
nicety  of  saying,  that  the  evil  of  sin  consists  in  a  negation, 
which  is  not  a  positive  being,  so  that  though  God  should 
determine  men  to  the  action  that  is  sinful,  yet  he  is  not  con- 
cerned in  the  sin  of  it :  they  think  it  is  too  metaphysical  to 
put  the  honour  of  God  and  his  attributes  upon  such  a  sub- 
tilty :  for  in  sins  against  moral  laws,  there  seems  to  be  an  an- 
tecedent immorality  in  the  action  itself,  which  is  inseparable 
from  it.  But  suppose  that  sin  consisted  in  a  negative,  yet 
that  privation  does  immediately  and  necessarily  result  out  of 
the  action,  without  any  other  thing  whatsoever  intervening ; 
so  that  if  God  does  infallibly  determine  a  sinner  to  commit 
the  action  to  which  that  guilt  belongs,  though  that  should  be 
a  sin  only  by  reason  of  a  privation  that  is  dependent  upon  it, 
then  it  does  not  appear  but  that  he  is  really  the  author  of  sin  ; 
since  if  he  is  the  author  of  the  sinful  action,  on  which  the  sin 
depends  as  a  shadow  upon  its  substance,  he  must  be  esteemed, 
say  they,  the  author  of  sin. 

And  though  it  may  be  said,  that  sin  being  a  violation  of 
God's  law,  he  himself,  who  is  not  bound  by  his  law,  cannot  be 
guilty  of  sin  ;  yet  an  action  that  is  immoral  is  so  essentially 
opposite  to  infinite  perfection,  that  God  cannot  be  capable  of 
it,  as  being  a  contradiction  to  his  own  nature.  Nor  is  it  to 
be  supposed  that  he  can  damn  men  for  that,  which  is  the 
necessary  result  of  an  action  to  which  he  himself  determined 
them. 

As  for  perseverance,  the  many  promises  made  in  the  scrip- 
Rev.ii.and  tures  to  them  that  overcome,  that  continue  stedfast  and  faith- 
'"•         ful  to  the  death,  seem  to  insinuate,  that  a  man  may  fall  from  a 
good  state.    Those  famous  words  in  the  6th  of  the  Hebrews 
Heb.  vi.    do  plainly  intimate,  that  such  men  may  '  so  fall  away,  that  it 
Heb.x.38.  may  be  impossible  to  renew  them  again  by  repentance.'  And 
in  that  Epistle  where  it  is  said,  '  The  just  shall  live  by  faith  •' 
it  is  added,  '  but  if  he  draw  back  [any  man  is  not  in  the 
original),  my  soul  shall  have  no  pleasure  in  him.'    And  it  is 
Ezek.xviii.  positively  said  by  the  prophet,  'When  the  righteous  turneth 
84"         away  from  his  righteousness,  and  committeth  iniquity,  all  his 
righteousness  that  he  hath  done  shall  not  be  mentioned ;  in 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


221 


his  sin  that  he  hath  sinned  shall  he  die.'  These  suppositions,  A  R 
with  a  great  many  more  of  the  same  strain  that  may  be  brought  xv 
out  of  other  places,  do  give  us  all  possible  reason  to  believe 
that  a  good  man  may  fall  from  a  good  state,  as  well  as  that  a 
wicked  man  may  turn  from  a  bad  one.  In  conclusion,  the  end 
of  all  things,  the  final  judgment  at  the  last  day,  which  shall 
be  pronounced  according  to  what  men  have  done,  whether 
good  or  evil,  and  their  being  to  be  rewarded  and  punished 
according  to  it,  seems  so  effectually  to  assert  a  freedom  in  our 
wills,  that  thev  think  this  alone  might  serve  to  prove  the  whole 
cause. 

So  far  I  have  set  forth  the  force  of  the  argument  on  the 
side  of  the  Remonstrants.  As  for  the  Socinians,  they  make 
their  plea  out  of  what  is  said  by  the  one  and  by  the  other  side. 
They  agree  with  the  Remonstrants  in  all  that  they  say  against 
absolute  decrees,  and  in  urging  all  those  consequences  that  do 
arise  out  of  them :  and  they  do  also  agree  with  the  Calvinists  in 
all  that  they  urge  against  the  possibility  of  a  certain  prescience 
of  future  contingents :  so  that  it  will  not  be  necessary  to  set 
forth  their  plea  more  specially,  nor  needs  more  be  said  in 
opposition  to  it,  than  what  was  already  said  as  part  of  the 
Remonstrants'  plea.  Therefore,  without  dwelling  any  longer 
on  that,  I  come  now  to  make  some  reflections  upon  the  whole 
matter. 

It  is  at  first  view  apparent,  that  there  is  a  great  deal  of 
weight  in  what  has  been  said  of  both  sides :  so  much,  that  it 
is  no  wonder  if  education,  the  constant  attending  more  to  the 
difficulties  of  the  one  side  than  of  the  other,  and  a  temper 
some  way  proportioned  to  it,  does  fix  men  very  steadily  to 
either  the  one  or  the  other  persuasion.  Both  sides  have  their 
difficulties,  so  it  will  be  natural  to  choose  that  side  where  the 
difficulties  are  least  felt :  but  it  is  plain  there  is  no  reason  for 
either  of  them  to  despise  the  other,  since  the  arguments  of 
both  are  far  from  being  contemptible. 

It  is  further  to  be  observed,  that  both  sides  seem  to  be 
chiefly  concerned  to  assert  the  honour  of  God,  and  of  his  at- 
tributes. Both  agree  in  this,  that  whatever  is  fixed  as  the 
primary  idea  of  God,  all  other  things  must  be  explained  so 
as  to  be  consistent  with  that.  Contradictions  are  never  to 
be  admitted ;  but  things  may  be  justly  believed,  against 
which  objections  may  be  formed  that  cannot  be  easily  an- 
swered. 

The  one  side  think,  that  we  must  begin  with  the  idea  of 
infinite  perfection,  of  independency,  and  absolute  sovereignty: 
and  if  in  the  sequel  difficulties  occur  which  cannot  be  cleared, 
that  ought  not  to  shake  us  from  this  primary  idea  of  God. 

Others  think,  that  we  cannot  frame  such  clear  notions  of 
independency,  sovereignty,  and  infinite  perfection,  as  we  can 
do  of  justice,  truth,  holiness,  goodness,  and  mercy :  and  since 
the  scripture  proposes  God  to  us  most  frequently  under 


222 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   those  ideas,  they  think  that  we  ought  to  fix  on  these  as  the 
XV11-   primary  ideas  of  God,  and  then  reduce  all  other  things  to 
~  them. 

Thus  both  sides  seem  zealous  for  God  and  his  glory ;  both 
lay  down  general  maxims  that  can  hardly  be  disputed ;  and 
both  argue  justly  from  their  first  principles.  These  are  great 
grounds  for  mutual  charity  and  forbearance  in  these  matters. 

It  is  certain,  that  one  who  has  long  interwoven  his  thoughts 
of  infinite  perfection  with  the  notions  of  absolute  and  un- 
changeable decrees,  of  carrying  on  every  thing  by  a  positive 
will,  of  doing  every  thing  for  his  own  glorv,  cannot  apprehend 
decrees  depending  on  a  foreseen  free  will,  a  grace  subject  to 
it,  a  merit  of  Christ's  death  that  is  lost,  and  a  man's  being  at 
one  time  loved,  and  yet  finally  hated,  of  God,  without  horror. 
These  things  seem  to  carry  in  them  an  appearance  of  feeble- 
ness, of  dependence,  and  of  changeableness. 

On  the  other  hand,  a  man  that  has  accustomed  himself  to 
think  often  on  the  infinite  goodness  and  mercy,  the  long-suf- 
fering, patience,  and  slowness  to  anger,  that  appears  in  God ; 
he  cannot  let  the  thought  of  absolute  reprobation,  or  of  de- 
termining men  to  sin,  or  of  not  giving  them  the  grace  neces- 
sary to  keep  them  from  sin  and  damnation,  enter  into  his 
mind,  without  the  same  horror  that  another  feels  in  the  re- 
verse of  all  this. 

So  that  the  source  of  both  opinions  being  the  different  ideas 
that  they  have  of  God,  and  both  these  ideas  being  true ;  men 
oniy  mistaking  in  the  extent  of  them,  and  in  the  consequences 
drawn  from  them ;  here  are  the  clearest  grounds  imaginable 
for  a  mutual  forbearance,  for  not  judging  men  imperiously, 
nor  censuring  them  severely  upon  either  side.  And  those  who 
have  at  different  times  of  their  lives  been  of  both  opinions, 
and  who  upon  the  evidence  of  reason,  as  it  has  appeared  to 
them,  have  changed  their  persuasions,  can  speak  more  affirm- 
atively here ;  for  they  know,  that  in  great  sincerity  of  heart 
they  have  thought  both  ways. 

Each  opinion  has  some  practical  advantages  of  its  side. 
A  Calvinist  is  taught,  by  his  opinions,  to  think  meanly  of 
himself,  and  to  ascribe  the  honour  of  all  to  God;  which  lays 
in  him  a  deep  foundation  for  humility :  he  is  also  much  in- 
clined to  secret  prayer,  and  to  a  fixed  dependence  on  God ; 
which  naturally  both  brings  his  mind  to  a  good  state,  and  fixes 
it  in  it :  and  so  though  perhaps  he  cannot  give  a  coherent  ac- 
count of  the  grounds  of  his  watchfulness  and  care  of  himself ; 
yet  that  temper  arises  out  of  his  humility,  and  his  earnestness 
in  prayer.  A  Remonstrant,  on  the  other  hand,  is  engaged  to 
awaken  and  improve  his  faculties,  to  fill  his  mind  with  good 
notions,  to  raise  them  in  himself  by  frequent  reflection,  and 
by  a  constant  attention  to  his  own  actions :  he  sees  cause  to 
reproach  himself  for  his  sins,  and  to  set  about  his  duty  to 
purpose :  being  assured  that  it  is  through  his  own  fault  if  he 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


223 


miscarries  :  he  has  no  dreadful  terrors  upon  his  mind  ;  nor  is  ART. 

he  tempted  to  an  undue  security,  or  to  swell  up  in  (perhaps)  

an  imaginary  conceit  of  his  being  unalterably  in  the  favour 
of  God. 

Both  sides  have  their  peculiar  temptations  as  well  as  their 
advantages :  the  Calvinist  is  tempted  to  a  false  security,  and 
sloth :  and  the  Arminian  may  be  tempted  to  trust  too  much 
to  himself,  and  too  little  to  God :  so  equally  may  a  man  of  a 
calm  temper,  and  of  moderate  thoughts,  balance  this  matter 
between  both  the  sides,  and  so  unreasonable  it  is  to  give  way 
to  a  positive  and  dictating  temper  in  this  point.  If  the  Ar- 
minian is  zealous  to  assert  liberty,  it  is  because  he  cannot  see 
how  there  can  be  good  or  evil  in  the  world  without  it :  he 
thinks  it  is  the  work  of  God,  that  he  has  made  for  great  ends ; 
and  therefore  he  can  allow  of  nothing  that  he  thinks  destroys 
it.  If  on  the  other  hand  a  Calvinist  seems  to  break  in  upon 
liberty,  it  is  because  he  cannot  reconcile  it  with  the  sove- 
reignty of  God,  and  the  freedom  of  his  grace :  and  he  grows 
to  think  that  it  is  an  act  of  devotion  to  offer  up  the  one  to 
save  the  other. 

The  common  fault  of  both  sides  is  to  charge  one  another 
with  the  consequences  of  their  opinions,  as  if  they  were  truly 
their  tenets.  Whereas  they  are  apprehensive  enough  of  these 
consequences,  they  have  no  mind  to  them,  and  they  fancy  that 
by  a  few  distinctions  they  can  avoid  them.  But  each  side 
thinks  the  consequences  of  the  other  are  both  worse,  and  more 
certainly  fastened  to  that  doctrine,  than  the  consequences 
that  are  urged  against  himself  are.  And  so  they  think  they 
must  choose  that  opinion  that  is  the  least  perplexed  and  diffi- 
cult :  not  but  that  ingenuous  and  learned  men  of  all  sides  confess, 
that  they  feel  themselves  very  often  pinched  in  these  matters. 

Another  very  indecent  way  of  managing  these  points  is,  that 
both  sides  do  too  often  speak  very  boldly  of  God.  Some 
petulant  wits,  in  order  to  the  representing  the  contrary 
opinion  as  absurd  and  ridiculous,  have  brought  in  God,  repre- 
senting him,  with  indecent  expressions,  as  acting  or  decreeing, 
according  to  their  hypothesis,  in  a  manner  that  is  not  only 
unbecoming,  but  that  borders  upon  blasphemy.  From  which, 
though  they  think  to  escape  by  saying  that  they  are  only 
shewing  what  must  follow  if  the  other  opinion  were  believed ; 
yet  there  is  a  solemnity  and  gravity  of  style,  that  ought  to  be 
most  religiously  observed,  when  we  poor  mortals  take  upon  us 
to  speak  of  the  glory  or  attributes,  the  decrees  or  operations, 
of  the  great  God  of  heaven  and  earth:  and  every  thing  relating 
to  this,  that  is  put  in  a  burlesque  air,  is  intolerable.  It  is  a 
sign  of  a  very  daring  presumption,  to  pretend  to  assign  the 
order  of  all  the  acts  of  God,  the  ends  proposed  in  them,  and 
the  methods  by  which  they  are  executed.  We,  who  do  not 
know  how  our  thoughts  carry  our  bodies  to  obey  and  second 
our  minds,  should  not  imagine  that  we  can  conceive  how  God 


224 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  H  T.  may  move  or  bend  our  wills.  The  hard  thing  to  digest  in 
XV11-  this  whole  matter,  is  reprobation  :  they  who  think  it  necessary 
to  assert  the  freedom  of  election,  would  fain  avoid  it :  they 
seek  soft  words  for  it,  such  as  the  passing  by  or  leaving  men 
to  perish :  they  study  to  put  that  on  Adam's  sin,  and  they 
take  all  the  methods  they  can  to  soften  an  opinion  that  seems 
harsh,  and  that  sounds  ill.  But  howsoever  they  will  bear  all 
the  consequences  of  it,  rather  than  let  the  point  of  absolute 
election  go. 

On  the  other  side,  those  who  do  once  persuade  themselves 
that  the  doctrine  of  reprobation  is  false,  do  not  see  how  they 
can  deny  it,  and  yet  ascribe  a  free  election  to  God.  They  are 
once  persuaded  that  there  can  be  no  reprobation  but  what  is 
conditionate,  and  founded  on  what  is  foreseen  concerning  men's 
sins:  and  from  this  they  are  forced  to  say  the  same  thing  of 
election.  And  both  sides  study  to  begin  the  controversy  with 
that  which  they  think  they  can  the  most  easily  prove ;  the  one 
at  the  establishing  of  election,  and  the  other  at  the  overthrow- 
ing of  reprobation.  Some  have  studied  to  seek  out  middle 
ways :  for  they  observing  that  the  scriptures  are  writ  in  a  great 
diversity  of  style,  in  treating  of  the  good  or  evil  that  happens 
to  us,  ascribing  the  one  to  God,  and  imputing  the  other  to 
ourselves,  teaching  us  to  ascribe  the  honour  of  all  that  is  good 
to  God,  and  to  cast  the  blame  of  all  that  is  evil  upon  ourselves, 
have  from  thence  concluded,  that  God  must  have  a  different 
influence  and  causality  in  the  one,  from  what  he  has  in  the 
other :  but  when  they  go  to  make  this  out,  they  meet  with 
great  difficulties ;  yet  they  choose  to  bear  these  rather  than  to 
involve  themselves  in  those  equally  great,  if  not  greater  diffi- 
culties, that  are  in  either  of  the  other  opinions.  They  wrap 
up  all  in  two  general  assertions,  that  are  great  practical  truths, 
Let  us  arrogate  no  good  to  ourselves,  and  impute  no  evil  to 
God,  and  so  let  the  whole  matter  rest.  This  may  be  thought 
by  some  the  lazier,  as  well  as  the  safer  way :  which  avoids 
difficulties,  rather  than  answers  them ;  whereas  they  say  of 
both  the  contending  sides,  that  they  are  better  at  the  starting 
of  difficulties  than  at  the  resolving  of  them. 

Thus  far  I  have  gone  upon  the  general,  in  making  such 
reflections  as  will  appear  but  too  well  grounded  to  those  who 
have  with  any  attention  read  the  chief  disputants  of  both  sides. 
In  these  great  points  all  agree  :  that  mercy  is  freely  offered  to 
the  world  in  Christ  Jesus :  that  God  did  freely  offer  his  Son 
to  be  our  propitiation,  and  has  freely  accepted  the  sacrifice  of 
his  death  in  our  stead,  whereas  he  might  have  condemned 
every  man  to  have  perished  for  his  own  sins :  that  God  does, 
in  the  dispensation  of  his  gospel,  and  the  promulgation  of  it 
to  the  several  nations,  act  according  to  the  freedom  of  his 
grace,  upon  reasons  that  are  to  us  mysterious  and  past  finding 
out :  that  every  man  is  inexcusable  in  the  sight  of  God :  that 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


225 


all  men  are  so  far  free  as  to  be  praiseworthy  or  blameworthy  ART. 
for  the  good  or  evil  that  they  do:  that  every  man  ought  to  XVI1- 
employ  his  faculties  all  he  can,  and  to  pray  and  depend ~~ 
earnestly  upon  God  for  his  protection  and  assistance :  that  no 
man  in  practice  ought  to  think  that  there  is  a  fate  or  decree 
hanging  over  him,  and  so  become  slothful  in  his  duty,  but  that 
every  man  ought  to  do  the  best  he  can,  as  if  there  were  no 
such  decree,  since,  whether  there  is  or  is  not,  it  is  not  possible 
for  him  to  know  what  it  is  :  that  every  man  ought  to  be  deeply 
humbled  for  his  sins  in  the  sight  of  God,  without  excusing 
himself  by  pretending  a  decree  was  upon  him,  or  a  want  of 
power  in  him :  that  all  men  are  bound  to  obey  the  rules  set 
them  in  the  gospel,  and  are  to  expect  neither  mercy  nor  favour 
from  God,  but  as  they  set  themselves  diligently  about  that : 
and  finally,  that  at  the  last  day  all  men  shall  be  judged,  not 
according  to  secret  decrees,  but  according  to  their  own  works. 
In  these  great  truths,  of  which  the  greater  part  are  practical, 
all  men  agree.  If  they  would  agree  as  honestly  in  the  prac- 
tice of  them,  as  they  do  in  confessing  them  to  be  true,  they 
would  do  that  which  is  much  more  important  and  necessary, 
than  to  speculate  and  dispute  about  niceties ;  by  which  the 
world  would  quickly  put  on  a  new  face,  and  then  those  few, 
that  might  delight  in  curious  searches  and  arguments,  would 
manage  them  with  more  modesty  and  less  heat,  and  be  both 
less  positive  and  less  supercilious. 

I  have  hitherto  insisted  on  such  general  reflections  as  seemed 
proper  to  these  questions.  I  come  now  in  the  last  place  to  ex- 
amine how  far  our  church  hath  determined  the  matter,  either 
in  this  Article  or  elsewhere :  how  far  she  hath  restrained  her 
sons,  and  how  far  she  hath  left  them  at  liberty.  For  those 
different  opinions  being  so  intricate  in  themselves,  and  so  apt 
to  raise  hot  disputes,  and  to  kindle  lasting  quarrels,  it  will  not 
be  suitable  to  that  moderation  which  our  church  hath  observed 
in  all  other  things,  to  stretch  her  words  on  these  heads  beyond 
their  strict  sense.  The  natural  equity  or  reason  of  things 
ought  rather  to  carry  us,  on  the  other  hand,  to  as  great  a 
comprehensiveness  of  all  sides,  as  may  well  consist  with  the 
words  in  which  our  church  hath  expressed  herself  on  those 
heads. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  that  the  Article  seems  to  be 
framed  according  to  St.  Austin's  doctrine :  it  supposes  men 
to  be  under  a  curse  and  damnation,  antecedently  to  predestina- 
tion, from  which  they  are  delivered  by  it ;  so  it  is  directly 
against  the  Supralapsarian  doctrine :  nor  does  the  Article 
make  any  mention  of  reprobation,  no,  not  in  a  hint ;  no  defi- 
nition is  made  concerning  it.  The  Article  does  also  seem  to 
assert  the  efficacy  of  grace :  that  in  which  the  knot  of  the 
whole  difficulty  lies,  is  not  defined ;  that  is,  whether  God's 
eternal  purpose  or  decree  was  made  according  to  what  he  fore- 
saw his  creatures  would  do,  or  purely  upon  an  absolute  will, 

a 


226 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  in  order  to  his  own  glory.  It  is  very  probable,  that  those  who 
XVI1-  penned  it  meant  that  the  decree  was  absolute ;  but  yet  since 
they  have  not  said  it,  those  who  subscribe  the  Articles  do  not 
seem  to  be  bound  to  any  thing  that  is  not  expressed  in  them : 
and  therefore  since  the  Remonstrants  do  not  deny  but  that 
God  having  foreseen  what  all  mankind  would,  according  to 
all  the  different  circumstances  in  which  they  should  be  put, 
do  or  not  do,  he  upon  that  did,  by  a  firm  and  eternal  decree, 
lay  that  whole  design  in  all  its  branches,  which  he  executes  in 
time;  they  may  subscribe  this  Article  without  renouncing 
their  opinion  as  to  this  matter.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Cal- 
vinists  have  less  occasion  for  scruple ;  since  the  Article  does 
seem  more  plainly  to  favour  them.  The  three  cautions, 
that  are  added  to  it,  do  likewise  intimate  that  St.  Austin's 
doctrine  was  designed  to  be  settled  by  the  Article :  for  the 
danger  of  men's  having  the  sentence  of  God's  predestination 
always  before  their  eyes,  which  may  occasion  either  desperation 
on  the  one  hand,  or  the  ivretchlessness  of  most  unclean  living  on 
the  other,  belongs  only  to  that  side ;  since  these  mischiefs  do 
not  arise  out  of  the  other  hypothesis.  The  other  two,  of  taking 
the  promises  of  God  in  the  sense  in  which  they  are  set  forth  to 
us  in  holy  scriptures,  and  of  following  that  ivill  of  God  that  is 
expressly  declared  to  us  in  the  ivord  of  God,  relate  very  visibly 
to  the  same  opinion  :  though  others  do  infer  from  these  cau- 
tions, that  the  doctrine  laid  down  in  the  Article  must  be  so 
understood  as  to  agree  with  these  cautions ;  and  therefore 
they  argue,  that  since  absolute  predestination  cannot  consist 
with  them,  that  therefore  the  Article  is  to  be  otherwise  ex- 
plained. They  say  the  natural  consequence  of  an  absolute  de- 
cree is  either  presumption  or  despair :  since  a  man  upon  that 
bottom  reckons,  that  which  way  soever  the  decree  is  made,  it 
must  certainly  be  accomplished.  They  also  argue,  that  be- 
cause we  must  receive  the  promises  of  God  as  conditional,  we 
must  also  believe  the  decree  to  be  conditional ;  for  absolute 
decrees  exclude  conditional  promises.  An  offer  cannot  be 
supposed  to  be  made  in  earnest  by  him  that  has  excluded  the 
greatest  number  of  men  from  it  by  an  antecedent  act  of  his 
own.  And  if  we  must  only  follow  the  revealed  will  of  God, 
we  ought  not  to  suppose  that  there  is  an  antecedent  and  posi- 
tive will  of  God,  that  has  decreed  our  doing  the  contrary  to 
what  he  has  commanded. 

Thus  the  one  side  argues,  that  the  Article  as  it  lies,  in  the 
plain  meaning  of  those  who  conceived  it,  does  very  expressly 
establish  their  doctrine :  and  the  other  argues,  from  those 
cautions  that  are  added  to  it,  that  it  ought  to  be  understood 
so  as  that  it  may  agree  with  these  cautions:  and  both  sides 
find  in  the  Article  itself  such  grounds,  that  they  reckon  they 
do  not  renounce  their  opinions  by  subscribing  it.  The  Re- 
monstrant side  have  this  further  to  add,  that  the  universal 
extent  of  the  death  of  Christ  seems  to  be  very  plainly  affirmed 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


227 


in  the  most  solemn  part  of  all  the  offices  of  the  church  :  for   A  R  T. 
in  the  office  of  Communion,  and  in  the  Prayer  of  Consecration,  XVII. 
we  own  that  Christ,  by  the  one  oblation  of  himself  once  ~ 
offered,  made  there  a  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient  sacrifice, 
oblation,  and  satisfaction,  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  ivorld. 
Though  the  others  say,  that  hy  full,  perfect,  and  sufficient,  is 
not  to  be  understood  that  Christ's  death  was  intended  to  be 
a  complete  sacrifice  and  satisfaction  for  the  whole  ivorld,  but 
that  in  its  own  value  it  was  capable  of  being  such.    This  is 
thought  too  great  a  stretch  put  upon  the  words.    And  there 
are  yet  more  express  words  in  our  Church  Catechism  to  this 
purpose;  which  is  to  be  considered  as  the  most  solemn  decla- 
ration of  the  sense  of  the  church,  since  that  is  the  doctrine  in 
which  she  instructs  all  her  children :  and  in  that  part  of  it 
which  seems  to  be  most  important,  as  being  the  short  summary 
of  the  Apostles'  Creed,  it  is  said,  God  the  Son,  who  hath 
redeemed  me  and  all  mankind:  where  all  must  stand  in  the 
same  extent  of  universality,  as  in  the  precedent  and  in  the 
following  words  ;  The  Father  who  made  me  and  all  the  world ; 
the  Holy  Ghost  who  sanctifieth  me  and  all  the  elect  people  of 
God;  which  being  to  be  understood  severely,  and  without 
exception,  this  must  also  be  taken  in  the  same  strictness. 
There  is  another  argument  brought  from  the  office  of  Bap- 
tism, to  prove  that  men  may  fall  from  a  state  of  grace  and 
regeneration ;  for  in  the  whole  office,  more  particularly  in  the 
Thanksgiving  after  the  Baptism,  it  is  affirmed,  that  the  person 
baptized  is  regenerated  by  God's  holy  Spirit,  and  is  received 
for  his  own  child  by  adoption :  now  since  it  is  certain  that 
many  who  are  baptized  fall  from  that  state  of  grace,  this  seems 
to  import,  that  some  of  the  regenerate  may  fall  away :  which 
though  it  agrees  well  with  St.  Austin's  doctrine,  yet  it  does 
not  agree  with  the  Calvinists'  opinions. 

Thus  I  have  examined  this  matter  in  as  short  a  compass  as 
was  possible ;  and  yet  I  do  not  know  that  I  have  forgot  any 
important  part  of  the  whole  controversy,  though  it  is  large, 
and  has  many  branches.  I  have  kept,  as  far  as  I  can  perceive, 
that  indifference  which  I  proposed  to  myself  in  the  prose- 
cuting of  this  matter ;  and  have  not  on  this  occasion  declared 
my  own  opinion,  though  I  have  not  avoided  the  doing  it  upon 
other  occasions.  Since  the  church  has  not  been  peremptory, 
but  that  a  latitude  has  been  left  to  different  opinions,  I  thought 
it  became  me  to  make  this  explanation  of  the  Article  such : 
and  therefore  I  have  not  endeavoured  to  possess  the  reader 
with  that  which  is  my  own  sense  in  this  matter,  but  have  laid 
the  force  of  the  arguments,  as  well  as  the  weight  of  the  diffi- 
culties, of  both  sides,  before  him,  with  all  the  advantages  that 
I  had  found  in  the  books  either  of  the  one  or  of  the  other 
persuasion.  And  I  leave  the  choice  as  free  to  my  reader  as 
the  church  has  done. 

Q2 


228 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART. 
XVIII. 

ARTICLE  XVIII. 

Of  obtaining  Eternal  Salvation  only  by  the  Name 
of  Christ. 

Cftep  also  arc  to  be  accurSetJ,  that  presume  to  Sap,  Cljat  ebcrp  man 
Sljall  be  Sabefc  bp  tijc  3Lalu  or  £ect  toljiri)  l)e  profcSsetfj ;  So  tljat 
he  be  totligeiit  to  frame  l)iS  2Ltfe  accortriiig  to  that  Halo,  airtJ  tfje 
JLtgljt  of  flature.  dTor  feolp  J?criptuve  "Oott)  Set  out  unto  us 
onlp  tfje  f2ame  of  jJtSuS  Ojrtst,  tuljercbp  men  must  be  SabcH. 

The  impiety,  that  is  condemned  in  this  Article,  was  iirst 
taught  by  some  of  the  heathen  orators  and  philosophers  in 
the  fourth  century,  who,  in  their  addresses  to  the  Christian 
emperors  for  the  tolerance  of  paganism,  started  this  thought, 
that  how  lively  soever  it  may  seem,  when  well  set  off  in  a 
piece  of  eloquence,  will  not  bear  a  severe  argument:  that  God 
is  more  honoured  by  the  varieties  and  different  methods  of 
worshipping  and  serving  him,  than  if  all  should  fall  into  the 
same  way :  that  this  diversity  has  a  beauty  in  it,  and  a  suit- 
ableness to  the  infinite  perfections  of  God ;  and  it  does  not 
look  so  like  a  mutual  agreement  or  concert,  as  when  all  men 
worship  him  one  way.  But  this  is  rather  a  flash  of  wit  than 
true  reasoning. 

The  Alcoran  has  carried  this  matter  further,  to  the  assert- 
ing, that  all  men  in  all  religions  are  equally  acceptable  to  God, 
if  they  serve  him  faithfully  in  them.  The  infusing  this  into 
the  world,  that  has  a  show  of  mercy  in  it,  made  men  more 
easy  to  receive  their  law;  and  they  took  care  by  their  extreme 
severity  to  fix  them  in  it,  when  they  were  once  engaged :  for 
though  they  use  no  force  to  make  men  Musselrnans,  yet 
they  punish  with  all  extremity  every  thing  that  looks  like 
apostacy  from  it,  if  it  i?  once  received.  The  doctrine  of  Le- 
viathan, that  makes  law  to  be  religion  and  religion  to  be  law, 
that  is,  that  obliges  subjects  to  believe  that  religion  to  be  true, 
or  at  least  to  follow  that  which  is  enacted  by  the  laws  of  their 
country,  must  be  built  either  on  this  foundation,  that  there  is 
no  such  thing  as  revealed  religion,  but  that  it  is  only  a  politi- 
cal contrivance:  or  that  all  religions  are  equally  acceptable  to 
God. 

Others  having  observed  that  it  was  a  very  small  part  of 
mankind  that  had  the  advantages  of  the  Christian  religion, 
have  thought  it  too  cruel  to  damn  in  their  thoughts  all  those 
who  have  not  heard  of  it,  and  yet  have  lived  morally  and 
virtuously,  according  to  their  light  and  education.  And  some, 
to  make  themselves  and  others  easy,  in  accommodating  their 
religion  to  their  secular  interests,  to  excuse  their  changing, 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  229 


and  to  quiet  their  consciences,  have  set  up  this  notion,  that  ART. 
seems  to  have  a  largeness  both  of  good  nature  and  charity  in  XVIII. 
it;  looks  plausible,  and  is  calculated  to  take  in  the  greatest  _ 
numbers  :  they  therefore  suppose  that  God  in  his  infinite 
goodness  will  accept  equally  the  services  that  all  his  creatures 
offer  to  him,  according  to  the  best  of  their  skill  and  strength. 

In  opposition  to  all  which,  they  are  here  condemned,  who 
think  that  every  man  shall  be  saved  by  the  law  or  sect  which 
lie  professeth:  where  a  great  difference  is  to  be  observed  be- 
tween the  words  saved  by  the  law,  and  saved  in  the  law ;  the 
one  is  condemned,  but  not  the  other.  To  be  saved  by  a  law  or 
sect,  signifies,  that  by  the  virtue  of  that  law  or  sect  such  men 
who  follow  it  may  be  saved:  whereas  to  be  saved  in  a  law  or 
sect  imports  only,  that  God  may  extend  his  compassions  to 
men  that  are  engaged  in  false  religions.  The  former  is  only 
condemned  by  this  article,  which  affirms  nothing  concerning 
the  other.  In  sum;  if  we  have  fully  proved  that  the  Christian 
religion  was  delivered  to  the  world  in  the  name  of  God,  and  was 
attested  by  miracles,  so  that  we  believe  its  truth,  we  must  be- 
lieve every  part  and  tittle  of  it,  and  by  consequence  those  pas- 
sages which  denounce  the  wrath  and  judgments  of  God  against 
impenitent  sinners,  and  that  promise  mercy  and  salvation  only 
upon  the  account  of  Christ  and  his  death  :  '  We  must  believe  Rom-  ». 
with  our  hearts,  and  confess  it  with  our  mouths :  we  must  not  be  ^'Ia'r^'  - 
ashamed  of  Christ,  or  of  his  words,  lest  he  should  be  ashamed  38. 
of  us,  when  he  comes  in  the  glory  of  his  Father,  with  his 
holy  angels.'  This,  I  say,  being  a  part  of  the  gospel,  must  be 
as  true  as  the  gospel  itself  is ;  and  these  rules  must  bind  all 
those  to  whom  they  are  proposed,  whether  they  are  enacted 
by  laio  or  not;  for  if  we  are  assured  that  they  are  a  part  of 
the  law  of  the  King  of  kings,  we  are  bound  to  believe  and  obey 
them,  whether  human  laws  do  favour  them  or  not ;  it  being 
an  evident  thing,  that  no  subordinate  authority  can  derogate 
from  that  which  is  superior  to  it :  so  if  the  laws  of  God  are 
clearly  revealed,  and  certainly  conveyed  down  to  us,  we  are 
bound  by  them,  and  no  human  law  can  dissolve  this  obliga- 
tion. If  God  has  declared  his  will  to  us,  it  can  never  be  sup- 
posed to  be  free  to  us  to  choose  whether  we  will  obey  it  or 
not,  and  serve  him  under  that  or  under  another  form  of 
religion,  at  our  pleasure  and  choice.  We  are  limited  by  what 
God  has  declared  to  us,  and  we  must  not  fancy  ourselves  to 
be  at  liberty  after  he  has  revealed  his  will  to  us. 

As  to  such  to  whom  the  Christian  religion  is  revealed,  there 
no  question  can  be  made,  for  it  is  certain  they  are  under  an 
indispensable  obligation  to  obey  and  follow  that  which  is  so 
gracicusly  revealed  to  them  :  they  are  bound  to  follow  it  ac- 
cording to  what  they  are  in  their  consciences  persuaded  is  its 
true  sense  and  meaning.  And  if  for  any  secular  interest  they 
choose  to  comply  with  that  which  they  are  convinced  is  an 
important  error,  and  is  condemned  in  the  scripture  they  do 


230 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  u  T.   plainly  shew  that  they  prefer  lands,  houses,  and  life,  to  the 
x  VI11-  authority  of  God,  in  whose  will,  when  revealed  to  them,  they 
are  hound  to  acquiesce. 

The  only  difficulty  remaining  is  concerning  those  who  never 
heard  of  this  religion  ;  whether,  or  how,  can  they  he  saved  ? 
St.  Paul  having  divided  the  world  into  Jews  and  Gentiles, 
called  hy  him  those  who  were  in  the  law,  and  who  were  with- 
Rom.ii.l2,  out  law  ;  he  says,  those  '  who  sinned  without  law,'  that  is,  out 
14, 15'  of  the  Mosaical  dispensation,  '  shall  be  judged  without  law,' 
that  is,  upon  another  foot.  For  he  adds,  when  '  the  Gentiles, 
which  have  not  the  law,  do  by  nature  the  things  contained  in 
the  law  (that  is,  the  moral  parts  of  it),  these,  having  not  the 
law,  are  a  law  unto  themselves  (that  is,  their  consciences  are 
to  them  instead  of  a  written  law);  which  shew  the  work  of  the 
law  written  in  their  hearts,  their  conscience  also  bearing  wit- 
ness, and  their  thoughts  the  meanwhile  accusing  or  else  ex- 
cusing one  another.'  This  implies  that  there  are  either  seeds 
of  knowledge  and  virtue  laid  in  the  nature  of  man,  or  that 
such  notions  pass  among  them,  as  are  carried  down  by  tradi- 
Rom.x.14.  tion.  The  same  St.  Paul  says,  '  How  can  they  call  on  him  in 
whom  they  have  not  believed  ?  and  how  can  they  believe  in 
him  of  whom  they  have  not  heard  ?  and  how  can  they  hear 
without  a  preacher?'  which  seems  plainly  to  intimate,  that 
men  cannot  be  bound  to  believe,  and  by  consequence  cannot 
be  punished  for  not  believing,  unless  the  gospel  is  preached 
Acts x. 34,  to  them.  St.  Peter  said  to  Cornelius,  'Of  a  truth  I  perceive 
35-  that  God  is  no  respecter  of  persons ;  but  in  every  nation  he 
that  feareth  God,  and  worketh  righteousness,  is  accepted  of 
him.'  Those  places  seem  to  import,  that  those  who  make 
the  best  use  they  can  of  that  small  measure  of  light  that  is 
given  them,  shall  be  judged  according  to  it;  and  that  God 
will  not  require  more  of  them  than  he  has  given  them.  This 
also  agrees  so  well  with  the  ideas  which  we  have  both  of  jus- 
tice and  goodness,  that  this  opinion  wants  not  special  colours 
to  make  it  look  well.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  the  pardon  of 
sin,  and  the  favour  of  God,  are  so  positively  limited  to  the 
believing  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  it  is  so  expressly  said,  that 
Acts  iv.  12. '  there  is  no  salvation  in  any  other;'  and  that  'there  is 
none  other  name  (or  authority)  under  heaven  given  among 
men,  whereby  we  must  be  saved ;'  that  the  distinction  which 
can  only  be  made  in  this  matter  is  this,  that  it  is  only  on  the 
account,  and  in  the  consideration  of  the  death  of  Christ,  that 
sin  is  pardoned,  and  men  are  saved. 

This  is  the  only  sacrifice  in  the  sight  of  God ;  so  that  who- 
soever are  received  into  mercy  have  it  through  Christ  as  the 
channel  and  conveyance  of  it.  But  it  is  not  so  plainly  said, 
that,  no  man  can  be  saved  unless  he  has  an  explicit  knowledge 
of  this,  together  with  a  belief  in  it.  Few  in  the  old  dispensa- 
tion could  have  that :  infants  and  innocents,  or  idiots,  have  it 
not;  and  yet  it  were  a  bold  thing  to  say,  that  thev  may  not 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


231 


be  saved  by  it.  So  it  does  not  appear  to  be  clearly  revealed,  ART. 
that  none  should  be  saved  by  the  death  of  Christ,  unless  they  XVI"- 
do  explicitly  both  know  it,  and  believe  in  it :  since  it  is  cer- 
tain, that  God  may  pardon  sin  only  upon  that  score,  without 
obliging  all  men  to  believe  in  it,  especially  when  it  is  not  re- 
vealed to  them.  And  here  another  distinction  is  to  be  made, 
which  will  clear  this  whole  matter,  and  all  the  difficulties  that 
arise  out  of  it. 

A  great  difference  is  to  be  made  between  a  federal  certainty 
of  salvation,  secured  by  the  promises  of  God,  and  of  this 
new  covenant  in  Christ  Jesus,  and  the  extent  to  which  the 
goodness  and  mercy  of  God  may  go.    None  are  in  the  fede- 
ral state  of  salvation  but  Christians  :  to  them  is  given  the  cove- 
nant of  grace,  and  to  them  the  promises  of  God  are  made  and 
offered ;  so  that  they  have  a  certainty  of  it  upon  their  per- 
forming those  conditions  that  are  put  in  the  promises.  All 
others  are  out  of  this  promise,  to  whom  the  tidings  of  it  were 
never  brought ;  but  yet  a  great  difference  is  to  be  made  be- 
tween them,  and  those  who  have  been  invited  to  this  covenant, 
and  admitted  to  the  outward  profession,  and  the  common  pri- 
ileges  of  it,  and  that  yet  have  in  effect  rejected  it :  these  are 
under  such  positive  denunciations  of  wrath  and  judgment, 
that  there  is  no  room  left  for  any  charitable  thoughts  or  hopes 
concerning  them  :  so  that  if  any  part  of  the  gospel  is  true,  that 
must  be  also  true,  that  they  are  under  condemnation,  for 
'  having  loved  darkness  more  than  light,'  when  the  light  shone  j0hn  iii. 
upon  them,  and  visited  them.    But  as  for  them  whom  God  19. 
has  left  in  darkness,  they  are  certainly  out  of  the  covenant, 
out  of  those  promises  and  declarations  that  are  made  in  it. 
So  that  they  have  no  federal  right  to  be  saved,  neither  can 
we  affirm  that  they  shall  be  saved :  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
they  are  not  under  those  positive  denunciations,  because  they 
were  never  made  to  them:  therefore  since  God  has  not  de- 
clared that  they  shall  be  damned,  no  more  ought  we  to  take 
upon  us  to  damn  them. 

Instead  of  stretching  the  severity  of  justice  by  an  inference, 
we  may  rather  venture  to  stretch  the  mercy  of  God,  since 
that  is  the  attribute  which  of  all  others  is  the  most  magnifi- 
cently spoken  of  in  the  scriptures :  so  that  we  ought  to  think 
of  it  in  the  largest  and  most  comprehensive  manner.  But 
indeed  the  most  proper  way  is,  for  us  to  stop  where  the  reve- 
lation of  God  stops ;  and  not  to  be  wise  beyond  what  is  writ- 
ten ;  but  to  leave  the  secrets  of  God  as  mysteries  too  far  above 
us  to  examine,  or  to  sound  their  depth.  We  do  certainly  know 
on  what  terms  we  ourselves  shall  be  saved  or  damned :  and 
we  ought  to  be  contented  with  that,  and  rather  study  to  '  work 
out  our  own  salvation  with  fear  and  trembling,'  than  to  let  our 
minds  run  out  into  uncertain  speculations  concerning  the  mea- 
sures and  the  conditions  of  God's  uncovenanted  mercies :  we 
ought  to  take  all  possible  care  that  we  ourselves  come  not  into 


232 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   condemnation,  rather  than  to  define  positively  of  others,  who 

XV  III,  must,  or  who  must  not,  be  condemned. 

It  is  therefore  enough  to  fix  this  according  to  the  design  of 
the  Article,  that  it  is  not  free  to  men  to  choose  at  pleasure 
what  religion  they  will,  as  if  that  were  left  to  them,  or  that  all 
religions  were  alike ;  which  strikes  at  the  foundation,  and  un- 
dermines the  truth,  of  all  revealed  religion.  None  are  within 
the  covenant  of  grace  but  true  Christians  ;  and  all  are  excluded 
out  of  it,  to  whom  it  is  offered,  who  do  not  receive  and  believe 
it,  and  live  according  to  it.  So,  in  a  word,  all  that  are  saved, 
are  saved  through  Christ ;  but  whether  all  these  shall  be  called 
to  the  explicit  knowledge  of  him,  is  more  than  we  have  any 
good  ground  to  affirm.  Nor  are  we  to  go  into  that  other  ques- 
tion ;  whether  any  that  are  only  in  a  state  of  nature,  live  fully 
up  to  its  light  ?  This  is  that  about  which  we  can  have  no  cer- 
tainty, no  more  than  whether  there  may  be  a  common  grace 
given  to  them  all,  proportioned  to  their  state,  and  to  the  obliga- 
tions of  it.  This  in  general  may  be  safely  believed,  that  God 
will  never  be  wanting  to  such  as  do  their  utmost  endeavours 
in  order  to  the  saving  of  their  souls  :  but  that,  as  in  the  case 
of  Cornelius,  an  angel  will  be  sent,  and  a  miracle  be  wrought, 
rather  than  such  a  person  shall  be  left  to  perish.  But  whether 
any  of  them  do  ever  arrive  at  that  state,  is  more  than  we  can 
determine ;  and  it  is  a  vain  attempt  for  us  to  endeavour  to  find 
it  out. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


233 


A  RT. 

XIX. 


ARTICLE  XIX. 
Of  the  Church. 

GThe  ViSfolt  Cljurdj*  of  Cfjrtet  i<t  a  Congre gatt'on  of  fat'tfjful  ;fHen, 
in  tl)t  lul)tcl)  tlje  pure  WorH  of  ®ott  tsf  prrafftcU,  antt  tlje 
Sacraments;  be  Uulp  atomuusftereti  according  to  Cfjrtsit'si  <©rtfu 
nance,  in  all  tljoKe  tftmgsi  tljat  of  mctsSiitv  are  recjuuiite  to  tfje 
taint. 

W)t  Cfiurcf)  of  Jerusalem,  Alexandria,  anil  Antioch,  fjabe  errett, 
4o  also  tl)e  Cljurci)  of  Rome  ftatl)  crretf,  not  onlv  in  their  libmg 
anil  manner  of  Ceremonies,  but  also  tn  matters!  of  dfaitf). 

This  Article,  together  with  some  that  follow  it,  relates  to  the 
fundamental  difference  between  us  and  the  church  of  Rome : 
they  teaching  that  we  are  to  judge  of  doctrines  by  the  autho- 
rity and  the  decisions  of  the  church ;  whereas  we  affirm,  that 
we  are  first  to  examine  the  doctrine,  and  according  to  that  to 
judge  of  the  purity  of  a  church.  Somewhat  was  already  said 
on  the  sixth  Article  relating  to  this  matter :  what  remains  is 
now  to  be  considered. 

The  whole  question  is  to  be  reduced  to  this  point,  whether 
we  ought  to  examine  and  judge  of  matters  of  religion,  accord- 
ing to  the  light  and  faculty  of  judging  that  we  have  ;  or  if  we 

•  '  The  word  church  is  ambiguous,  having,  both  in  holy  scripture  and  common 
use,  divers  senses,  somewhat  different :  for 

'  1st.  Sometimes  any  assembly  or  company  of  Christians  is  called  a  church  ;  as 
when  mention  is  made  of  the  church  in  such  a  house  (whence  Tertullian  saith,  where 
there  are  three,  even  laics,  there  is  a  church ). 

'  2d.  Sometimes  a  particular  society  of  Christians,  living  in  spiritual  commu- 
nion, and  under  discipline ;  as  when,  the  church  at  such  a  town ;  the  churches  of 
such  a  province  ;  the  churches,  all  the  churches,  are  mentioned :  according  to  which 
notion  St.  Cyprian  saith,  that  there  is  a  church,  where  there  is  a  people  united 
to  a  priest,  and  a  flock  adhering  tn  their  shepherd :  and  so  Ignutius  saith,  that  with, 
out  the  orders  of  the  clergy  a  church  is  not  railed. 

'  3d.  A  larger  collection  of  divers  particular  societies  combined  together  in 
order,  under  direction  and  influence  of  a  common  government,  or  of  persons  acting 
in  the  public  behalf,  is  termed  a  church:  as  the  church  of  Antioch,  of  Corinth,  of 
Jerusalem,  &c,  each  of  which,  at  first,  probably  might  consist  of  divers  congrega- 
tions, having  dependencies  of  less  towns  annexed  to  them ;  all  being  united  under 
the  care  of  the  bishops  and  presbytery  of  those  places ;  but  however  soon  after  the 
apostles'  times,  it  is  certain  that  such  collections  were,  and  were  named  churches. 

'  4th.  The  society  of  those  who  at  present,  or  in  course  of  time,  profess  the 
faith  and  gospel  of  Christ,  and  undertake  the  evangelical  covenant,  in  distinction 
to  all  other  religions  ;  particularly  to  that  of  the  Jews  ;  which  is  called  the  syna- 
gogue. 

'  5th.  The  whole  body  of  God's  people  that  is,  ever  hath  been,  or  ever  shall  be, 
from  the  beginning  of  the  world  to  the  consummation  thereof,  who,  having  (for- 
mally or  virtually)  believed  in  Christ,  and  sincerely  obeyed  God's  laws,  shall 
finally,  by  the  meritorious  performances  and  sufferings  of  Christ,  be  saved,  is  called 
the  church.' — Barrow  on  the  Unity  of  the  Church.  The  reader  ought  also  to  con- 
sult *  Pearson  on  the  Creed,'  Art.  IX. ;  and  Bishop  Taylor's  discourse  '  Of  the 
Church,'  &c— [EdA 


234 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  are  bound  to  submit  in  all  things  to  the  decision  of  the  church  ? 
Here  the  matter  must  be  determined  against  private  j  udgment, 
by  very  express  and  clear  authorities,  otherwise  the  other  side 
proves  itself.  For  we  having  naturally  a  faculty  of  judging 
for  ourselves,  and  using  it  in  all  other  things,  this  freedom 
being  the  greatest  of  all  our  other  rights,  must  be  still  asserted, 
unless  it  can  be  made  appear  that  God  has  in  some  things  put 
a  bar  upon  it  by  his  supreme  authority. 

That  authority  must  be  very  express,  if  we  are  required  to 
submit  to  it  in  a  point  of  such  vast  importance  to  us.  We  do 
also  see  that  men  are  apt  to  be  mistaken,  and  are  apt  likewise 
willingly  to  mistake,  and  to  mislead  others ;  and  that  particu- 
larly in  matters  of  religion  the  world  has  been  so  much  imposed 
upon  and  abused,  that  we  cannot  be  bound  to  submit  to  any 
sort  of  persons  implicitly,  without  very  good  and  clear  grounds 
that  do  assure  us  of  their  infallibility :  otherwise  we  have  just 
reason  to  suspect  that  in  matters  of  religion,  chiefly  in  points 
in  which  human  interests  are  concerned,  men  may  either 
through  ignorance,  and  Aveakness,  or  corruption,  and  on  design, 
abuse  and  mislead  us.  So  that  the  authorities  or  proofs  of 
this  infallibility  must  be  very  express ;  since  we  are  sure  no 
man  nor  body  of  men  can  have  it  among  them,  but  by  a  pri- 
vilege from  God;  and  a  privilege  of  so  extraordinary  a  nature 
must  be  given,  if  at  all,  in  very  plain,  and  with  very  evident 
characters ;  since  without  these  human  nature  cannot  and 
ought  not  to  be  so  tame  as  to  receive  it.  We  must  not  draw 
it  from  an  inference,  because  we  think  we  need  it,  and  cannot 
be  safe  without  it,  that  therefore  it  must  be  so,  because,  if  it 
were  not  so,  great  disorders  would  arise  from  the  want  of  it. 
This  is  certainly  a  wrong  way  of  arguing.  If  God  has  clearly 
revealed  it,  we  must  acquiesce  in  it,  because  we  are  sure,  if  he 
has  lodged  infallibility  any  where,  he  will  certainly  maintain 
his  own  work,  and  not  require  us  to  believe  any  one  implicitly, 
and  not  at  the  same  time  preserve  us  from  the  danger  of  being 
deceived  by  him.  But  we  must  not  presume,  from  our  notions 
of  things,  to  give  rules  to  God.  It  were,  as  we  may  think,  very 
necessary  that  miracles  should  be  publicly  done  from  time  to 
time,  for  convincing  every  age  and  succession  of  men;  and  that 
good  men  should  be  so  assisted  as  generally  to  live  without 
sin  :  these  and  several  other  things  may  seem  to  us  extremely 
convenient,  and  even  necessary;  but  things  are  not  so  ordered 
for  all  that.*    It  is  also  certain,  that  if  God  has  lodged  such 

*  This  is  one  of  the  chief  arguments  in  favour  of  infallibility  on  which  the  Ro- 
manist erects  his  building.  He  first  concludes  that  there  must  be  a  living,  speak- 
ing, infallible  judge  in  the  church ;  and  then  wisely,  and  not  less  modestly,  con- 
cludes in  favour  of  his  pope,  or  pope  and  councils.  In  his  reply  to  Cressy,  Whitby 
thus  answers  this  assumption  : 

'  He,  through  the  whole  chapter,  slily  supposes,  and  sometimes  asserts,  a  neces- 
sity of  an  infallible  judge,  as  if  without  such  a  one  the  way  to  salvation  were  un- 
certain, and  controversies  endless. 

*  1.  But  he  should  first  prove,  that  God  hath  appointed  an  infallible  judge,  and 
therefore  it  is  necessary  there  should  be  one,  and  not  conclude  that  he  hatb  an- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


235 


an  infallibility  on  earth,  it  ought  not  to  be  in  such  hands  as  ART. 
do  naturally  heighten  our  prejudices  against  it.  It  will  go  XiX- 
against  the  grain  to  believe  it,  though  all  outward  appearances 
looked  ever  so  fair  for  it:  but  it  will  be  an  inconceivable 
method  of  Providence,  if  God  should  lodge  so  wonderful  an 
authority  in  hands  that  look  so  very  unlike  it,  that  of  all  others 
we  should  the  least  expect  to  find  it  with  them. 

If  they  have  been  guilty  of  notorious  impostures,  to  support 
their  own  authority,  if  they  have  committed  great  violences  to 
extend  it,  and  have  been  for  some  ages  together  engaged  in  as 
many  false,  unjust,  and  cruel  practices,  as  are  perhaps  to  be 
met  with  in  any  history ;  these  are  such  prejudices,  that  at 
least  they  must  be  overcome  by  very  clear  and  unquestionable 
proofs :  and  finally,  if  God  has  settled  such  a  power  in  his 


pointed  one,  because  he  conceives  a  necessity  of  it.  I  could  name  a  hundred  pri- 
vileges, that  Mr.  C.  could  conceive  to  be  highly  beneficial  to  the  church,  which 
yet  God  never  granted  to  it ;  and  if  we  may  deduce  infallibility  from  the  necessity 
or  convenience  of  it  to  secure  us  in  our  way  to  heaven,  and  decide  our  controver- 
sies, then  why  may  we  not  conclude,  that  somebody  else  beside  your  pope  and 
council  is  infallible?  Is  it  not  more  conducive  to  these  ends,  that  every  bishop 
should  be  infallible?  more  still,  that  every  preacher?  and  more  yet,  that  every 
individual  Christian  ?  Would  not  these  infallibly  secure  them  from  all  danger  of 
«rring?  Might  not  God  send  some  infallible  interpreter  from  heaven  to  expound 
all  obscure  and  doubtful  places  of  scripture  ?  Might  not  the  apostles  have  left  us 
such  a  commentary?  Might  not  God  (if  he  had  pleased)  have  spoken  so  perspi- 
cuously in  scripture,  that  there  should  be  no  need  of  an  infallible  interpreter  to 
make  it  plainer?  But  if  from  the  advantage  and  use  of  these  dispensations  we 
should  infer  their  actual  existence,  the  conclusion  would  confute  the  premises. 

'  2.  The  plea  for  an  infallible  guide,  to  secure  us  from  wandering  out  of  the 
way  to  heaven,  i3  invalidated  by  the  plainness  and  easiness  of  the  way,  which  we 
cannot  miss  unless  we  will ;  so  that  he  who  will  keep  his  eyes  open,  is  in  no  more 
danger  of  losing  his  way  than  in  the  walks  of  his  own  garden ;  for  we  know  the 
conditions  which  God  hath  made  necessary  to  salvation  are  clear  and  easy,  unless 
God  should  bind  us  upon  pain  of  damnation  fully  to  know  and  believe  articles  ob- 
scure and  ambiguous,  and  so  damn  men  for  not  believing  that,  the  truth  whereof 
they  could  not  discover,  which  is  highly  repugnant  both  to  his  revealed  goodness 
and  justice.  We,  therefore,  distinguish  between  points  fundamental  and  points  not 
fundamental,  those  being  clearly  revealed,  and  so  of  a  necessary  belief;  to  deter- 
mine their  sense,  there  is  no  more  need  of  a  judge,  than  for  any  other  perspicuous 
truth.  What  need  of  a  judge  to  decide  whether  scripture  affirms  that  there  is  but 
one  God?  that  this  God  cannot  lie?  that  Jesus  was  crucified  and  rose  again?  that 
without  faith  and  obedience  we  cannot  come  to  heaven  ?  These,  and  such  like,  are 
the  truths  we  entitle  fundamental,  and  if  the  sense  of  these  need  an  infallible 
judge,  then  let  us  bring  Euclid's  elements  to  the  bar,  and  call  for  a  judge  to  decide 
whether  twice  two  make  four.  Then  for  points  not  fundamental,  their  belief  being 
not  absolutely  necessary  to  salvation,  we  may  err  about  them,  and  not  err  damna- 
bly, and  so  this  plea  for  an  infallible  judge  is  wholly  evacuated.  And  with  no 
more  difficulty  may  we  baffle  the  other,  taken  from  its  necessity  to  determine  con- 
troversies ;  for  if  any  man  oppose  fundamental  doctrines,  or  any  other  evident 
truths,  our  church  can  censure  him,  without  pretending  to  be  infallible.  What  need 
of  an  infallible  judge  to  convict  him  of  heresy,  that  shall  deny  the  resurrection  of 
the  dead?  (which  yet  some  of  your  own  popes  have  not  believed,  if  some  of  your 
own  historians  may  be  believed.)  Therefore,  doctrines  not  fundamental,  being 
not  clearly  revealed,  our  church  doth  not  take  upon  her  to  determine  these,  but  if 
any  disputes  arise  about  such  points,  it  is  her  work  to  silence  and  suppress  them  ; 
and  when  she  gives  her  judgment  of  that  side  she  thinks  most  probable,  though 
she  doth  not  expect  that  all  her  children  should  be  so  wise  as  to  be  of  her  opinion, 
yet  she  expects  they  should  be  so  modest,  as  not  to  contradict  her,  which  is 
as  effectually  available  to  end  controversies  as  is  your  pretended  infallibility.' 
—[Ed.] 


236 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  church,  we  must  be  distincfJy  directed  to  those  in  whose  hands 
XIX-  it  is  put,  so  that  we  may  fall  into  no  mistake  in  so  important 
—  a  matter.  This  will  be  the  more  necessary,  if  there  are  different 
pretenders  to  it:  we  cannot  be  supposed  to  be  bound  to  believe 
an  infallibility  in  general,  unless  we  have  an  equal  evidence 
directing  us  to  those  with  whom  it  rests,  and  who  have  the 
dispensing  of  it.  These  general  considerations  are  of  great 
weight  in  deciding  this  question,  and  will  carry  us  far  into  some 
preliminaries,  which  will  appear  to  be  indeed  great  steps  to- 
wards the  conclusion  of  the  matter. 

There  are  three  ways  by  which  it  may  be  pretended  that 
infallibility  can  be  proved :  the  one  is  the  way  of  Moses  and 
the  prophets,  of  Christ  and  his  apostles,  who,  by  clear  and  un- 
questionable miracles  publicly  done,  and  well  attested,  or  by 
express  and  circumstantiated  prophecies  of  things  to  come,  that 
came  afterwards  to  be  verified,  did  evidently  demonstrate  that 
they  were  sent  of  God :  wheresoever  we  see  such  characters, 
and  that  a  miracle  is  wrought  by  men  who  say  they  are  sent  of 
God,  which  cannot  be  denied  nor  avoided ;  and  if  what  such 
persons  deliver  to  us  is  neither  contrary  to  our  ideas  of  God, 
and  of  morality,  nor  to  any  thing  already  revealed  by  God ; 
there  we  must  conclude  that  God  has  lodged  an  infallible  au- 
thority with  them,  as  long  and  as  far  as  that  character  is 
stamped  upon  it. 

That  is  not  pretended  here :  for  though  they  study  to  per- 
suade the  world  that  miracles  are  still  among  them,  yet  they 
do  not  so  much  as  say  that  the  miracles  are  wrought  by  those 
with  whom  this  infallibility  is  lodged,  and  that  they  are 
done  to  prove  them  to  be  infallible.  For  though  God  should 
bestow  the  gift  of  miracles  upon  some  particidar  persons 
among  them,  that  is  no  more  an  argument  that  their  church 
is  infallible,  than  the  miracles  that  Elijah  or  Elisha  wrought 
were  arguments  to  prove  that  the  Jewish  church  was  infal- 
lible. Indeed  the  public  miracles  that  belonged  to  the  whole 
body,  such  as  the  cloud  of  glory,  the  answers  by  the  Urim 
and  Thummim,  the  trial  of  jealousy,  and  the  constant  plenty 
of  the  sixth  year,  as  preparatory  to  the  sabbatical  year,  seem 
more  reasonably  to  infer  an  infallibility ;  because  these  were 
given  to  that  whole  church  and  nation.*    But  yet  the  Jewish 

*  This  line  of  argument,  here  alluded  to  by  our  author,  is  the  most  easy  and 
satisfactory  answer  to  the  absurd  pretence  of  the  papal  church  to  infallibility. 
They  cannot  urge  any  one  scripture  from  the  New  Testament  containing  promises 
to  the  Christian  church  (which  too  they  unwarrantably  limit  to  themselves),  to  which 
the  Jew  cannot  reply  by  the  production  of  similar,  and,  in  some  instances,  much 
more  enlarged  promises  made  to  his  church.  If,  for  instance,  the  man  who  refuses 
to  hear  the  church  is  to  be  accounted  a  heathen  and  publican,  (Matt,  xviii.  17.) 
the  man  that  did  presumptuously,  and  would  not  hearken  to  the  Jewish  priest,  was 
commanded  to  be  put  to  death.  (Deut.  xvii.  12.)  The  same  argument  will  hold 
good  in  all  the  other  scriptures  advanced  by  the  papal  church  in  her  behalf.  Now, 
although  they  have  no  right  to  appeal  to  scripture  until  the  authority  and  in- 
fallibility of  their  church  be  first  proved,  since,  according  to  their  doctrine,  it  is 
the  peculiar  province  of  the  Roman  church  to,  in  the  first  place,  decide  what  ii 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


237 


church  was  far  from  being  infallible  all  that  while ;  for  we  see  ART 
they  fell  all  in  a  body  into  idolatry  upon  several  occasions :  x,x- 


scripture,  and  in  the  second,  what  is  the  meaning  or  sense  of  any  particular  verse 
or  passage — yet,  giving  them  full  permission  to  make  use  of  that  book  which  they 
are  so  prone  to  insult  by  calling  it  obscure,  insufficient,  and  a  dead  letter — what  do 
they  prove  ?  The  infallibility  of  the  Jewish  church  !  '  For  if,'  writes  Dr.  Whitby, 
'  Roman  Catholics  conclude  from  these  ambiguous  and  obscure  places  for  the  in- 
fallibility of  councils,  or  the  major  part  of  the  church-guides  concurring  with  the 
pope  in  any  sentence  or  decree,  although  these  places  do  not  speak  one  syllable  of 
any  pope  or  major  part  of  the  church-guides,  and  much  less  of  the  Romish  prelates, 
and  less  of  their  infallible  assistance;  what  ovations  and  triumphs  would  they  have 
made,  had  it  been  said  expressly  of  their  car 'i  als  and  councils,  as  it  is  said  of 
Jewish  priests,  that  they  were  set  for  jad«m°nl  and  for  controversy  ?  had  God  fixed 
his  glorious  presence  at  Rome,  as  he  did  at  Jerusalem,  and  settled  there  a  seat  of 
judgment,  and  a  continual  court  of  highest  judicature,  as  was  that  Sanhedrin,  which 
in  Jerusalem  was  settled?  had  he  dwelt  in  St.  Peter's,  as  he  dwelt  in  the  temple? 
had  he  left  with  them,  as  he  did  with  the  Jewish  priests,  a  standing  oracle,  a  Urim 
and  a  Tlunnmim,  to  consult  with  upon  all  occasions?  So  that  this  plea  being  much 
stronger  for  the  infallibility  of  the  superiors  of  the  Jewish  church,  than  for  the  in- 
fallibility  of  the  whole  western  church,  or  any  of  its  councils,  the  Roman  doctors 
must  acknowledge,  either  that  they  fallaciously  urge  it  against  Protestants,  or  must 
confess  that  it  stands  also  good  against  the  Christian,  and  is  a  confirmation  of  all 
those  traditions  which  were  condemned  by  our  Saviour,  and  a  sufficient  plea  for  all 
those  errors  and  corruptions,  which,  as  the  prophets  do  complain,  were  generally 
taught  and  practised  by  the  church-guides  ill  the  declining  ages  of  the  Jewish 
church :  for  if  these  arguments  be  good  now,  they  were  so  then  ;  and  if  they  were 
good  then,  for  aught  that  I  can  see,  the  high-priest,  and  the  major  part  of  the 
church  rulers  of  the  Jews,  were  always  in  the  right;  and  Christ,  and  his  apostles, 
with  the  holy  prophets,  must  be  in  the  wrong,  'f 

To  avoid  the  force  of  this  argument,  which  so  completely  turns  the  weapons  of 
the  papacy  against  itself,  some  of  that  party  have  devised  this  reply — more  inge- 
nious than  solid  or  satisfactory:  That  the  Jewish  church  was  infallible,  but  that 
its  infallibility  disappeared  and  centred  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  greater  au- 
thority, when  he  appeared  on  earth.  To  this  argument,  if  it  can  be  called  one, 
of  which  the  Editor  has  known,  indeed  heard,  priests  of  the  Roman  church  avail 
themselves,  the  answer  is  easy,  and  more  than  ever  shews  the  difficulties  in  which 
they,  who  use  it,  are  placed.  1st.  The  Jewish  church  did  sin  in  matters  funda- 
mental before  the  coming  of  Christ — '  They  err  in  vision,  they  stumble  in  judg- 
ment,' '  and  the  prophets  prophesy  falsely,  and  the  priests  bear  rule  by  their  means,' 
was  the  testimony  of  God  concerning  the  church-guide3.  Apostacy  from  the  truth 
and  idolatry  were  sins  of  the  Jewish  church.  But,  2d.,  if  they  were  infallible  until  the 
appearing  of  the  Saviour  on  earth,  which  the  Bible  proves  that  they  were  not,  how 
were  the  people  assured  of  the  departure  of  this  high  privilege  from  their  own 
church-guides  (whom  they  were  to  obey  under  pain  of  death),  and  of  its  lodg- 
ment in  the  Lord  Jesus?  This  is  the  point.  How  did  the  Saviour  convince  them? 
By  his  doctrine  and  by  miracles.  The  former  was  an  appeal  to  their  private 
iudgment — the  latter  to  their  senses;  and  if  these  be  allowed,  the  papal  system 
against  the  right  of  private  judgment,  and  in  favour  of  transubstantiation,  is  demo- 
lished. Thus  they  cannot  evade  the  force  of  this  argument  against  infallibility 
without  destroying  their  own  building.  We  cannot  but  conclude  this  article  in 
the  words  of  Whitby  : — '  If  this  be  truly  the  result  of  the  most  specious  pretences 
of  the  Roman  party  to  draw  our  souls  into  their  deadly  snares,  if  all  their  fairest 
pleas  do  make  for  Judaism,  more  naturally  than  they  do  for  popery ;  if  what  they 
urge,  to  prove  the  Protestant  divines  to  be  deceivers  of  the  people,  doth  more 
strongly  prove  our  blessed  Jesus  a  deceiver,  which  is  the  highest  blasphemy ;  I 
hope  that  no  true  lover  of  this  Jesus  will  be  much  tempted  by  such  pleas  to  enter- 
tain a  good  opinion  of  the  Romish  faith :  it  being  certainly  that  faith,  which  can- 
not be  established  but  on  the  ruins  of  Christianity,  nor  embraced  by  any  Protestant, 
but  with  the  greatest  hazard,  if  not  the  ruin,  of  his  soul.' — [Ed.] 


f  Whitby :  Sermon  on  John  vii.  47 — 49,  which  every  student  ought  not  merely 
to  read,  but  well  digest.  It  >s  to  be  found  in  his  Commentary,  at  the  end  of  the 
gospel  of  St.  John. 


238 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  those  public  miracles  proved  nothing  but  that  for  which  they 
were  given,  which  was,  that  Moses  was  sent  of  God,  and  that  his 
law  was  from  God,  which  they  saw  was  still  attested  in  a  con- 
tinuance of  extraordinary  characters.  If  infallibility  had  been 
promised  by  that  law,  then  the  continuance  of  the  miracles 
might  have  been  urged  to  prove  the  continuance  of  the  infalli- 
bility ;  but  that  not  being  promised,  the  miracles  were  only 
a  standing  proof  of  the  authority  of  their  law,  and  of  God's 
being  still  among  them.  And  thus  though  we  should  not 
dispute  the  truth  of  the  many  legends  that  some  are  daily 
bringing  forth,  which  yet  we  may  well  do,  since  they  are 
believed  to  be  true  by  few  among  themselves,  they  being  con- 
sidered among  the  greater  part  of  the  knowing  men  of  that 
church,  as  arts  to  entertain  the  credulity  and  devotion  of  the 
people,  and  to  work  upon  their  fears  and  hopes,  but  chiefly 
upon  their  purses  :  all  these,  I  say,  when  confessed,  will  not 
serve  to  prove  that  there  is  an  infallibility  among  them,  unless 
they  can  prove  that  these  miracles  are  wrought  to  prove  this 
infallibility. 

The  second  sort  of  proofs  that  they  may  bring,  is  from 
some  passages  in  scripture,  that  seem  to  import  that  it  was 
given  by  Christ  to  the  church.  But  though  in  this  dispute 
all  these  passages  ought  to  be  well  considered  and  answered, 
yet  they  ought  not  to  be  urged  to  prove  this  infallibility,  till 
several  other  things  are  first  proved ;  such  as,  that  the  scrip- 
tures are  the  word  of  God  ;  that  the  book  of  the  scriptures  is 
brought  down  pure  and  uncorrupted  to  our  hands ;  and  that 
we  are  able  to  understand  the  meaning  of  it :  for  before  we 
can  argue  from  the  parts  of  any  book,  as  being  of  divine  au- 
thority, all  these  things  must  be  previously  certain,  and  be 
well  made  out  to  us :  so  that  we  must  be  well  assured  of  all 
those  particulars,  before  we  may  go  about  to  prove  any  thing 
by  any  passages  drawn  out  of  the  scriptures.  Further,  these 
passages  suppose  that  those  to  whom  this  infallibility  belongs 
are  a  church :  we  must  then  know  what  a  church  is,  and  what 
makes  a  body  of  men  to  be  a  church,  before  we  can  be  sure 
that  they  are  that  society  to  whom  this  infallibility  is  given : 
and  since  there  may  be,  as  we  know  that  in  fact  there  are, 
great  differences  among  several  of  those  bodies  of  men  called 
churches,  and  that  they  condemn  one  another  as  guilty  of 
error,  schism,  and  heresy ;  we  are  sure  that  all  these  cannot 
be  infallible  :  for  contradictions  cannot  be  true.  So  then  we 
must  know  which  of  them  is  that  society  where  this  infalli- 
bility is  to  be  found.  And  if  in  any  one  society  there  should 
be  different  opinions  about  the  seat  of  this  infallibility,  those 
cannot  be  all  true,  though  it  is  very  possible  that  they  may  be 
all  false :  we  must  be  then  well  assured  in  whom  this  great  pri- 
vilege is  vested,  before  we  can  be  bound  to  acknowledge  it,  or 
to  submit  to  it.  So  here  a  great  many  things  must  be  known, 
before  we  can  either  argue  from,  or  apply,  those  passages  of 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


239 


scripture  in  which  it  is  pretended  that  infallibility  is  promised   A  R  T. 
to  the  church :  and  if  private  judgment  is  to  be  trusted  in  X1X- 
the  inquiries  that  arise  about  all  these  particulars,  they  being 
the  most  important  and  most  difficult  matters  that  we  can 
search  into,  then  it  will  be  thought  reasonable  to  trust  it  yet 
much  further. 

It  is  evident,  by  their  proceeding  this  way,  that  both  the 
authority  and  the  sense  of  the  scriptures  must  be  known  an- 
tecedently to  our  acknowledging  the  authority  or  the  infalli- 
bility of  any  church.  For  it  is  an  eternal  principle  and  rule 
of  reason,  never  to  prove  one  tiling  by  another,  till  that  other 
is  first  well  proved  :  nor  can  any  thing  be  proved  afterwards 
by  that  which  was  proved  by  it.  This  is  as  impossible,  as  if 
a  father  should  beget  a  son,  and  should  be  afterwards  begotten 
by  that  son.  Therefore  the  scriptures  cannot  prove  the  infal- 
libility of  the  church,  and  be  afterwards  proved  by  the  testi- 
mony of  the  church.  So  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  must 
be  first  settled  and  proved,  before  any  use  can  be  made  of  it 
to  prove  the  other  by  it. 

The  last  way  they  take  to  find  out  this  church  by,  is  from  Bellar. 
some  notes*  that  they  pretend  are  peculiar  to  her,  such  as  the  ['""'j 
name  catholic;  antiquity;  extent;  duration;  succession  of 
bishops;  union  among  themselves,  and  with  their  head;  con- 
formity of  doctrine  with  former  times ;  miracles  ;  prophecy  ; 
sanctity  of  doctrine ;  holiness  of  life;  temporal  felicity  ;  curses 
upon  their  enemies ;  and  a  constant  progress  or  efficacy  of  doc- 
trine :  together  with  the  confession  of  their  adversaries :  and 
they  fancy,  that  wheresoever  we  find  these,  we  must  believe 
that  body  of  men  to  be  infallible.  But  upon  all  this,  endless 
questions  will  arise,  so  far  will  it  be  from  ending  controversies, 
and  settling  us  upon  infallibility.  If  all  these  must  be  be- 
lieved to  be  the  marks  of  the  infallible  church,  upon  the  ac- 
count of  which  we  ought  to  believe  it,  and  submit  to  it,  then 
two  inquiries  upon  every  one  of  these  notes  must  be  discussed, 
before  we  can  be  obliged  to  acquiesce  in  the  infallibility  :  First, 
whether  that  is  a  true  mark  of  infallibility,  or  not?  And  next, 
whether  it  belongs  to  the  church  which  they  call  infallible,  or 
not?  And  then  another  very  intricate  question  will  arise  upon 
the  whole,  whether  they  must  be  all  found  together  ?  or,  how 
many,  or  which,  of  them  together,  will  give  us  the  entire  cha- 
racters of  the  infallible  church  ? 

In  discussing  the  questions,  whether  every  one  of  these  is 

*  In  order  to  the  full  understanding  of  this  point,  the  reader  must  refer  to 
Gibson's  Preservative  against  Papery,  vol.  1,  in  which  'the  notes  of  the  church  as 
laid  down  by  Cardinal  Bellarmine  are  examined  and  confuted.'  This  examination 
of  the  notes,  &c,  may  also  be  found  in  a  small  quarto,  published  in  1687,  entitled 
'  A  brief  Discourse  concerning  the  Notes  of  the  Church,  with  some  Reflections  on 
Cardinal  Bellarmine's  Notes.'  The  quarto  edition  contains  also  two  papers  not 
found  in  Gibson's  collection :  'A  vindication  of  the  discourse  concerning  the  Notes  ;' 
and  '  A  defence  of  the  confuter  of  Bellarmine's  second  note  of  the  church,  Anti- 
quity, against  the  cavils  of  the  adviser.'-  [Ed.] 


240 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART  a  true  mark,  or  not,  no  use  must  be  made  of  the  scriptures ; 
XIX"  for  if  the  scriptures  have  their  authority  from  the  testimony, 
or  rather  the  decisions,  of  the  infallible  church,  no  use  can  be 
made  of  them  till  that  is  first  fixed.  Some  of  these  notes  are 
such  as  did  not  at  all  agree  to  the  church  in  the  best  and 
purest  times ;  for  then  she  had  but  a  little  extent,  a  short- 
lived duration,  and  no  temporal  felicity  :  and  she  was  generally 
reproached  by  her  adversaries.  But  out  of  which  of  these 
topics  can  one  hope  to  fetch  an  assurance  of  the  infallibility  of 
such  a  body  ?  Can  no  body  of  men  continue  long  in  a  con- 
stant series,  and  with  much  prosperitv,  but  must  thev  be  con- 
cluded to  be  infallible  ?  Can  it  be  thought  that  the  assuming 
a  name  can  be  a  mark  ?  Why  is  not  the  name  Christian  as 
solemn  as  catholic?  Might  not  the  philosophers  have  con- 
cluded from  hence  against  the  first  Christians,  that  they  were, 
by  the  confession  of  all  men,  the  true  lovers  of  wisdom ;  since 
they  were  called  philosophers  much  more  unanimously  than 
the  church  of  Rome  is  called  catholic  ? 

If  a  conformity  of  doctrine  with  former  times,  and  a  sanc- 
tity of  doctrine,  are  notes  of  the  church,  these  will  lead  men 
into  inquiries  of  such  a  nature,  that  if  thev  are  once  allowed 
to  go  so  far  with  their  private  judgment,  thev  may  well  be 
suffered  to  go  much  further.  Some  standard  must  be  fixed 
on,  by  which  the  sanctity  of  doctrine  may  be  examined ;  they 
must  also  be  allowed  to  examine  what  was  the  doctrine  of 
former  times :  and  here  it  will  be  natural  to  begin  at  the  first 
times,  the  age  of  the  apostles.  It  must  therefore  be  first 
known  what  was  the  doctrine  of  that  age,  before  we  can 
examine  the  conformity  of  the  present  age  with  it.  A  suc- 
cession of  bishops  is  confessed,  to  be  still  kept  up  among 
corrupted  churches.  An  union  of  the  church  with  its  head 
cannot  be  supposed  to  be  a  note,  unless  it  is  first  made  out 
by  some  other  topics,  that  this  church  must  have  a  head ;  and 
that  he  is  infallible :  for  unless  it  is  proved  by  some  other 
argument  that  she  ought  to  have  a  head,  she  cannot  be  bound 
to  adhere  to  him,  or  to  own  him ;  and  unless  it  is  also  proved 
that  he  is  infallible,  she  cannot  be  bound  absolutely,  and 
without  restrictions,  to  adhere  to  him.  Holiness  of  life  can- 
not be  a  mark,  unless  it  is  pretended  that  those  in  whom  the 
infallibilitv  is  are  all  holy.  A  few  holy  men  here  and  there 
are  indeed  an  honour  to  any  body ;  but  it  will  seem  a  strange 
inference,  that  because  some  few  in  a  society  are  eminently 
holy,  that  therefore  others  of  that  body  who  are  not  so,  but 
are  perhaps  as  eminently  vicious,  should  be  infallible.  Some- 
what has  been  already  said  concerning  miracles  :  the  pretence 
to  prophecy  falls  within  the  same  consideration ;  the  one  being 
as  wonderful  a  communication  of  omniscience,  as  the  other  is 
of  omnipotence.  For  the  confession  of  adversaries,  or  some 
curses  on  them  ;  these  cannot  signify  much,  unless  they  were 
universal.  Fair  enemies  will  acknowledge  what  is  good  among 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


241 


their  adversaries :  but  as  that  church  is  the  least  apt,  of  any  A  R  T. 
society  we  know,  to  speak  good  of  those  who  differ  from  her,  XIX. 
so  she  has  not  very  much  to  boast  as  to  others  saying  much 
good  of  her.    And  if  signal  providences  have  now  and  then 
happened,  these  are  such  things,  and  they  are  carried  on  with 
such  a  depth,  that  we  must  acquiesce  in  the  observation  of  the 
wisest  men  of  all  ages,  that  '  the  race  is  not  to  the  swift,  nor  Eccl.  ix. 
the  battle  to  the  strong:  but  that  time  and  chance  happeneth  11  • 
to  all  things/ 

And  thus  it  appears,  that  these  pretended  notes,  instead  of 
giving  us  a  clear  thread  to  lead  us  up  to  infallibility  and  to  end 
all  controversies,  do  start  a  great  variety  of  questions,  that  en- 
gage us  into  a  labyrinth,  out  of  which  it  cannot  be  easy  for 
any  to  extricate  themselves.  But  if  we  could  see  an  end  of 
this,  then  a  new  set  of  questions  will  come  on,  when  we  go  to 
examine  all  churches  by  them :  Whether  the  church  of  Rome 
has  them  all  ?  And  if  she  alone  has  them  so,  that  no  other 
church  has  them  equally  with  her  or  beyond  her  ? 

If  all  these  must  be  discussed  before  we  can  settle  this  ques- 
tion, which  is  the  true  infallible  church  ?  a  man  must  stay  long 
ere  he  can  come  to  a  point  in  it. 

Therefore  there  can  be  no  other  way  taken  here,  but  to 
examine  first,  what  makes  a  particular  church :  and  then 
since  the  catholic  church  is  an  united  body  of  all  particular 
churches,  when  the  true  notion  of  a  particular  church  is  fixed, 
it  will  be  easy  from  that  to  form  a  notion  of  the  catholic 
church. 

It  would  seem  reasonable  by  the  method  of  all  creeds,  in 
particular  of  that  called  the  Apostles'  Creed,  that  we  ought  first 
to  settle  our  faith  as  to  the  great  points  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion, and  from  thence  go  to  settle  the  notion  of  a  true  church  : 
and  that  we  ought  not  to  begin  with  the  notion  of  a  church, 
and  from  thence  go  to  the  doctrine. 

The  doctrine  of  Christianity  must  be  first  stated,  and  from 
this  we  are  to  take  our  measures  of  all  churches ;  and  that 
chiefly  with  respect  to  that  doctrine,  which  every  Christian  is 
bound  to  believe :  here  a  distinction  is  to  be  made  between 
those  capital  and  fundamental  articles,  without  which  a  man 
cannot  be  esteemed  a  true  Christian,  nor  a  church  a  true 
church ;  and  other  truths,  which,  being  delivered  in  scripture, 
all  men  are  indeed  obliged  to  believe  them,  yet  they  are  not 
of  that  nature  that  the  ignorance  of  them,  or  an  error  in  them, 
can  exclude  from  salvation. 

To  make  this  sensible :  it  is  a  proposition  of  another  sort, 
that  Christ  died  for  sinners,  than  this,  that  he  died  at  the  third, 
or  at  the  sixth  hour.  And  yet  if  the  second  proposition  is 
expressly  revealed  in  scripture,  we  are  bound  to  believe  it, 
since  Gou  has  said  it,  though  it  is  not  of  the  same  nature  with 
the  other. 

Here  a  controversy  does  naturally  arise  that  wise  people  are 

R 


242 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


art.  unwilling  to  meddle  with,  what  articles  are  fundamental,  and 
XIX.    what  are  not  ? 

The  defining  of  fundamental  articles  seems,  on  the  one  hand, 
to  deny  salvation  to  such  as  do  not  receive  them  all,  which 
men  are  not  willing  to  do. 

And,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may  seem  a  leaving  men  at 
liberty,  as  to  all  other  particulars  that  are  not  reckoned  up 
among  the  fundamentals. 

But  after  all,  the  covenant  of  grace,  the  terms  of  salvation, 
and  the  grounds  on  which  we  expect  it,  seem  to  be  things  of 
another  nature  than  all  other  truths,  which,  though  revealed, 
are  not  of  themselves  the  means  or  conditions  of  salvation. 
Wheresoever  true  baptism  is,  there  it  seems  the  essentials  of 
this  covenant  are  preserved :  for,  if  we  look  on  baptism  as  a 
foederal  admission  into  Christianity,  there  can  be  no  baptism 
where  the  essence  of  Christianity  is  not  preserved.  As  far 
then  as  we  believe  that  any  society  has  preserved  that,  so  far 
we  are  bound  to  receive  her  baptism,  and  no  further.  For 
unless  we  consider  baptism  as  a  sort  of  a  charm,  that  such 
words  joined  with  a  washing  with  water  make  one  a  Christian  ; 
which  seems  to  be  expressly  contrary  to  what  St.  Peter  says 
1  Pet.  iu.  of  it,  that  £it  is  not  the  washing  away  the  filth  of  the  flesh, 
but  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  towards  God,  that  saves 
us ;'  we  must  conclude,  that  baptism  is  a  foederal  thing,  in 
which,  after  that  the  sponsions  are  made,  the  seal  of  regenera- 
tion is  added. 

From  hence  it  will  follow,  that  all  who  have  a  true  baptism, 
that  makes  men  believers  and  Christians,  must  also  have  the 
true  faith  as  to  the  essentials  of  Christianity ;  the  fundamentals 
of  Christianity  seem  to  be  all  that  is  necessary  to  make  bap- 
tism true  and  valid.  And  upon  this  a  distinction  is  to  be  made, 
that  will  discover  and  destroy  a  sophism  that  is  often  used  on 
this  occasion.    A  true  church*  is,  in  one  sense,  a  society  that 

*  It  is  oi  vital  importance  that  the  controversialist  should  study  this  question, 
'What  constitutes  any  church  a  true  church?'  Many  Protestants  have,  in  th.'ir  zeal 
without  knowledge,  denied  the  title  of  true  church  to  the  church  of  Rome,  thereby 
entangling  themselves  in  difficulties.  If  the  papacy  be  not  a  true  church,  how,  as 
Calvin  asked,  can  Antichrist  sit  in  the  temple  of  God  ?  Or  how,  we  might  add,  ran 
she  be  charged  with  being  the  mother  of  harlots,  if  she  have  not  some  claim  to  be 
the  bride  ?  Her  sin  is  not  that  she  directly  denies  or  overturns  the  truth  of  Christ,  but 
that  she  makes  void  his  truth  by  adopting  a  new  creed,  thus  indirectly  and  far  more 
effectually  overturning  the  foundation  of  faith.  When  Bishop  Hall  published  his 
'  Old  Religion,'  he  was  assailed  by  many  as  favouring  popery,  because  he  called  the 
Roman  a  true  church,  they  not  knowing,  or  not  considering,  the  exact  meaning  of 
the  word  true  ;  nor  what  an  advantage  is  given  to  the  enemy  by  denying  the  Roman 
to  be  a  church.  Hall  submitted  the  matter  to  his  friend  Bishop  Davenant.  who  re- 
turned the  following  answer,  in  which  the  question  is  handled  in  a  concise  and  mas- 
terly manner,  and  for  which  the  Editor  is  indebted  to  the  Rev.  J.  Allport's  valuable 
life  of  Davenant,  prefixed  to  his  translation  of  that  bishop's  exposition  of  the  Epistle 
to  the  Colossians. 

'  To  the  Right  Rev.  Father  in  God,  Joseph,  Lord  Bishop  of  Exon,  these. 
'  My  Loud, 

'  You  desire  my  opinion  concerning  an  assertion  of  yours,  whereat  some  have 
taken  offence. 

'  The  proposition  was  this,  "  That  the  Roman  church  remains  yet  a  true  visible 
church." 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


243 


preserves  the  essentials  and  fundamentals  of  Christianity :  in  ART. 
another  sense  it  stands  for  a  society,  all  whose  doctrines  are  x  1 A  • 
true,  that  has  corrupted  no  part  of  this  religion,  nor  mixed  any 
errors  with  it.  A  true  man  is  one  who  has  a  soul  and  a  body, 
that  are  the  essential  constituents  of  a  man :  whereas,  in  an- 
other sense,  a  man  of  sincerity  and  candour  is  called  a  true 
man.  Truth  in  the  one  sense  imports  the  essential  constitu- 
tion, and  in  the  other  it  imports  only  a  quality  that  is  acci- 
dental to  it.  So  when  we  acknowledge  that  any  society  is  a 
true  church,  we  ought  to  be  supposed  to  mean  no  other,  than 

'  The  occasion,  which  makes  this  an  ill-sounding  proposition  in  the  ears  of  Pro- 
testants, especially  such  as  are  not  thoroughly  acquainted  with  school  distinctions, 
is  the  usual  acceptation  of  the  word  "true"  in  our  English  tongue;  for.  though 
men  skilled  in  metaphysics  hold  it  for  a  maxim,  Ens,  Verum,  Bonum  convertuntur ; 
yet,  with  us,  he,  which  shall  affirm  such  a  one  is  a  true  Christian,  a  true  gentleman, 
a  true  scholar,  or  the  like,  he  is  conceived  not  only  to  ascribe  trueness  of  being  unto 
all  these,  but  those  due  qualities  or  requisite  actions  whereby  they  are  made  com- 
mendable or  praiseworthy  in  their  several  kinds.  In  this  sense  the  Roman  church 
is  no  more  a  true  church  in  respect  of  Christ,  or  those  due  qualities  and  proper 
actions  which  Christ  requires,  than  an  arrant  whore  is  a  true  and  loyal  wife  unto 
her  husband. 

'  I  durst,  upon  mine  oath,  be  one  of  your  compurgators,  that  you  never  intended 
to  adorn  that  strumpet  with  the  title  of  a  true  church  in  this  meaning.  But  your 
own  writings  have  so  fully  cleared  you  herein,  that  suspicion  itself  cannot  reason- 
ably suspect  you  on  this  point. 

•  I  therefore  can  say  no  more  respecting  your  mistaken  proposition,  than  this  :  If, 
in  that  treatise  wherein  it  was  delivered,  the  antecedents  or  consequents  were  such 
as  served  fitly  to  lead  the  reader  into  that  sense,  which  under  the  word  true  com- 
prehended only  truth  of  Being  or  Existence,  and  not  the  due  qualities  of  the  thing 
or  subject,  you  have  been  causelessly  traduced.  But,  on  the  other  side,  if  that  pro- 
position comes  ex  abrupto,  or  stands  solitary  in  your  discourse,  you  cannot  marvel 
though,  by  taking  the  word  true  according  to  the  more  ordinary  acceptation,  your 
true  meaning  was  mistaken. 

'  In  brief,  your  proposition  admits  a  true  sense ;  and,  in  that  sense,  is,  by  the 
learned  in  our  reformed  church,  not  disallowed :  for,  the  being  of  a  church  does 
principally  stand  upon  the  gracious  action  of  God,  calling  men  out  of  darkness  and 
death  unto  the  participation  of  light  and  life  in  Christ  Jesus.  So  long  as  God 
continues  this  calling  unto  any  people,  though  they  as  much  as  in  them  lies, 
darken  this  light,  and  corrupt  the  means  which  should  bring  them  to  light  and  sal- 
vation in  Christ ;  yet,  when  God  calls  men  unto  the  participation  of  life  in  Christ 
by  the  word  and  by  the  sacrament,  there  is  the  true  being  of  a  Christian  church, 
let  men  be  never  so  false  in  their  exposition  of  God's  word,  or  never  so  untrusty 
in  mingling  their  own  traditions  with  God's  ordinances. 

'  Thus,  the  church  of  the  Jews  lost  not  her  being  of  a  church  when  she  became 
an  idolatrous  church. 

'  And  thus,  under  the  government  of  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees,  who  voided  the 
commandments  of  God  by  their  own  traditions,  there  was  yet  standing  a  true 
church,  in  which  Zacharias,  Elizabeth,  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  our  Saviour  himself 
was  born,  who  were  members  of  that  church,  and  yet  participated  not  in  the  cor- 
ruptions thereof. 

'  Thus,  to  grant  that  the  Roman  was,  and  is,  a  true  visible  Christian  church, 
though  in  doctrine  a  false,  and  in  practice  an  idolatrous  church,  is  a  true  assertion  ; 
and  of  greater  use  and  necessity  in  our  controversy  with  papists  about  the  perpetuity 
of  the  Christian  church,  than  is  understood  by  those  who  gainsay  it. 

'  This,  in  your  Reconciler,  is  so  well  explicated,  as,  if  any  shall  continue  in  tra- 
ducing you  in  regard  of  that  proposition  so  explained,  I  think  it  will  be  only  those, 
who  are  better  acquainted  with  wrangling  than  reasoning,  and  deeper  in  love  with 
strife  than  truth.  And,  therefore,  be  no  more  troubled  with  other  men's  ground- 
less suspicions,  than  you  would  be  in  like  case  with  their  idle  dreams.  Thus  I  have 
enlarged  myself  beyond  my  first  intent.  But  my  love  to  yourself,  and  the  assu- 
rance of  your  constant  love  unto  the  truth,  enforced  me  thereunto.  I  rest  always, 
your  loving  brother, 

'Jan.  30,  1628.  John  Sarom.'— [Ed.] 

R  2 


244 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  that  the  covenant  of  grace  in  its  essential  constituent  parts  is 
X1X-  preserved  entire  in  that  body ;  and  not  that  it  is  true  in  all 
its  doctrines  and  decisions. 

The  second  thing  to  be  considered  in  a  church  is,  their  as- 
sociation together  in  the  use  of  the  sacraments.  For  these  are 
given  by  Christ  to  the  society,  as  the  rites  and  badges  of  that 
body.  That  which  makes  particular  men  believers,  is  their 
receiving  the  fundamentals  of  Christianity :  so  that  which 
constitutes  the  body  of  the  church,  is  the  profession  of  that 
faith,  and  the  use  of  those  sacraments,  which  are  the  rites  and 
distinctions  of  those  who  profess  it. 

In  this  likewise  a  distinction  is  to  be  made  between  what 
is  essential  to  a  sacrament,  and  what  is  the  exact  observance 
of  it  according  to  the  institution.  Additions  to  the  sacraments 
do  not  annul  them,  though  they  corrupt  them  with  that  adul- 
terate mixture.  Therefore  where  the  sponsions  are  made,  and 
a  washing  with  water  is  used  with  the  words  of  Christ,  there 
we  own  that  there  is  a  true  baptism :  though  there  may  be  a 
large  addition  of  other  rites,  which  we  reject  as  superstitious, 
though  we  do  not  pretend  that  they  null  the  baptism.  But  if 
any  part  of  the  institution  is  cut  off,  there  we  do  not  own  the 
sacrament  to  be  true:  because  it  being  an  institution  of  Christ, 
it  can  no  more  be  esteemed  a  true  sacrament,  than  as  it  retains 
all  that,  which  by  the  institution  appears  to  be  the  main  and 
essential  part  of  the  action. 

Upon  this  account  it  is,  that  since  Christ  appointed  bread 
and  wine  for  his  other  sacrament,  and  that  he  not  only  blessed 
both,  but  distributed  both,  with  words  appropriated  to  each 
kind,  we  do  not  esteem  that  to  be  a  true  sacrament,  in  which 
either  the  one  or  the  other  of  these  kinds  is  withdrawn. 

But  in  the  next  place,  there  may  be  many  things  necessary, 
in  the  way  of  precept  and  order,  both  with  relation  to  the 
sacraments,  and  to  the  other  public  acts  of  worship,  in  which 
though  additions  or  defects  are  erroneous  and  faulty,  yet  they 
do  not  annul  the  sacraments. 

We  think  none  ought  to  baptize  but  men  dedicated  to  the 
service  of  God,  and  ordained  according  to  that  constitution 
that  was  settled  in  the  church  by  the  apostles  ;  and  yet  bap- 
tism by  laics,  or  by  women,  such  as  is  most  commonly  prac- 
tised in  the  Roman  church,  is  not  esteemed  null  by  us,  nor  is 
it  repeated :  because  we  make  a  difference  between  what  is 
essential  to  a  sacrament,  and  what  is  requisite  in  the  regular 
way  of  using  it. 

None  can  deny  this  among  us,  but  those  who  will  question 
the  whole  Christianity  of  the  Roman  church,  where  the  mid- 
wives  do  generally  baptize :  but  if  this  invalidates  the  baptism, 
then  we  must  question  all  that  is  done  among  them :  persons 
so  baptized,  if  their  baptism  is  void,  are  neither  truly  ordained, 
nor  capable  of  any  other  act  of  church-communion.  Therefore 
men's  being  in  orders,  or  their  being  duly  ordained,  is  not 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


245 


necessary  to  the  essence  of  the  sacrament  of  baptism, but  only  ART. 

to  the  regularity  of  administering  it:  and  so  the  want  of  it  

does  not  void  it,  but  does  only  prove  such  men  to  be  under 
some  defects  and  disorder  in  their  constitution. 

Thus  I  have  laid  down  those  distinctions  that  will  guide  us 
in  the  right  understanding  of  this  Article.  If  we  believe  that 
any  society  retains  the  fundamentals  of  Christianity,  we  do 
from  that  conclude  it  to  be  a  true  church,  to  have  a  true  bap- 
tism, and  the  members  of  it  to  be  capable  of  salvation.  But 
we  are  not  upon  that  bound  to  associate  ourselves  to  their 
communion  :  for  if  they  have  the  addition  of  false  doctrines, 
or  any  unlawful  parts  of  worship  among  them,  we  are  not 
bound  to  join  in  that  which  we  are  persuaded  is  error,  idolatry, 
or  superstition. 

If  the  sacraments  that  Christ  has  appointed  are  observed 
and  ministered  by  any  church  as  to  the  main  of  them,  accord- 
ing to  his  institution,  we  are  to  own  those  for  valid  actions  : 
but  we  are  not  for  that  bound  to  join  in  communion  with 
them,  if  they  have  adulterated  these  with  many  mixtures  and 
additions. 

Thus  a  plain  difference  is  made  between  our  owning  that  a 
church  may  retain  the  fundamentals  of  Christianity,  a  true 
baptism,  and  true  orders,  which  are  a  consequent  upon  the 
former,  and  our  joining  with  that  church  in  such  acts  as  we 
think  are  so  far  vitiated,  that  they  become  unlawful  to  us  to 
do  them.  Pursuant  to  this,  we  do  neither  repeat  the  baptism, 
nor  the  ordinations,  of  the  church  of  Rome  :  we  acknowledge 
that  our  forefathers  were  both  baptized  and  ordained  in  that 
communion :  and  we  derive  our  present  Christianity  or  bap- 
tism, and  our  orders,  from  thence :  yet  we  think  that  there 
were  so  many  unlawful  actions,  even  in  those  rituals,  besides 
the  other  corruptions  of  their  worship,  that  we  cannot  join  in 
such  any  more. 

The  being  baptized  in  a  church  does  not  tie  a  man  to  every 
thing  in  that  church;  it  only  ties  him  to  the  covenant  of  grace. 
The  stipulations  which  are  made  in  baptism,  as  well  as  in 
ordination,  do  only  bind  a  man  to  the  Christian  faith,  or  to 
the  faithful  dispensing  of  that  gospel,  and  of  those  sacraments, 
of  which  he  is  made  a  minister:  so  he  who,  being  convinced 
of  the  errors  and  corruptions  of  a  church,  departs  from  them, 
and  goes  on  in  the  purity  of  the  Christian  religion,  does  pur- 
sue the  true  effect  both  of  his  baptism,  and  of  his  ordination 
vows.  For  these  are  to  be  considered  as  ties  upon  him  only 
to  God  and  Christ,  and  not  to  adhere  to  the  other  dictates  of 
that  body  in  which  he  had  his  birth,  baptism,  and  ordination. 

The  great  objection  against  all  this  is,  that  it  sets  up  a  pri- 
vate judgment,  it  gives  particular  persons  a  right  of  judging 
churches :  whereas  the  natural  order  is,  that  private  persons 
ought  to  be  subject  and  obedient  to  the  church. 

This  must  needs  feed  pride  and  curiosity,  it  must  break  all 


246 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  order,  and  cast  all  things  loose,  if  every  single  man,  according 
X1X-    to  his  reading  and  presumption,  will  judge  of  churches  and 
—  communions. 

On  this  head  it  is  very  easy  to  employ  a  great  deal  of  popu- 
lar eloquence,  to  decry  private  men's  examining  of  scriptures, 
and  forming  their  judgments  of  things  out  of  them,  and  not 
submitting  all  to  the  judgment  of  the  church.  But  how  ab- 
surd soever  this  may  seem,  all  parties  do  acknowledge  that  it 
must  be  done. 

Those  of  the  church  of  Rome  do  teach,  that  a  man  born  in 
the  Greek  church,  or  among  us,  is  bound  to  lay  down  his  error, 
and  his  communion  too,  and  to  come  over  to  them ;  and  yet 
they  allow  our  baptism,  as  well  as  they  do  the  ordinations  of 
the  Greek  church. 

Thus  they  allow  private  men  to  judge,  and  that  in  so  great 
a  point,  as  what  church  and  what  communion  ought  to  be 
chosen  or  forsaken.  And  it  is  certain,  that  to  judge  of  churches 
and  communions  is  a  thing  of  thuit  intricacy,  that  if  private  judg- 
ment is  allowed  here,  there  is  no  reason  to  deny  it  its  full  scope 
as  to  all  other  matters. 

God  has  given  us  rational  faculties  to  guide  and  direct  us ; 
and  we  must  make  the  most  of  these  that  we  can  :  we  must 
judge  with  our  own  reasons,  as  well  as  see  with  our  own  eyes  : 
neither  can  Ave,  or  ought  we  to  resign  up  our  understandings 
to  any  others,  unless  we  are  convinced  that  God  has  imposed 
this  upon  us,  by  his  making  them  infallible,  so  that  we  are 
secured  from  error  if  we  follow  them. 

All  this  we  must  examine,  and  be  well  assured  of  it,  other- 
wise it  will  be  a  very  rash,  unmanly,  and  base  thing  in  us,  to 
muffle  up  our  own  understandings,  and  to  deliver  our  reason 
and  faith  over  to  others  blindfold.  Reason  is  God's  image  in 
us ;  and  as  the  use  and  application  of  our  reason,  as  well  as  of 
the  freedom  of  our  wills,  are  the  highest  excellencies  of  the  ra- 
tional nature;  so  they  must  be  always  claimed,  and  ought  never 
to  be  parted  with  by  us,  but  upon  clear  and  certain  authorities 
in  the  name  of  God,  putting  us  implicitly  under  the  dictates 
of  others. 

We  may  abuse  the  use  of  our  reason,  as  well  as  the  liberty 
of  our  will ;  and  may  be  damned  for  the  one  as  well  as  the 
other.  But  when  we  set  ourselves  to  make  the  best  use  we 
can  of  the  freedom  of  our  wills,  we  may  and  do  upon  that  ex- 
pect secret  assistances.  We  have  both  the  like  promises,  di- 
rection to  the  like  prayers,  and  reason  to  expect  the  same 
illumination,  to  make  us  see,  know,  and  comprehend  the  truths 
of  religion,  that  we  have  to  expect  that  our  powers  shall  be 
inwardly  strengthened  to  love  and  obey  them.  David  prays 
P<.  cxix.   that  God  may  '  open  his  eyes,'  as  well  as  that  he  may  '  make 

if'liv'ia  ^m  *°  ^°  *n  ^s  wayS-'  1'ne  Pr0ITnses  ni  the  prophets  con- 
Jer.  xxxi.  cerning  the  gospel  dispensation  carry  in  them  the  being  taught 
33,34.     of  God,  as  well  as  the  being  made  to  walk  in  his  ways;  and 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


247 


'the  enlightening  the  mind,  and  the  eyes  of  the  mind'  to  ART. 

know,  is  prayed  for  hy  St.  Paul,  as  well  as  that  '  Christ  may  X1X- 

dwell  in  their  hearts.'  Eph.  i.  18. 

Since  then  there  is  an  assistance  of  the  Divine  grace  given  iii  17. 
to  fortify  the  understanding,  as  well  as  to  enable  the  will,  it 
follows  that  our  understanding  is  to  be  employed  by  us  in 
order  to  the  rinding  out  of  the  truth,  as  well  as  our  will  in 
order  to  the  obeying  of  it.  And  though  this  may  have  very 
ill  consequences,  it  does  not  follow  from  thence,  that  it  is  not 
true.  No  consequences  can  be  worse  than  the  corruption  that 
is  in  the  world,  and  the  damnation  that  follows  upon  sin  ;  and 
yet  God  permits  it,  because  he  has  made  us  free  creatures. 
Nor  can  any  reason  be  given  why  we  should  be  less  free  in  the 
use  of  our  understanding,  than  we  are  in  the  use  of  our  will ; 
or  why  God  should  make  it  to  be  less  possible  for  us  to  fall 
into  errors,  than  it  is  to  commit  sins.  The  wrath  of  God  is 
as  much  denounced  against  men  that  '  hold  the  truth  in  un-  Rom  i.  18. 
righteousness,'  as  against  other  sins  :  and  it  is  reckoned  among  24, 26, 
the  heaviest  of  curses,  to  be  given  up  to  '  strong  delusions,  to  2  Thess.u. 
believe  a  lie.'  Upon  all  these  reasons  therefore  it  seems  clear, 
that  our  understandings  are  left  free  to  us  as  well  as  our  wills  ; 
and  if  we  observe  the  style  and  method  of  the  scriptures,  we 
shall  find  in  them  all  over  a  constant  appeal  to  a  man's  reason, 
and  to  his  intellectual  faculties. 

If  the  mere  dictates  of  the  church,  or  of  infallible  men,  had 
been  the  resolution  or  foundation  of  faith,  there  had  been  no 
need  of  such  a  long  thread  of  reasoning  and  discourse,  as  both 
our  Saviour  used  while  on  earth,  and  as  the  apostles  used  in 
their  writings.  We  see  the  way  of  authority  is  not  taken,  but 
explanations  are  offered,  proofs  and  illustrations  are  brought 
to  convince  the  mind ;  which  shews  that  God,  in  the  clearest 
manifestation  of  his  will,  would  deal  with  us  as  with  reasonable 
creatures,  who  are  not  to  believe  but  upon  persuasion ;  and 
are  to  use  our  reasons  in  order  to  the  attaining  that  persuasion. 
And  therefore  upon  the  whole  matter  we  ought  not  to  believe 
doctrines  to  be  true,  because  the  church  teaches  them ;  but  we 
ought  to  '  search  the  scriptures,'  and  then,  according  as  we  find 
the  doctrine  of  any  church  to  be  true  in  the  fundamentals,  we 
ought  to  believe  her  to  be  a  true  church ;  and  if,  besides  this, 
the  whole  extent  of  the  doctrine  and  worship,  together  not 
only  with  the  essential  parts  of  the  sacraments,  but  the  whole 
administration  of  them  and  the  other  rituals  of  any  church, 
are  pure  and  true ;  then  we  ought  to  account  such  a  church 
true  in  the  largest  extent  of  the  word  true ;  and  by  conse- 
quence we  ought  to  hold  communion  with  it. 

Another  question  may  arise  out  of  the  first  words  of  this 
Article,  concerning  the  visibility  of  this  church ;  Whether  it 
must  be  always  visible  ?  According  to  the  distinction  hitherto 
made  use  of,  the  resolution  of  this  will  be  soon  made.  There 
seem  to  be  promises  in  the  scriptures,  of  a  perpetual  duration 


248 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


of  the  Christian  church :  '  I  will  be  with  you  always,  even  to 
the  end  of  the  world :'  and,  '  The  gates  of  hell  shall  not  pre- 
vail against  the  church.'  The  Jewish  religion  had  a  period 
prefixed,  in  which  it  was  to  come  to  an  end :  but  the  prophe- 
cies that  are  among  the  prophets,  concerning  the  new  dispen- 
sation, seem  to  import  not  only  its  continuance,  but  its  being 
continued  still  visible  in  the  world.  But  as  the  Jewish  dis- 
pensation was  long  continued,  after  they  had  fallen  generally 
into  some  very  gross  errors ;  so  the  Christian  church  may  be 
visible  still,  though  not  infallible.  God  may  preserve  the 
succession  of  a  true  church,  as  to  the  essentials  and  funda- 
mentals of  faith,  in  the  world,  even  though  this  society  should 
fall  into  error.  So  a  visible  society  of  Christians  in  a  true 
church,  as  to  the  essentials  of  our  faith,  is  not  controverted 
by  us.  We  do  only  deny  the  infallibility  of  this  true  church, 
and  therefore  we  are  not  afraid  of  that  question,  Where  was 
your  church  before  Henry  the  Eighth?*    We  answer,  It  was 

*  To  confound  the  two  questions  (the  falling-  of  a  church  from  its  being  and  its 
visibility),  is  as  absurd  as  to  maintain  that  '  the  stars  fail  every  day,  and  the  sun 
every  night.'  Some  churches  may  fall  from  their  purity,  but  yet  not  from  their 
being  or  visibility.  Some  may  so  fail  as  to  fuitil  the  threat,  '  I  will  remove  thy 
candlestick  out  of  its  place,'  and  there  be  left  not  so  much  as  the  name  of  a  Chris- 
tian church.  With  us  in  these  kingdoms  the  church  for  a  time  fell  from  its  purity, 
but  not  from  its  being  or  visibility,  for  even  in  the  most  corrupt  ages  there  were 
many  true  Christians,  who  too  frequently  were  called  to  seal  their  testimony  with 
their  blood.  In  order  then  to  entangle  us  in  any  difficulty  by  the  question,  '  Where 
was  your  religion  before  Henry  the  Eighth?'  Romanists  ought  to  prove  that 
England  was  obliged,  not  merely  by  the  bonds  of  love  which  ought  to  bind  all  pure 
churches  together,  but,  jure  divitu,  to  communicate  with  the  papal  see ;  and  to 
receive,  with  brutish  submission,  all  its  degrading  additions  to  Christianity,  as  the 
'  true  catholic  faith  out  of  which  no  man  can  be  saved.' 

Henry  VIII.  resisted  and  overturned  the  pope's  usurped  authority  over  these 
dominions.  The  church  then,  being  delivered  from  her  oppressor,  ceased  to  teach 
the  papal  additions  and  novelties,  and  returned  to  the  primitive  truth,  by  continuing 
to  teach  what  popery  herself  is  compelled  to  acknowledge  as  the  catholic  faith. 

This  is  simply  and  powerfully  stated  by  Sir  H.  Lynde,  in  his  '  Via  Tuta,'  in 
reply  to  the  question,  '  Where  was  your  religion  before  Luther?' 

'  He  then  that  shall  question  us,  where  our  church  was  before  Luther?  let  him 
look  back  into  the  primitive  church ;  nay,  let  him  look  into  the  bosom  of  the  pre- 
sent Roman  church,  and  there  he  shall  find  and  confess,  that,  if  ever  antiquity  and 
universality  were  marks  of  the  true  church,  of  right  and  necessity  they  must  belong 
to  ours.  Look  into  the  four  creeds,  which  the  church  of  Rome  professes,  (the 
Apostles',  the  Nicene,  the  Athanasian,  and  the  creed  of  pope  Pius  I V. )  and  you 
shall  find  that  three  of  those  creeds  are  taught  and  believed  by  our  church  ;  and 
these,  by  our  adversaries'  confession,  were  instituted  by  the  apostles,  and  the 
fathers  of  the  primitive  church,  not  created  by  Luther.  Look  into  the  seven  sacra- 
ments, which  the  church  of  Rome  holds,  and  you  shall  acknowledge  that  two  of 
these  sacraments  are  professed  by  us ;  and  these,  by  our  adversaries'  confession, 
were  instituted  by  Christ,  not  broached  by  Luther.  Look  into  the  canon  of  our 
Bible,  and  you  shall  observe,  that  the  books  of  canonical  scripture  which  our 
church  allows,  were  universally  received  in  all  ages,  and  are  approved  at  this  day 
by  the  church  of  Rome  for  canonical  scripture,  not  devised  t>y  Luther.  Look  into 
3ur  book  of  Common  Prayer,  and  compare  it  with  the  ancient  liturgies,  and  it 
will  appear  that  the  same  forms  of  prayer  (for  substance)  were  read,  and  pub- 
lished in  a  known  tongue,  in  the  ancient  churches,  not  bromhed  hy  Luther.  Look 
into  the  ordination,  and  calling  of  pastors,  and  it  will  appear,  that  the  same  essen- 
tial form  of  ordination,  which  at  this  day  is  practised  in  our  church,  was  used  by 
the  apostles  and  their  successors,  and  not  devis- d  by  Luther.  If  therefore  the  three 
creeds,  the  two  principal  sacraments  of  the  church,  the  books  of  canonical  scrip- 
ture, the  ancient  liturgies,  the  ordination  of  pastors  :  if,  I  say,  all  theie  were  an- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


249 


where  it  is  now,  here  in  England,  and  in  the  other  kingdoms  A  R  T. 
of  the  world :  only  it  was  then  corrupted,  and  it  is  now  pure.  XIX- 
There  is  therefore  no  sort  of  inconvenience  in  owning  the  con- 
stant visibility  of  a  constant  succession  and  church  of  true 
Christians  :  true  as  to  the  essentials  of  the  covenant  of  grace, 
though  not  true  in  all  their  doctrines.  This  seems  to  be  a 
part  of  the  glory  of  the  Messias,  and  of  his  kingdom,  that  he 
shall  be  still  visibly  worshipped  in  the  world  by  a  body  of  men 
called  by  his  name.  But  when  visibility  is  thus  separated 
from  infallibility,  and  it  is  made  out  that  a  church  may  be  a 
true  church,  though  she  has  a  large  allay  of  errors  and  corrup- 
tions mixed  in  her  constitution  and  decisions  ;  there  will  be 
no  manner  of  inconvenience  in  owning  a  constant  visibility, 
even  at  the  same  time  that  we  charge  the  most  eminent  part  of 
this  visible  body  with  many  errors  and  with  much  corruption. 

So  far  has  the  first  part  of  this  article  been  treated  of:  from 
it  we  pass  to  the  second,  which  affirms,  that  as  the  other 
patriarchal  and  apostolical  churches,  such  as  Jerusalem,  Alex- 
andria, and  Antioch,  have  erred,  so  the  church  of  Rome  has 
likewise  erred,  and  that  not  only  in  their  living,  and  manner 
of  ceremoines,  but  also  in  matters  of  faith. 

It  is  not  questioned  but  that  the  other  patriarchal  churches 

ciently  taught,  and  universally,  in  all  ages,  in  the  bosom  of  the  Roman  church,  even 
by  the  testimonies  of  our  adversaries  themselves,  is  it  not  a  silly  and  senseless 
question  to  demand  of  us,  where  our  church  was  before  Luther  ?  The  positive 
doctrine  which  we  teach,  is  contained  in  a  few  principal  points,  and  those  also  have 
antiquity,  and  universality,  with  the  consent  of  the  Roman  church.  The  points  in 
controversy,  which  are  sub  judice  and  in  question,  are,  for  the  most  part,  if  not 
all,  additions  obtruded  upon  thethurch,  and  certainly,  from  those  additions  and  new 
articles  of  faith,  the  question,  truly  and  properly,  results  upon  themselves :  where 
was  your  church  (that  is,  where  was  your  Trent  doctrine,  and  articles  of  the  Roman 
creed,  received  de  Jide )  before  Luther  ?  If,  therefore,  our  doctrine  lay  involved  in 
the  bosom  of  the  Roman  church  (which  no  Romanist  can  deny),  if  I  say,  it  became 
hidden,  as  good  corn  covered  with  chaff,  or  as  fine  gold  overlaid  with  a  greater 
quantity  of  dross,  was  it  therefore  new  and  unknown,  because  popery  sought,  by  a 
prevailing  faction,  to  obscure  it?  Was  there  no  good  corn  in  the  granary  of  the 
church,  for  many  years'  space,  until  Luther's  days,  because  it  ua»  not  severed  from 
the  chajf?  No  pun  gold,  because  our  adversaries  would  not  refine  it  by  the  fire  of 
God\  word  /  If  the  chaff  and  dross  be  ours,  or  if  our  church  savour  of  nothing  but 
novelty  and  heresy  (as  some  of  these  men  pretend),  let  them  remote  jrom  the  bosom 
of  their  own  church,  that  new  and  heretical  dot  trine,  which  they  say  was  never  heard 
of  before  Luther  ;  and  tell  me  if  their  church  will  not  prove  a  poor  and  senseless 
carcass,  and  a  dead  body  without  a  soul.  Take  away  the  three  creeds,  which  we 
profess,  our  two  sacraments,  the  books  of  canonical  scripture,  and  tell  me,  if  such 
light  chaff  and  new  heresies  (as  they  now  style  them)  were  removed,  whether  their 
tuelve  ntw  ai  tides,  their  fine  (improperly  called)  sacraments,  their  Apocryphal  scrip- 
tures, their  unwritten  verities  and  traditions,  will  be  able  to  make  a  true  visible 
church?  Nay,  more;  the  church  of  Rome  does  not  only  acknowledge  those 
things  which  we  hold,  but  the  most  ingenuous  members  of  it  are  ashamed  also  if 
those  auditions  of  theirs,  which  we  deny.  As  for  instance,  we  charge  them  with 
the  worship  of  images  (contrary  to  Exod.  xx.  4.  5):  they  deny  it,  or  at  least 
excuse  their  manner  of  adoration  ;  but  they  condemn  not  us  for  not  worshipping.  We 
accuse  them  for  praying  in  an  unknown  tongue  (contrary  to  1st  Cor.  xiv.).  they 
excuse  it,  that  God  knows  the  meaning  of  the  heart ;  but  they  do  not  condemn  us 
for  praying  with  the  spirit,  and  with  the  understanding.  We  condemn  them  for 
adoring  the  elements  of  bread  and  wine  in  the  sacrament,  because  it  contradicts 
God's  word,  and  depends  upon  the  intention  of  the  priest :  they  excuse  it,  that  they 
adore  upon  condition,  if  the  consecrated  bread  be  Christ ;  but  they  do  not  condemn 


250 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  U  T.  have  erred ;  both  that  where  our  Saviour  himself  first  taught, 
XIX-  and  which  was  governed  by  two  of  the  apostles  successively, 
and  those  which  were  founded  by  St.  Peter  in  person,  or  by 
proxy,  as  church-history  represents  Alexandria  and  Antioch 
to  have  been.  Those  of  the  church  of  Rome,  by  whom  thev 
are  at  this  day  condemned  both  of  heresy  and  schism,  do  not 
dispute  this.  Nor  do  they  dispute  that  many  of  their  popes 
have  led  bad  and  flagitious  lives :  they  deny  not  that  the 
canons,  ceremonies,  and  government  of  the  church,  are  very 
much  changed  by  the  influence  and  authority  of  their  popes  : 
hut  the  whole  question  turns  upon  this,  Whether  the  see  of 
Rome  has  erred  in  matters  of  faith  or  not  ?  In  this  those  of 
that  communion  are  divided :  some,  by  the  church  or  see  of 
Rome,  mean  the  popes  personally ;  so  they  maintain,  that 
they  never  have,  and  never  can  fall  into  error :  whereas 
others,  by  the  see  of  Rome,  mean  that  whole  body  that  holds 
communion  with  Rome,  which  they  say  cannot  be  tainted  with 
error ;  and  these  separate  this  from  the  personal  infallibility 
of  popes :  for  if  a  pope  should  err,  they  think  that  a  general 
council  has  authority  to  proceed  against  him,  and  to  deprive 
him :  and  thus,  though  he  should  err,  the  see  might  be  kept 
free  from  error.  I  shall  upon  this  Article  only  consider  the 
first  opinion,  reserving  the  consideration  of  the  second  to  the 
Article  concerning  general  councils. 

us  for  adoring  Christ's  real  body  in  heaven.  We  accuse  them  for  taking  away  the 
cup  from  the  lay  people :  they  excuse  it,  but  they  do  not  condemn  us  for  following 
Christ's  example,  and  receiving  in  both  kinds.  And  what  is  remarkable  and  com- 
fortable to  all  believing  Protestants,  we  charge  them  with  flat  idolatry  in  the  adora- 
tion of  the  sacrament,  of  relics,  of  saints,  of  images.  And,  howsoever  they  excuse 
themselves  in  distinguishing  their  manner  of  adoration,  yet,  I  say,  to  our  endless 
comfort  be  it  spoken,  they  cannot  charge  us,  in  the  doctrine  of  our  church,  no,  not 
with  the  least  suspicion  of  idolatry.' 

Others  would  trace  the  church  in  the  footsteps  of  the  various  churches  and  indi- 
viduals that  have  been  persecuted  by  the  papal  see. 

This  course  is  adopted  and  well  handled  by  Mournay,  count  de  Plessis,  in  his 
address  to  'the  Friends  and  Followers  of  the  Church  of  Rome,'  at  the  beginning 
of  his  '  Mystery  of  Iniquity,  the  History  of  the  Papacy,'  in  which  he  points  out  where 
our  church  was  all  the  time  preceding  the  Reformation,  and  ably  retorts,  calling  on 
them  to  shew  where  their  church  was  in  'those  six  hundred  years  next  after  Christ." 

The  former  part  he  winds  up  in  the  following  beautiful  sentence,  which,  although 
this  note  is  unavoidably  long,  the  Editor  cannot  deny  himself  and  the  reader  the 
pleasure  of  quoting  and  perusing  : 

'  And  now  thou  knowest  where  our  church  was  in  all  this  time.  Thou,  rude 
and  simple  as  thou  art,  thinkest,  perhaps,  when  thou  seest  the  sun  to  set  in  the 
west,  that  it  is  swallowed  up  in  the  ocean,  and  quite  extinguished,  wherein  indeed, 
when  it  sets  to  thee,  it  riseth  to  others,  and  returns  again  to  thee  in  his  due  time, 
and  misseth  not  a  minute ;  the  river  Rosny,  when  it  entereth  into  the  Lake  of 
Lozanna,  thou  thinkest  it  is  quite  devoured,  but  that  lively  and  running  water 
cutteth  and  divideth  that  dead  and  standing  pool,  making  way  through  her  swal- 
lowing depths :  our  church  in  like  manner  hath  made  her  way  through  many  ages, 
hath  run  into  the  lake,  yet  not  overwhelmed,  but  hath  past  through  the  bottomless 
gulfs  thereof  with  glory  and  triumph ;  and  many  rivers  meeting  her,  she  passeth 
through  many  countries,  and  at  the  last  falls  into  her  ocean,  the  church  of  Christ 
into  God,  the  bottomless  sea  of  all  goodness,  and  there  is  drowned,  losing  herself 
to  find  herself  in  Him.' 

The  reader  should  also,  on  this  point,  read  Stillingfleet's  Rational  Account  of 
the  Grounds  of  the  Protestant  Religion;  art.  'the  Reformation  of  the  Church  of 
England  justified.' — f  Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


251 


As  to  the  popes  their  being  subject  to  error,  that  must  be  ART. 
confessed,  unless  it  can  be  proved,  that,  by  a  clear  and  express 
privilege  granted  them  by  God,  they  are  excepted  out  of"  the 
common  condition  of  human  nature.  It  is  further  highly 
probable  that  there  is  no  such  privilege,  since  the  church  con- 
tinued for  many  ages  before  it  was  so  much  as  pretended  to  ; 
and  that  in  a  time  when  that  see  was  not  only  claiming  all  the 
rights  that  belonged  to  it,  but  challenging  a  great  many  that 
were  flatly  denied  and  rejected :  such  as  the  right  of  receiving 
appeals  from  the  African  churches ;  in  which  reiterated  in- 
stances, and  a  bold  claim  upon  a  spurious  canon,  pretended 
to  be  of  the  council  of  Nice,  were  long  pursued :  but  those 
churches  asserted  their  authority  of  ending  all  matters  within 
themselves.  In  all  this  contest  infallibility  was  never  claimed; 
no  more  than  it  had  been  by  Victor,  when  he  excommunicated 
the  Asian  churches  for  observing  Easter  on  the  fourteenth  day 
of  the  moon,  and  not  on  the  Lord's-day  after,  according  to 
the  custom  of  the  Roman  as  well  as  of  other  churches. 

When  pope  Stephen  quarrelled  with  St.  Cyprian  about  the  Euseb.His. 
rebaptizing  of  heretics,  Cyprian  and  Firmilian  were  so  far  23—25  '°* 
from  submitting  to  his  authority,  that  they  speak  of  him  with  Cypr  £p> 
a  freedom  used  by  equals,  and  with  a  severity  that  shewed  74  et  75. 
they  were  far  from  thinking  him  infallible.    When  the  whole  £irmi1- 
east  was  distracted  with  the  disputes  occasioned  by  the  Arian  c0Q- 
controversy,  there  was  so  much  partiality  in  all  their  councils,  Sard.  c.  3, 
that  it  was  decreed,  that  appeals  should  be  made  to  pope et 
Julius,  and  afterwards  to  his  successors;  though  here  was  an 
occasion  given  to  assert  his  infallibility,  if  it  had  been  thought 
on,  yet  none  ever  spoke  of  it.    Great  reverence  was  paid  to 
that  church,  both  because  they  believed  it  was  founded  by 
St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  and  chiefly  because  it  was  the  imperial 
city ;  for  we  see  that  all  other  sees  had  that  degree  of  dignity 
given  them,  which  by  the  constitution  of  the  Roman  empire 
was  lodged  in  their  cities :  and  so  when  Byzance  was  made 
the  imperial  city,  and  called  New  Rome,  though  more  com- 
monly Constantinople,  it  had  a  patriarchal  dignity  bestowed 
on  it ;  and  was  in  all  things  declared  equal  to  Old  Rome,  only 
the  point  of  rank  and  order  excepted.    This  was  decreed  in 
two  general  councils,  the  second  and  the  fourth,  in  so  ex- 
press a  manner,  that  it  alone  before  equitable  judges  would 
fully  shew  the  sense  of  the  church  in  the  fourth  and  fifth 
century  upon  this  head.    When  pope  Liberius  condemned 
Athanasius,  and  subscribed  to  semi-Arianism,  this  was  never  Con> 
considered  as  a  new  decision  in  that  matter,  so  that  it  altered  Const, 
the  state  of  it.    No  use  was  made  of  it,  nor  was  any  argument  ^ap'^j)aI 
drawn  from  it.    Liberius  was  universally  condemned  for  what  ced-'  Ci  2s* 
he  had  done ;  and  when  he  repented  of  it,  and  retracted  it, 
he  was  again  owned  by  the  church. 

We  have  in  the  sixth  century  a  most  undeniable  instance 
of  the  sense  of  the  whole  church  in  this  matter.  Pope 


252 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   Honorius  was  by  the  sixth  general  council  condemned  as  a 
x        Monothelite ;  and  this  in  the  presence  of  the  pope's  legates, 
and  he  was  anathematized  by  several  of  the  succeeding  popes. 
It  is  to  no  purpose  here  to  examine  whether  he  was  justly  or 
unjustly  condemned ;  it  is  enough  that  the  sense  both  of  the 
eastern  and  western  church  appeared  evidently  in  that  age 
upon  these  two  points ;  that  a  pope  might  be  a  heretic  ;  and 
that,  being  such,  he  might  be  held  accursed  for  it:  and  in 
Cone.  Si-  that  time  there  was  not  any  one  that  suggested,  that  either  he 
nuess.  An.  cou]^  not  fa||  mto  heresVj  since  our  Saviour  had  prayed  that 
—tom.  l.  St.  Peter's  fa  ith  might  not  fail ;  or  that,  if  he  had  fallen  into 
c°"c-      it,  he  must  be  left  to  the  judgment  of  God;  but  that  the  holy 
see  (according  to  the  fable  of  P.  Marcellin)  could  be  judged 
by  no  body.    The  confusions  that  followed  for  some  ages  in 
the  western  parts  of  Europe,  more  particularly  in  Italy,  gave 
occasion  to  the  bishops  of  Rome  to  extend  their  authority. 

The  emperors  at  Constantinople,  and  their  exarchs  at  Ra- 
venna, studied  to  make  them  sure  to  their  interests,  yet  still 
asserting  their  authority  over  them.  The  new  conquerors 
studied  also  to  gain  them  to  their  side;  and  they  managed 
their  matters  so  dexterously,  that  they  went  on  still  increas- 
ing and  extending  their  authoritv ;  till  being  much  straitened 
by  the  kings  of  the  Lombards,  they  were  protected  by  a  new 
conquering  family,  that  arose  in  France  in  the  eighth  cen- 
tury ;  who,,  to  give  credit  both  to  their  usurpation  of  that 
crown,  and  to  the  extending  their  dominions  into  Italy,  and 
the  assuming  the  empire  of  the  west,  did  both  protect  and 
enrich  them,  and  enlarged  their  authority ;  the  greatness 
of  which  they  reckoned  could  do  them  no  hurt,  as  long  as 
they  kept  the  confirmation  of  their  election  to  themselves. 
That  family  became  quickly  too  feeble  to  hold  that  power 
long,  and  then  an  imposture  was  published,  of  a  volume  of 
the  Decretal  Epistles  of  the  popes  of  the  first  ages,  in  which 
they  were  represented  as  acting  according  to  those  high  claims 
to  which  they  were  then  beginning  to  pretend.  Those  ages 
were  too  blind  and  too  ignorant  to  be  capable  of  searching 
critically  into  the  truth  of  this  collection ;  it  quickly  passed 
for  current ;  and  though  some  in  the  beginning  disputed  it, 
yet  that  was  soon  borne  down,  and  the  credit  of  that  work 
was  established.  It  furnished  them  with  precedents  that  they 
were  careful  enough  not  only  to  follow,  but  to  outdo.  Thus 
a  work,  which  is  now  as  universally  rejected  by  the  learned 
men  of  their  own  body  as  spurious,  as  it  was  then  implicitly 
taken  for  genuine,  gave  the  chief  foundation  during  many 
ages  to  their  unbounded  authority:  and  this  furnishes  us.  with 
a  very  just  prejudice  against  it,  that  it  was  managed  with  so 
much  fraud  and  imposture;  to  which  they  added  afterwards 
much  cruelty  and  violence;  the  two  worst  characters  possible, 
and  the  least  likely  to  be  found  joined  with  infallibility :  for 
it  is  reasonable  enough  to  apprehend,  that,  if  God  had  lodged 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


253 


such  a  privilege  anv  where,  he  would  have  so  influenced  those  ART. 
who  were  the  depositaries  of  it,  that  they  should  have  ap-  Xlx- 
peared  somewhat  like  that  authority  to  which  they  laid  claim; 
and  that  he  would  not  have  forsaken  them  so,  that  for  above 
eight  hundred  years  the  papacy,  as  it  is  represented  by  their 
own  writers,  is  perhaps  the  worst  succession  of  men  that  is  to 
be  found  in  history.* 

But  now  to  come  more  close,  to  prove  what  is  here  asserted 
in  this  part  of  the  Article.  If  all  those  doctrines  which  were 
established  at  Trent,  and  that  have  been  confirmed  by  popes, 
and  most  of  them  brought  into  a  new  creed,  and  made  parts 
of  it,  are  found  to  be  gross  errors ;  or  if  but  any  one  of  them 
should  be  found  to  be  an  error,  then  there  is  no  doubt  to  be 
made  but  that  the  church  of  Rome  hath  erred ;  so  the  proof 
brought  against  every  one  of  these  is  likewise  a  proof  against 
their  infallibility.  But  I  shall  here  give  one  instance  of  an 
error,  which  will  not  be  denied  by  the  greater  part  of  the 
church  of  Rome.  They  have  now  for  above  six  hundred  years 
asserted,  that  they  had  an  authority  over  princes,  not  only  to 
convict  and  condemn  them  of  heresy,  and  to  proceed  against 
them  with  church-censures ;  but  that  they  had  a  power  to 
depose  them,  to  absolve  their  subjects  from  their  oaths  of  al- 
legiance, and  to  transfer  their  dominions  to  such  persons  as 
should  undertake  to  execute  their  sentences.  This  they  have 
often  put  in  execution,  and  have  constantly  kept  up  their  claim 
to  it  to  this  day.  It  will  not  serve  them  to  get  clear  here,  to 
say,  that  these  were  the  violent  practices  of  some  popes : 
what  they  did  in  many  particular  instances  may  be  so  turned 
off,  and  left  as  a  blemish  on  the  memories  of  some  of  them. 

*  '  The  ancient  canons  are  more  reverently  regarded  in  the  church  of  England, 
than  in  the  church  of  Rome  ;  for  how  well  you  have  observed  them  in  former  ages, 
let  your  own  Baroniu3  testify.  "  How  foul  (saith  he)  was  then  the  face  of  the  holy 
Roman  church,  when  most  potent,  and  withal  most  filthy,  harlots  did  bear  all  the 
sway  at  Rome?  at  whose  lust  sees  were  changed,  bishops  appointed,  and  (which  is 
horrible  to  be  heard,  and  not  to  be  uttered)  whose  lovers,  the  false  popes,  were 
thrust  into  the  seat  of  Peter,  which  were  not  to  be  written  in  the  catalogue  of  the 
Roman  bishops,  but  only  for  the  noting  of  the  times :  for  who  may  say  they  were 
lawful  popes  which  were  thus,  without  right,  thrust  in  by  such  strumpets  ?  No 
where  we  find  any  mention  of  clergy  choosing,  or  giving  consent  afterward ;  all 
canons  were  put  to  silence  ;  the  pontifical  decrees  were  choked,  ancient  tradi- 
tions proscribed,  and  the  old  customs,  sacred  rites,  and  former  use  in  choosing  the 
high  bishop,  utterly  extinguished."  And  for  later  times,  your  own  learned  friends 
also  complain  as  foiloweth.  Budeus :  "  The  holy  canons  and  rules  of  church  disci- 
pline, made  in  better  times  to  guide  the  life  of  clergymen,  are  now  become  leaden 
rules,  such  as  Aristotle  saith  the  rules  of  Lesbian  buildings  were.  For  as  leaden 
and  soft  rules  do  not  direct  the  building  with  an  equal  tenor,  but  are  bowed  to  the 
building  at  the  lust  of  the  builders;  so  are  the  popes'  canons  made  flexible  as  lead 
or  wax,  that  now  this  great  while  the  decrees  of  our  ancestors,  and  the  popes' 
canons  serve  not  to  guide  men's  manners,  but  (that  I  may  so  say)  to  make  a 
bank  and  get  money."  Francescus  de  Victoria,  doctor  of  the  chair  at  Salaman- 
tica  in  Spain:  "We  see  daily  so  large,  or  rather  so  dissolute  dispensations  pro- 
ceed from  the  court  of  Rome,  that  the  world  cannot  endure  them.  Neither  is 
it  only  to  the  offence  of  the  little  ones,  but  of  the  great  ones  also.  No  man  seek 
eth  a  dispensation  but  he  obtaineth  it :  yea,  at  Rome  there  are  which  give  attend- 
ance to  see  if  any  be  willing  to  crave  dispensation  of  all  things  established  by  law  ; 
all  that  crave  it  have  it."  '  Mason:  On  the  Orders  of  the  Church  of  England. — [En.] 


254 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  But  the  point  at  present  in  question  is,  M-hether  they  have  not 
laid  claim  to  this,  as  a  right  belonging  to  their  see,  as  a  part 
—  of  St.  Peter's  authority  descended  to  them  ?  whether  they 
Dictat.  have  not  founded  it  on  his  being  Christ's  vicar,  who  was  the 
Paps.  '  King  of  kings,  and  Lord  of  lords  ;  to  whom  all  power  in  hea- 
Gre '  VII  ven  anc^  *n  ear'n  was  giyen-''  Whether  they  have  not  founded 
lib.  Ti.  it  on  Jeremy's  '  being  set  over  nations  and  kingdoms,  to  root 
Post.  Kpist.  out,  pluck  down,  and  to  destroy  ?'  and  on  other  places  of  scrip- 
Conc"^1-  ture ;  not  forgetting,  that  the  first  words  of  the  Bible  are, 
Kpist!  de-  '  ^n  the  beginning/  and  not '  In  the  beginnings ;'  from  which 
cret.  ac  they  inferred,  that  there  is  but  one  principle,  from  whence  all 
S°mSpUt  Power  is  derived:  and  that  God  made  'two  great  lights,  the 
tif.  tom.  vi  sun  to  rule  by  day ;'  which  they  applied  to  themselves. 
Par.  1714.  This,  I  say,  is  the  question:  Whether  they  did  not  assume 
de'"^Vag  authority  as  a  power  given  them  by  God  ?  As  for  the 

et  Obed°r'  aPplymg  it  to  particular  instances,  to  those  kings  and  empe- 
lib.  i.  c.  l.  rors  whom  they  deposed,  that  is,  indeed,  a  personal  thing, 
whether  they  were  guilty  of  heresy,  or  of  being  favourers  of 
it,  or  not  ?    And  whether  the  popes  proceeded  against  them 
with  too  much  violence  or  not  ? 

The  point  now  in  question  is,  Whether  they  declared  this 
to  be  a  doctrine,  that  there  was  an  authority  lodged  with  their 
see  for  doing  such  things,  and  whether  they  alleged  scripture 
and  tradition  for  it?* 

Now  this  will  appear  evident  to  those  who  will  read  their 
3  °caC  ltl  Duus :  in  trie  preambles  of  which  those  quotations  will  be 
(fonaPLnt.  found,  as  some  of  them  are  in  the  body  of  the  canon  law ;  and 
4.  Can.  3.  it  is  decreed  in  it,  that  the  belief  of  this  is  absolutely  necessary 
Con.  Lug.  to  saivation. 

This  was  pursued  in  a  course  of  many  ages.  General 
councils,  as  they  are  esteemed  among  men,  have  concurred 
with  the  popes  both  in  general  decrees  asserting  this  power 
to  be  in  them,  and  in  special  sentences  against  princes :  this 
became  the  universally  received  doctrine  of  those  ages  :  No 
ron'tia^'"  university  nor  nation  declaring  against  it ;  not  so  much  as  one 
rangue  au  divine,  civilian,  canonist,  or  casuist,  writ  against  it,  as  Card, 
tiers  estat.  Perron  truly  said.    It  was  so  certainly  believed,  that  those 
writers,  whom  the  deposed  princes  got  to  undertake  their 
defence,  do  not  in  any  of  their  books  pretend  to  call  the  doc- 
trine in  general  in  question. 

Two  things  were  disputed  :  one  was,  Whether  popes  had 
a  direct  power  in  temporals  over  princes ;  so  that  they  were 
as  much  subject  to  them  as  feudatory  princes  were  to  their 
superior  lords  ?  This,  to  which  Boniface  the  Eighth  laid  claim, 
was  indeed  contradicted.  The  other  point  was,  Whether 
those  particulars  for  which  princes  had  been  deposed,  such 
as  the  giving  the  investiture  to  bishoprics,  were  heresies  or 
not?  This  was  much  contested:  but  the  power,  in  the  case 

*  The  reader  will  find  this  question  very  fully  and  ably  discussed  in  the  Introduc- 
t'oD  to  Barrow's  'Treatise  of  the  Pope's  Supremacy.' — [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


255 


of  manifest  heresy,  or  of  favouring  it,  to  depose  princes,  and  ART. 
transfer  their  crowns  to  others,  was  never  called  in  question.  *1X- 
This  was  certainly  a  definition  made  in  the  chair,  ex  cathedra : 
for  it  was  addressed  to  all  their  community,  both  laity  and 
clergy  :  plenary  pardons  were  bestowed  with  it  on  those  who 
executed  it:  the  clergy  did  generally  preach  the  croisades 
upon  it.  Princes,  that  were  not  concerned  in  him  that  was 
deposed,  gave  way  to  the  publication  of  those  bulls,  and  gave 
leave  to  their  subjects  to  take  the  cross,  in  order  to  the  exe- 
cuting of  them  :  and  the  people  did  in  vast  multitudes  gather 
about  the  standards  that  were  set  up  for  leading  on  armies  to 
execute  them ;  while  many  learned  men  writ  in  defence  of  this 
power,  and  not  one  man  durst  write  against  it. 

This  argument  lies  not  only  against  the  infallibility  of 
popes,  but  against  that  of  general  councils  likewise ;  and  also 
against  the  authority  of  oral  tradition :  for  here,  in  a  succes- 
sion of  many  ages,  the  tradition  was  wholly  changed  from  the 
doctrine  of  former  times,  which  had  been,  that  the  clergy  were 
subject  to  princes,  and  had  no  authority  over  them  or  their 
crowns.  Nor  can  it  be  said,  that  that  was  a  point  of  discipline  ; 
for  it  was  founded  on  an  article  of  doctrine,  whether  there  was 
such  a  power  in  the  popes  or  not  ?  The  prudence  of  executing 
or  not  executing  it,  is  a  point  of  discipline  and  of  the  govern- 
ment of  the  church :  but  it  is  a  point  of  doctrine,  whether 
Christ  has  given  such  an  authority  to  St.  Peter  and  his  fol- 
lowers. And  those  points  of  speculation,  upon  which  a  great 
deal  turns  as  to  practice,  are  certainly  so  important,  that  in 
them,  if  in  any  thing,  we  ought  to  expect  an  infallibility :  for 
in  this  case  a  man  is  distracted  between  two  contrary  propo- 
sitions :  the  one  is,  that  he  must  obey  the  civil  powers,  as  set 
over  him  by  an  ordinance  of  God ;  so  that  if  he  resist  them, 
he  shall  receive  in  himself  damnation:  the  other  is,  that  the 
pope  being  Christ's  vicar,  is  to  be  obeyed  when  he  absolves 
him  from  his  former  oath  and  allegiance ;  and  that  the  new 
prince  set  up  by  him,  is  to  be  obeyed  under  the  pain  of  dam- 
nation likewise. 

Here  a  man  is  brought  into  a  great  strait,  and  therefore  he 
must  be  guided  by  infallibility,  if  in  any  thing. 

So  the  whole  argument  comes  to  this  head  ;  that  we  must 
either  believe  that  the  deposing  power  is  lodged  by  Christ  in 
the  see  of  Rome ;  or  we  must  conclude,  with  the  Article,  that 
they  have  erred  ;  and  by  consequence,  that  they  are  not  infalli- 
ble :  for  the  erring  in  any  one  point,  and  at  any  one  time,  does 
quite  destroy  the  claim  of  infallibility. 

Before  this  matter  can  be  concluded,  we  must  consider 
what  is  brought  to  prove  it :  what  was  laid  down  at  first  must 
be  here  remembered,  that  the  proofs  brought  for  a  thing  of 
this  nature  must  be  very  express  and  clear.  A  privilege  of 
such  a  sort,  against  which  the  appearances  and  prejudices  are 
so  strong,  must  be  very  fully  made  out,  before  we  can  be 


256 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART    bound  to  believe  it :  nor  can  it  be  reasonable  to  urge  the 
X1X-    authority  of  any  passages  from  scripture,  till  the  grounds  are 
shewn  for  which  the  scriptures  themselves  ought  to  be  believed. 

Those  who  think  that  it  is  in  general  well  proved,  that  there 
must  be  an  infallibility  in  the  church,  conclude  from  thence, 
that  it  must  be  in  the  pope :  for  if  there  must  be  a  living 
speaking  judge  always  ready  to  guide  the  church,  and  to  de- 
cide controversies,  they  say  this  cannot  be  in  the  diffusive  body 
of  Christians  ;  for  these  cannot  meet  to  judge.  Nor  can  it  be 
in  a  general  council,  the  meeting  of  which  depends  upon  so 
many  accidents,  and  on  the  consent  of  so  many  princes,  that 
the  infallibility  will  lie  dormant  for  some  ages,  if  the  general 
council  is  the  seat  of  it.  Therefore  they  conclude,  that  since 
it  is  certainly  in  the  church,  and  can  be  nowhere  else  but  in 
the  pope,  therefore  it  is  lodged  in  the  see  of  Rome.  Whereas 
we,  on  the  other  hand,  think  this  is  a  strong  argument  against 
the  infallibility  in  general,  that  it  does  not  appear  in  whom  it 
is  vested  :  and  we  think  that  every  side  does  so  effectually 
confute  the  other,  that  we  believe  them  all  as  to  that ;  and 
think  thev  argue  much  stronger  when  they  prove  where  it  can- 
not be,  than  when  they  pretend  to  prove  where  it  must  be.* 

•  So  far  from  the  church  of  Rome,  which,  if  we  believe  its  own  testimony,  is 
most  united,  being  agreed  in  this  matter,  the  very  seat  of  infallibility,  the  only  means 
according  to  them  of  preserving  unity,  is  itself  the  great  cause  of  strife  and  division. 
When  they  are  urged  to  point  out  where  this  infallibility  may  be  found  and  con- 
sulted, they  are  at  their  wits'  end.  One  says  that  it  is  lodged  in  the  pope  when  he 
speaks  ei  cathedra.  No,  says  another,  who  is  entangled  in  this  inextricable  diffi- 
culty— that  popes  have  contradicted  popes,  and  that  too  while  professing  to  speak  in 
the  full  plenitude  of  their  authority.  Another  will  have  it  to  be  in  general  council?  ; 
but  the  same  difficulty  meets  us  here.  Another  asserts  that  it  is  vested  in  councils 
when  confirmed  by  popes  ;  but  we  are  not  more  fortunate  here,  for  councils  confirmed 
by  popes  have  taught  and  decreed  contrary  to  councils  confirmed  by  popes.  No 
wonder  then  that  Chillingworth  should  exclaim — '  I,  for  my  part,  after  a  long  and 
(as  I  verily  believe  and  hope)  impartial  search  of  the  true  way  to  eternal  happiness, 
do  profess  plainly  that  I  cannot  find  any  rest  for  the  sole  of  my  foot  but  upon  this 
rock  only  (the  Bible).  I  see  plainly  and  with  mine  own  eyes,  that  there  are  popes 
against  popes,  councils  against  councils,  some  fathers  against  others,  the  same  fathers 
against  themselves,  a  consent  of  fathers  of  one  age  against  a  consent  of  fathers  of 
another  aee,  the  church  of  one  age  against  the  church  of  another  age,'  and,  he 
might  have  added,  the  church  of  the  council  of  Trent  diametrically  opposite  to  the 
word  of  God.f  If  therefore  Romanists  themselves  cannot  agree  as  to  the  seat  of 
this  infallibility,  it  is  too  much  to  ask  Protestants  to  submit  to  such  an  uncertain 
authority. 

But  indeed  it  is  quite  evident  that  Romanists  themselves  have  not  been  able  to  find 
out  this  infallible  tribunal,  for  notwithstanding  all  their  boasting,  what  advantage  do 
thev  possess  over  the  members  of  any  other  church?  They  have  not  preserved 
themselves  from  internal  divisions;  for  no  communion  was  ever  more  distracted.  If 
they  say,  'our  divisions  are  about  non-essential  points,'  we  may  reply,  according  to 
Chillingworth.  that  those  who  differ  from  us,  do  so  in  points  fundamental,  or  they  do 
not.  If  in  points  fundamental,  they  cannot  possibly  belong  to  our  church.  If  they 
differ  from  us  in  points  not  fundamental,  why  may  not  we  have  our  differences  as 
well  as  you  ?  But  how  can  that  communion  be  undivided  when,  as  we  have  said, 
the  centre  or  seat  of  unity  is  itself  the  cause  of  strife  ? 

Again,  the  church  of  Rome  has  not  furnished  its  members  with  an  infallible  ex- 
position of  the  word  of  God,  which,  to  any  reasonable  mind,  would  appear  to  be  the 


f  The  reader  should  furnish  himself  from  history  with  some  facts  proving  each 
of  the  positions  above  mentioned. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


257 


This,  in  the  point  now  in  hand,  concerning  the  pope,  seems  A  R  T. 
as  evident  as  any  thing  can  possibly  be  :  it  not  appearing,  that,    -x  1  x  • 
after  the  words  of  Christ  to  St.  Peter,  the  other  apostles  thought 
the  point  was  thereby  decided,  who  among  them  should  be  the 
greatest.    For  that  debate  was  still  on  foot,  and  was  canvassed 
among  them  in  the  very  night  in  which  our  Saviour  was  be- 
trayed.   Nor  does  it  appear,  that  after  the  effusion  cf  the 
Holy  Ghost,  which  certainly  inspired  them  with  the  full  un- 
derstanding of  Christ's  words,  they  thought  there  was  any 
thing  peculiarly  given  to  St.  Peter  beyond  the  rest.    He  was 
questioned  upon  his  baptizing  Cornelius  :  he  was  not  singly  Acts  xi.  2 
appealed  to  in  the  great  question  of  subjecting  the  Gentiles  to  ~18- 
the  yoke  of  the  Mosaical  law ;  he  delivered  his  opinion  as  one 
of  the  apostles  :  after  which  St.  James  summed  up  the  matter, 
and  settled  the  decision  of  it.    He  was  charged  by  St.  Paul  as  Acts  *v. 
guilty  of  dissimulation  in  that  matter,  for  which  St.  Paul  with-  .. 

stood  him  to  his  face  :  and  he  justifies  that  in  an  Epistle  that  is  i4.M"&  i 

confessed  to  be  writ  by  divine  inspiration.  St.  Paul  does  also  1,  12  17. 
in  the  same  Epistle  plainly  assert  the  equality  of  his  own  au- 
thority with  his  ;  and  that  he  received  no  authority  from  him, 
and  owed  him  no  dependence  :  nor  was  he  ever  appealed  to  in 
any  of  the  points  that  appear  to  have  been  disputed  in  the 
times  that  the  Epistles  were  written.    So  that  we  see  no  cha- 

great  end  for  which  such  a  privilege  as  that  of  infallibility  would  have  been  bestowed 
upon  any  church.  In  this  important  matter,  that  church  which  claims  to  be  the 
interpreter  of  holy  writ  has  grossly  neglected  the  edification  of  its  members. 

Well  is  this  vain  pretence  thus  exposed  by  Chillingworth  :  '  Besides,  what  an 
impudence  it  is  to  pretend,  that  your  church  is  infallibly  directed  concerning  ilie  true 
meaning  of  the  scripture,  whereas  there  are  thousands  of  places  in  scripture,  which 
you  do  not  pretend  certainly  to  understand,  and  about  the  interpretation  whereof 
your  own  doctors  differ  among  themselves  ;  if  your  church  be  infallibly  directed  con- 
cerning the  true  meaning  of  scripture,  why  do  not  your  doctors  follow  her  infallible 
direction?  And  if  they  do,  how  comes  such  difference  among  them  in  their  inter- 
pretations ? 

'  Again,  Why  does  your  church  thus  put  her  candle  under  a  bushel,  and  keep  her 
talent  of  interpreting  scripture  infallibly,  thus  long  wrapt  up  in  napkins?  Why  sets 
she  not  forth  infallible  commentaries  or  expositions  upon  all  the  Bible?  Is  it,  be- 
cause  this  would  not  be  profitable  for  Christians,  that  scripture  should  be  inter- 
preted? It  is  blasphemous  to  say  so.  The  scripture  itself  tells  us,  All  scripture  ii 
projitahle.  And  the  scripture  is  not  so  much  the  words  as  the  sense.  And  if  it 
be  not  profitable,  why  does  she  employ  particular  doctors  to  interpret  scriptures 
fallibly  ?  unless  we  must  think,  that  fallible  interpretations  of  scripture  are  profitable, 
and  infallible  interpretations  would  not  be  so  !' 

But  again  ;  this  infallible  tribunal  has  not  furnished  even  an  authorized  version 
of  the  Bible  !  There  were  so  many  disagreeing  editions  of  the  Vulgate,  which  the 
council  of  Trent  decreed  should  be  held  as  authentic,  that,  in  order  to  remedy  this 
confusion,  Sixtus  V.,  in  the  year  1590,  published  an  edition  which  he  declared  to 
be  the  authentic  Vulgate,  which  had  been  the  object  of  search  by  the  council  of 
Trent ;  and  pronounced  an  anathema  against  any  who  should  presume  to  alter  it, 
etinm  minima  aliqun  nariicula.  Notwithstanding  this,  his  successor  Clement  VIII., 
in  less  than  three  rett-l,  caused  it  to  be  suppressed,  and  published  another  authen- 
tic edition,  which  differs  from  that  of  Sixtus  V.f  in  only  two  thousand  places  !  Upon 
these  infallibility-destroying  changes  and  contradictions,  Dr.  James  thus  writes:  

'  There  is  a  great  controversy  between  us  and  the  papists  concerning  the  version 

f  The  reader  may  see  this  question  of  the  variatio"s  of  the  Vulgate  and  the  se- 
veral editions,  &c.  6tc,  treated  in  the  Editor's  lettc-3  to  a  Romish  priest. — See 
Page's  '  Three  Letters  to  a  Roraisb  Priest,'  pp.  43 — 49. 

a 


258 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  racters  of  any  special  infallibility  that  was  in  him,  besides  that 
which  was  the  effect  of  the  inspiration,  that  was  in  the  other 
apostles  as  well  as  in  him  :  nor  is  there  a  tittle  in  the  scripture, 
not  so  much  as  by  a  remote  intimation,  that  he  was  to  derive 
that  authority,  whatsoever  it  was,  to  any  successor,  or  to  lodge 
it  in  any  particular  city  or  see. 

The  silence  of  the  scripture  in  this  point  seems  to  be  a  full 
proof  that  no  such  thing  was  intended  by  God :  otherwise  we 
have  all  reason  to  believe  that  it  would  have  been  clearly  ex- 
pressed. St.  Peter  himself  ought  to  have  declared  this  :  and 
since  both  Alexandria  and  Antioch,  as  well  as  Rome,  pretend 
to  derive  from  him,  and  that  the  succession  to  those  sees  be- 
gan in  him,  this  makes  a  decision  in  this  point  so  much  the 
more  necessary. 

When  St.  Peter  writ  his  second  Epistle,  in  which  he  men- 
tions a  revelation  that  he  had  from  Christ,  of  his  approaching 
dissolution,  though  that  was  a  very  proper  occasion  for  declar- 
ing such  an  important  matter,  he  says  nothing  that  relates  to 
it,  but  gives  only  a  new  attestation  of  the  truth  of  Christ/ s 
divine  mission,  and  of  what  he  himself  had  been  a  witness  to 
2Pet  i.l7.  in  the  mount,  when  he  saw 'the  excellent  glory,  and  heard 
the  voice  out  of  it.'  He  leaves  a  provision  in  writing  for  the 
following  ages,  but  says  nothing  of  any  succession  or  see :  so 

of  Jerome.  That  Jerome  was  learned,  and  that  he  put  forth  a  version,  is  received 
by  Protestants  and  papists  ;  but  what  this  is,  and  where  it  is.  is  disputed.  But  let 
us  grant  that  the  edition  papists  now  use,  called  the  Vulgate,  is  the  same  which 
Jerome  handed  down,  yet  when  we  have  so  many  of  our  adversaries  acknowledging 
various  editions  of  the  Vulgate,  improved  and  corrected  by  Stephanus,  Hentenius, 
the  doctors  of  Louvain  ("  Low.aniensibiis"),  Sixtus  V.,  and  Clement  VIII.,  may 
we  not  ask,  what  copy  they  wish  to  be  received,  amidst  so  many  disagreeing  editions, 
for  the  true,  legitimate,  authentic,  and  undoubted  ?  If  they  praise  the  industry  of 
Stephanus,  they  condemn  the  labours  of  Hentenius ;  if  they  approve  Henteniu.', 
the  labours  of  the  Louvain  doctors  are  useless  ;  if  the  Louvain  were  diligent  (and 
they  certainly  were),  what  need  of  the  double  labour  of  Sixtus  V.?  Some  may 
say,  all  the  other  editions  must  lie  by,  and  Sixtus  V.'s  be  received,  because  he  is 
pope,  and  as  such,  in  a  matter  of  faith,  he  neither  can  deceive,  nor  be  deceived. 
But  Sixtus  and  Clement  are  opposed.  Sixtus  says,  Clement  denies  ;  Clement  says, 
Sixtus  denies.  (0  Concrrdia  discors!!)  Sixtus  put  forth  his  edition  to  last  for 
ever!  edit,  anno  1590.  In  1592,  Clement  VIII.  published  a  new  edition  so  rcn~ 
trary  tn  Sixtus',  that  you  wouU  not  know  it  to  be  the  same.  Which  must  be  received 
— which  believed  ?'§ 

Thus,  it  is  evident  that,  in  all  things,  the  Romanist,  although  deceived  by  this 
ignis  fatuus  of  infallibility,  is  cast  upon  a  sea  of  uncertainty,  and  can  find  n  ■  rest 
but  in  the  adoption  of  the  principles  of  our  church.  For  whether  we  consider  the 
notes  of  the  church — these  he  must  examine  and  judge  of  by  his  private  reason : 
or  the  scat  of  his  church's  infallibility — this  likewise  he  must  search  for  by  his  pri- 
vate judgment,  amongst  the  many  and  distracting  controversies  to  which  it  has  given 
rise:  or  does  he  search  for  an  infallible  commentary?  he  has  no  such  tiring — no 
way  of  ascertaining  the  meaning  of  scripture  but  that  which  is  common  to  us  :  or 
for  even  an  authorized  version  of  the  word  of  God  ?  his  church  has  here  likewise 
forsaken  him,  and  by  decreeing  the  Vulgate  to  be  the  authentic,  without  authorizing 
any  edition  of  the  same,  has  consigned  him  to  either  ignorance  or  despair. 

We  may  then  indeed  conclude  with  Burnet,  that  Romanists  '  argue  much 
stronger,  when  they  prove  where  it  (infallibility)  cannot  be,  than  when  they  pre- 
tend to  prove  where  it  must  be,'  or  what  it  has  done  for  its  deceived  votaries. — 
LEd.1 


5  Bellum  Papalo. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  259 


that  here  the  greatest  of  all  privileges  is  pretended  to  be  ART 
lodged  in  a  succession  of  bishops,  without  any  one  passage  in  X1X- 
scripture  importing  it. 

Another  set  of  difficulties  arise,  concerning  the  persons 
who  have  a  right  to  choose  these  popes  in  whom  this  right  is 
vested,  and  what  number  is  necessary  for  a  canonical  election: 
how  far  simony  voids  it,  and  who  is  the  competent  judge  of 
that;  or  who  shall  judge  in  the  case  of  two  different  elec- 
tions, which  has  often  happened.  We  must  also  have  a  cer- 
tain rule  to  know  when  the  popes  judge  as  private  persons, 
and  when  they  judge  infallibly :  with  whom  they  must  con- 
sult, and  what  solemnities  are  necessary  to  make  them  speak 
ex  cathedra,  or  infallibly.  For  if  this  infallibility  comes  as  a 
privilege  from  a  grant  made  by  Christ,  we  ought  to  expect, 
that  all  those  necessary  circumstances  to  direct  us,  in  order  to 
the  receiving  and  submitting  to  it,  should  be  fixed  by  the 
same  authority  that  made  the  grant.  Here  then  are  very 
great  difficulties :  let  us  now  see  what  is  offered  to  make  out 
this  great  and  important  claim. 

The  chief  proof  is  brought  from  these  words  of  our  Sa- 
viour, when  upon  St.  Peter's  confessing,  that  '  he  was  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God     he  said  to  him, e  Thou  art  Matt.  xv\ 
Peter,  and  upon  this  Rock*  I  will  build  my  church,  and  the  16, 18, 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it.    I  will  give  unto  thee 
the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven;  and  whatsoever  thou 

•  '  But,  for  as  much  as  they  seem  to  make  greatest  account  of  these  words  of 
Christ,  "  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church,"  therefore,  for 
answer  hereunto,  understand  thou  good  Christian  reader,  that  the  old  Catholic  fathers, 
have  written  and  pronounced,  not  any  mortal  man  as  Peter  was,  butChrist  himself,  the 
Son  of  God,  to  be  this  rock.  Gregorius  Nyssenus  saith,  "  Tu  es  Petrus,"  ccc.  &c. 
"Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  my  church."  He  meaneth  the 
confession  of  Christ :  for  he  had  said  before,  "  Thou  art  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living 
God."  So  saith  St.  Hilary,  "  Haec  est  una  felix  fidei  Petra,  quam  Petrus  ore  suo 
confessus  est." — "  This  is  that  only  blessed  rock  of  faith  that  Peter  confessed  with 
his  mouth."  Again  he  saith,  "  Upon  this  rock  of  Peter's  confession  is  the 
building  of  the  church."  So  Cyrillus,  "  Petra  nihil  aliud  est,  quam  firma  ct  incon- 
cussa  discipuli  fides." — "  The  rock  is  nothing  else,  but  the  strong  and  assured 
faith  of  the  disciple."  So  likewise  Chrysostome,  "  Super  hanc  petram,  id  est,  in 
hac  fide,  et  confessione  aediticabo  ecclesiam  meam." — "  Upon  this  rock,  that  is  to 
say,  upon  this  faith  and  this  confession  I  will  build  my  church."  Likewise  St. 
Augustin,  "  Petra  erat  Christus  super  quod  fundamentum  etiam  aedificatus  est 
Petrus." — "  Christ  was  the  rock,  upon  whose  foundation  Peter  himself  was  also 
built."  And  addcth  further  besides,  "  Non  me  aediticabo  super  te,  sed  te  aedifkabo 
super  mo." — "  Christ  saith  unto  Peter,  I  will  not  build  myself  upon  thee:  but  I 
will  build  thee  upon  me."  All  these  fathers  be  plain,  but  none  so  plain  as  Origcn ; 
his  words  be  these :  "  Petra  est,  quicunque  est  discipulus  Christi  :  et  super  talem 
petram  construitur  omnis  ecclesiastica  doctrina.  Quod  in  super  unum  ilium  Petrum 
tantum  existimas  aedificare  totam  ecclesiam,  quid  dicturus  es  de  Johanne  filio 
Tonitrui,  et  apostolorum  unoquoque  ?  Num  audebis  dicere  quod  adversus  Petrum 
unum  non  prevaliturae  sint  porta;  inferorum?  Au  soli  Petro  dantur  a  Christo 
claves  regni  coelorum?" — "He  is  the  rock,  whosoever  is  the  disciple  of  Christ: 
and  upon  such  a  rock  all  ecclesiastical  learning  is  built.  If  thou  think  that  the 
whole  church  is  built  only  upon  Peter,  what  then  wilt  thou  say  of  .John,  the  son  of 
the  thunder,  and  of  every  of  the  apostles  ?  shall  we  dare  to  say,  that  the  gates  of 
hell  shall  not  prevail  only  against  Peter?  or  are  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
given  only  unto  Peter  ?"  By  these  few  it  may  appear,  what  right  the  pope  hath  to 
claim  his  authority  by  God's  word,  and,  as  Mr.  Harding  saith,  De  jure  divtno.' 
Jewell's  reply  tu  Harding  [Ev.~\ 

S  2 


260 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  RT.  shalt  bind  on  earth  shall  be  bound  in  heaven,  and  whatsoever 
XIX-  thou  shalt  loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven.'  This- 
begins  with  an  allusion  to  his  name ;  and  discourses  built 
upon  such  allusions  are  not  to  be  understood  strictly  or  gram- 
matically. By  the  Rock  upon  which  Christ  promises  to  build 
his  church,  many  of  the  fathers  have  understood  the  person  of 
Christ,  others  have  understood  the  confession  of  him,  or  faith 
in  him,  which  indeed  is  but  a  different  way  of  expressing  the 
same  thing.  And  it  is  certain  that,  strictly  speaking,  the 
church  can  only  be  said  to  be  founded  upon  Christ,  and  upon 
his  doctrine.  But  in  a  secondary  sense  it  may  be  said  to  be 
founded  upon  the  apostles,  and  upon  St.  Peter  as  the  first  in 
order ;  which  is  not  to  be  disputed. 

Now  though  this  is  a  sense  which  was  not  put  on  these 
words  for  many  ages;  yet  when  it  should  be  allowed  to  be 
their  true  sense,  it  will  not  prove  any  thing  to  have  been 
granted  to  St.  Peter  but  what  was  common  to  the  other 
Eph.ii.20.  apostles;  who  are  all  called  the  'foundations  upon  which  the 
Rev.  ixi.  church  is  built.'  That  which  follows,  of  the  gates  of  hell  not 
being  able  to  prevail  against  the  church,  may  be  either  under- 
stood of  death,  which  is  often  called  the  gate  to  the  grave; 
which  is  the  sense  of  the  word  that  is  rendered  hell :  and  then 
the  meaning  of  these  words  will  be,  that  the  church,  which 
Christ  was  to  raise,  should  never  be  extinguished,  nor  die,  or 
come  to  a  period,  as  the  Jewish  religion  then  did :  or,  accord- 
ing to  the  custom  of  the  Jews,  of  holding  their  courts  and 
councils  about  their  gates,  by  the  gates  of  hell  mav  be  under- 
stood, the  designs  and  contrivances  of  the  powers  of  darkness, 
which  should  never  prevail  over  the  church  to  root  it  out,  and 
destroy  it ;  for  the  word  rendered  prevail  does  signifv  an 
entire  victor)' :  this  only  imports,  that  the  church  should  be 
still  preserved  against  all  the  attempts  of  hell,  but  does  not 
intimate  that  no  error  was  ever  to  get  into  it. 

Bv  the  words  kingdom  of  heaven,  generally  through  the 
whole  gospel,  the  dispensation  of  the  Messias  is  understood. 
This  appears  evidently  from  the  words  with  which  both  St. 
Matt.  iii.  2.  John  Baptist  and  our  Saviour  began  their  preaching,  '  lie- 
v.  17.  and  pent,  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand :'  and  the  manv 
2i'  ^e'9'  ParaDles  and  comparisons  that  Christ  gave  of  the  kingdom  of 
heaven,  can  only  be  understood  of  the  preaching  of  the  gospel. 
This  being  then  agreed  to,  the  most  natural  and  the  least 
forced  exposition  of  those  words  must  be,  that  St.  Peter  was 
to  open  the  dispensation  of  the  gospel.*    The  proper  use  of  a 

•  '  And  in  relation  to  this  promise  of  our  Lord,  as  well  as  the  completion  of  it 
by  the  conversion  of  the  Gentiles,  it  seems  to  be  that  this  apostle  doth,  in  the  svro  I 
met  at  Jerusalem,  speak  thus,  "  Men  and  brethren,  ye  know  how  that  a  goid  »hil» 
ago,  ip"  iifUfvi  £e%aiar,  God  chose  me  out  among  you,  that  by  my  mouth  tne  Gen- 
tiles should  he«ir  the  word."  (Acts  XT.  7.)  He  therefore  was  assuredly  tLe  persor 
who  first  preached  the  gospel  to  the  Gentiles,  and  by  doing  so  opened  the  kingdom 
of  heaven  to  them :  he  was  the  person  chosen  by  Christ  to  perform  this  work. 
 Nor  is  this  exposition  any  new  fancy  of  my  own ;  it  is  as  ancient 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  261 


key  is  to  open  a  door:  and  as  this  agrees  with  these  words,  ART. 
'he  that  hath  the  key  of  the  house  of  David,  that  openeth  and  XIX- 
no  man  shutteth,  and  shutteth  and  no  man  openeth;'  and  with  Rev< ;7i 7. 
the  phrase  of  the  'key  of  knowledge,'  by  which  the  lawyers  are  l.uke  xl 
described  ;  for  they  had  a  key  with  writing  tables  given  them,  52- 
as  the  badges  of  their  profession :  so  it  agrees  with  the  accom- 
plishment of  this  promise  in  St.  Peter,  who  first  opened  the 
gospel  to  the  Jews,  after  the  wonderful  effusion  of  the  Holy 
Ghost:  and  more  eminently  when  he  first  opened  the  door  to 
the  Gentiles,  preaching  to  Cornelius,  and  baptizing  him  and  his 
household,  to  which  the  phrase  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven  seems 
to  have  a  more  particular  relation.  This  dispensation  was  com- 
mitted to  St.  Peter,  and  seems  to  be  claimed  by  him  as  his 
peculiar  privilege  in  the  council  at  Jerusalem.  This  is  a 
clear  and  plain  sense  of  these  words.  For  those  who  would 
carrv  them  further,  and  understand  byT  the  kingdom  of  heaven 
our  eternal  hapniness,  must  use  many  distinctions;  otherwise, 
if  they  expound  them  literally,  they  will  ascribe  to  St.  Peter 
that  which  certainly  could  only  belong  to  our  Saviour  himself. 
Though  at  the  same  time  it  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  that 
under  the  figure  of  keys,  the  power  of  discipline,  and  the  con- 
duct and  management  of  Christians,  may  be  understood.  But 
as  to  this,  all  the  pastors  of  the  church  have  their  share  in  it ; 
nor  can  it  be  appropriated  to  any  one  person.  As  for  that 
of  binding  and  loosing,  and  the  confirming  in  heaven  what  he 
should  do  in  earth,  whatever  it  may  signify,  it  is  no  special 
grant  to  St.  Peter :  for  the  same  words  are  spoken  by  our 
Saviour  elsewhere  to  all  the  apostles :  so  this  is  given  equally 
to  them  all.  The  words  binding  and  loosing  are  used  by  the 
Jewish  writers,  in  the  sense  of  affirming  or  denying  the  obli- 
gation of  any  precept  of  the  law  that  might  be  in  dispute.  So 
according  to  this  common  form  of  speech,  and  the  sense 
formerly  given  to  the  words  kingdom  of  heaven,  the  meaning 
of  these  words  must  be,  that  Christ  committed  to  the  apostles 
the  dispensing  his  gospel  to  the  world,  by  which  he  autho- 
rized them  to  dissolve  the  obligation  of  the  Mosaical  laws ; 
and  to  give  other  laws  to  the  Christian  church,  which  they 
should  do  under  such  visible  characters  of  a  divine  authority, 
empowering  and  conducting  them  in  it,  that  it  should  be  very 


as  Tertullian,  who  saith  (  De  Pudirilia)  that  Christ  did  personally  confer  this  honour 
on  St.  Peter,  saying,  "  Upon  thee  will  1  build  my  church."  "  Sic  enim  exitus 
docuit,  in  ipso  ecclesia  exstructa  est,  i.e.  per  ipsum,  ipse  clavem  imbuit." — "  So  the 
event  doth  teach,  the  church  was  built  on  him,  that  is,  by  him,  he  hanselled  the 
first  key  :"  he  preached  that  sermon  by  which  three  thousand  Jews  were  brought 
into  the  faith;  he  laid  the  first  foundation  of  a  church  among  the  Gentiles;  he 

first,  by  baptism,  gave  them  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven  

 This  being  so,  it  is  evident  that  in  this  matter  St.  Peter  neither 

hath  nor  can  have  •>  successor ;  and  that  it  is  absurd  to  claim  a  title  of  succession 
to  this  prerogative  of  St.  Peter ;  this  being  in  effect  to  say,  that  the  foundations  of 
the  church  of  Christ  are  not  yet  laid,  and  to  pretend  to  a  commission  to  perform  at 
present  what  was  fully  done  above  a  thousand  sis  hundred  years  ago.'  Whitby.— 


262 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  evident,  that  what  they  did  on  earth  was  also  ratified  in  hea- 
XIX-    ven.    These  words,  thus  understood,  carry  in  them  a  clear 
sense,  which  agrees  with  the  whole  design  of  the  gospel.  But 
whatsoever  their  sense  may  be,  it  is  plain  that  there  was  no- 
thing given  peculiarly  to  St.  Peter  by  them,  which  was  not 
likewise  given  to  the  rest  of  the  apostles.  Nor  do  these  words 
of  our  Saviour  to  St.  Peter  import  any  thing  of  a  successive 
infallibility  that  was  to  be  derived  from  him  with  any  distinc 
tion  beyond  the  other  apostles  :  unless  it  were  a  priority  of 
order  and  dignity ;  and  whatever  that  was,  there  is  not  so 
much  as  a  hint  given,  that  it  was  to  descend  from  him  to  any 
see  or  succession  of  bishops. 
Luke  xxii.     \s  for  our  Saviour's  praying  that  St.  Peter's  c  faith  might 
Johnxxi.   no^  ^auV  ar,d  n^s  restoring  him  to  his  apostolical  function,  by 
15,  16,17.  a  thrice  repeated  charge,  'Feed  my  sheep,  Feed  my  lambs,' 
that  has  such  a  visible  relation  to  his  fall,  and  to  his  denying 
him,  that  it  does  not  seem  necessary  to  enlarge  further  on  the 
making  it  out,  or  on  shewing  that  these  words  are  capable  of 
no  other  signification,  and  cannot  be  carried  further. 

  O  J 

The  importance  of  this  argument,  rather  than  the  difficulty 
of  it,  has  made  it  necessary  to  dwell  fully  upon  it :  so  much 
depends  upon  it,  and  the  missionaries  of  the  church  of  Rome 
are  so  well  instructed  in  it,  that  it  ought  to  be  well  considered ; 
for  how  little  strength  soever  there  may  be  in  the  arguments 
brought  to  prove  this  infallibility,  yet  the  colours  are  specious, 
and  they  are  commonly  managed  both  with  much  art  and  great 
confidence. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


263 


A  R 

XX 


ARTICLE  XX. 

Of  the  Authority  of  the  Church. 

©fie  Church  hath  $ofoer  to  decree  3&iteS  or  Ceremonies,  ant»  Shu 
thoriti)  tit  {Hatters  of  dfatth.  9nK  net  it  is  not  lawful  for  tlje 
Church  to  ortiatu  au»  tljtng  that  is  contrary  to  ©otj's  WHovti  Writ* 
ten;  neither  man  tt  So  crpountt  one  place  of  Scripture,  tljat  tt  be 
repugnant  to  another.  ©Kbctefore  although  ti)c  Cfjurei)  be  a  WiU 
ncSS  antj  beeper  of  &olt>  <E2Krit,  wet  as  tt  ought  not  to  llerree  aim 
thing  against  the  Same,  So  bestocs  the  same  ought  it  not  to  enforce 
anw  thing  to  be  beltebct)  for  necessity  of  ^albatton. 

This  Article  consists  of  two  parts;  the  first  asserts  a  power 
in  the  church  both  to  decree  rites  and  ceremonies,  and  to  judge 
in  matters  of  faith:  the  second  limits  this  power  over  matters  of 
faith  to  the  scriptures:  so  that  it  must  neither  contradict  them, 
nor  add  any  articles  as  necessary  to  salvation  to  those  contained 
in  them.*    This  is  suitable  to  some  words  that  were  once  in 

*  The  question  between  us  and  the  papal  church  in  this  point  is,  not  whether 
the  church  has  power  to  decree  rites  or  ceremonies,  and  authority  in  matters 
of  faith — this  cannot  be  denied ;  every  church  has  this  power  within  itself — but 
whether  the  church  has  authority  to  enlarge  the  catholic  and  apostolic  faith  by  de- 
creeing as  necessary  to  salvation  certain  articles,  which  by  her  own  confession  have 
not  any  other  foundation  except  only  her  decree.  This  is  the  question  at  issue 
between  the  Reformed  and  the  Church  of  Rome.  Our  articles  are  articles  of  church 
communion  or  church  discipline,  drawn  up  for  the  better  furtherance  of  the  faith 
of  Christ,  and  rendered  necessary  for  the  reasons  given  by  our  author  in  his  Intro- 
duction, p.  5.  But  it  must  ever  be  borne  in  mind,  that  so  far  from  adding  any 
thing  to  the  faith  of  Christ,  two  of  those  articles,  the  6th  and  20th,  declare  the 
Bible  to  be  the  sole  standard  of  faith ;  and  that,  as  it  is  not  lawful  to  decree  any 
thing  contrary  to  it.  so  it  is  not  in  the  power  of  the  church  to  add  any  thing,  even 
though  it  be  not  contrary,  to  that  revelation  given  in  the  inspired  word  of  God. 
This  which  we  reject  is  the  power  usurped  by  the  church  of  Rome ;  in  which 
matter  she  has  not  only  daringly  set  at  nought  the  solemn  injunctions  in  the  word 
of  God,  but  also  the  decrees  of  councils  which  she  professes  to  so  highly  reverence : 
— which  conduct  is  well  reproved  by  Bishop  Taylor,  in  the  following  extract : 

'  First,  we  allege  that  this  very  power  of  making  new  articles  is  a  noveltv,  and 
expressly  against  the  doctrine  of  the  primitive  church  ;  and  we  prove  it,  first,  by  the 
words  of  the  apostle,  (Gal.  i.  8.1  saying,  '"  If  we,  or  an  angel  from  heaven,  shall 
preach  unto  you  any  other  gospel  (viz.  in  whole,  or  in  part,  for  there  is  the  same 
reason  of  them  both)  than  that  which  we  have  preached,  let  him  be  anathema  ;"  and, 
secondly,  by  the  sentence  of  the  Fathers  in  the  third  general  council,  that  at  Ephe- 
sus,f  "  That  it  shall  not  be  lawful  for  any  man  to  publish  or  compose  another  faith 
or  creed  than  that  which  was  defined  by  the  Nicene  Council :  and  that  whosoever 
shall  dare  to  compose  or  offer  any  such  to  any  persons  willing  to  be  converted  from 
paganism,  Judaism,  or  heresy,  if  they  were  bishops,  or  clerks,  they  should  be  de- 
posed ;  if  laymen,  they  should  be  accursed !"  And  yet,  in  the  church  of  Rome,  faith 
and  Christianity  increase  like  the  moon ;  Bromyard  complained  of  it  long  since, 
and  the  mischief  increases  daily.' — Ed. 


+  This  is  the  decree  of  the  council  of  Epbesus,  to  which  Burnet  refers  in  hi» 
Introduction :  (see  pp.  1,  3.) 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.    the  fifth  Article,  but  were  afterwards  left  out;  instead  of  which 
_        the  first  words  of  this  Article  were  put  in  this  place,  according 
to  the  printed  editions ;  though  they  are  not  in  the  original  of 
the  Articles  signed  by  both  houses  of  convocation,  that  are 
yet  extant. 

As  to  the  first  part  of  the  Article,  concerning  the  power  of 
the  church,  either  with  relation  to  ceremonies  or  points  of 
faith,  the  dispute  lies  only  with  those  who  deny  all  church 
power,  and  think  that  churches  ought  to  be  in  all  things  limited 
by  the  rules  set  in  scripture ;  and  that  where  the  scriptures 
are  silent,  there  ought  to  be  no  rules  made,  but  that  all  men 
should  be  left  to  their  liberty;  and,  in  particular,  that  the 
appointing  new  ceremonies  looks  like  a  reproaching  of  the 
apostles,  as  if  their  constitutions  had  been  so  defective,  that 
those  defects  must  be  supplied  by  the  inventions  of  men  : 
which  they  oppose  so  much  the  more,  because  they  think  that 
all  the  corruptions  of  popery  began  at  some  rites  which  seemed 
at  first  not  only  innocent,  but  pious  ;  but  were  afterwards 
abused  to  superstition  and  idolatry,  and  swelled  up  to  that 
bulk  as  to  oppress  and  stifle  true  religion  with  their  number 
and  weight. 

A  great  part  of  this  is  in  some  respect  true;  yet  that  we  may 
examine  the  matter  methodically,  we  shall  first  consider,  what 
power  the  church  has  in  those  matters  ;  and  then,  what  rules 
she  ought  to  govern  herself  by  in  the  use  of  that  power.    It  is 
very  visible,  that  in  the  Gospels  and  Epistles  there  are  but  few 
rules  laid  down  as  to  ritual  matters :  in  the  Epistles  there  are 
some  general  rules  given,  that  must  take  in  a  great  many  cases: 
Rom.xiv.  such  as,  '  Let  all  things  be  done  to  edification,  to  order,  and 
]9£         to  peace :'  and  in  the  Epistles  to  Timothy  and  Titus,  many 
40.  °r* rules  are  given  in  such  general  words,  as, '  Lay  hands  suddenly 
on  no  man,'  that  in  order  to  the  guiding  of  particular  cases  by 
them,  manv  distinctions  and  specialities  were  to  be  interposed 
to  the  making  them  practicable  and  useful.    In  matters  that 
are  merelv  ritual,  the  state  of  mankind  in  different  climates 
and  ages  is  apt  to  vary;  and  the  same  thing  that  in  one  scene 
of  human  nature  may  look  grave,  and  seem  fit  for  any  society, 
may  in  another  age  look  fight,  and  dissipate  men's  thoughts. 
It  is  also  evident  that  there  is  not  a  system  of  rules  given  in 
the  New  Testament  about  all  these ;  and  yet  a  due  method  in 
them  is  necessary  to  maintain  the  order  and  decency  that  be- 
come divine  things.    This  seems  to  be  a  part  of  the  gospel 
Gal.  ii. 4.  liberty,  that  it  is  not  'a  law  of  ordinances;'  these  things 
— iv.  9.    being  left  to  be  varied  according  to  the  diversities  of  man- 
kind. 

The  Jewish  religion  was  delivered  to  one  nation,  and  the 
main  parts  of  it  were  to  be  performed  in  one  place ;  they  were 
also  to  be  limited  in  rituals,  lest  they  might  have  taken  some 
practices  from  their  neighbours  round  about  them,  and  so  by 
the  use  of  their  rites  have  rendered  idolatrous  practices  more 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


265 


familiar  and  acceptable  to  them :  and  yet  they  had  many  rites  ART. 
among  them  in  our  Saviour's  time,  which  are  not  mentioned  xx- 
in  any  part  of  the  Old  Testament ;  such  was  the  whole  con- 
stitution of  their  synagogues,  with  all  the  service  and  officers 
that  belonged  to  them :  they  had  a  baptism  among  them,  be- 
sides several  rites  added  to  the  paschal  service.    Our  Saviour 
reproved  them  for  none  of  these ;  he  hallowed  some  of  them 
to  be  the  federal  rites  of  his  new  dispensation ;  he  went  to 
their  synagogues;  and  though  he  reproved  them  for  overvalu- 
ing their  rites,  for  preferring  them  to  the  laws  of  God,  and 
making  these  void  by  their  traditions,  yet  he  does  not  condemn 
them  for  the  use  of  them.    And  while  of  the  greater  precepts 
he  says,  'These  things  ye  ought  to  have  done;'  he  adds  con-  Matt.xxiii. 
cerning  their  rites  and  lesser  matters,  'and  not  to  have  left  the  23- 
other  undone.' 

If  then  such  a  liberty  was  allowed  in  so  limited  a  religion, 
it  seems  highly  suitable  to  the  sublimer  state  of  the  Christian 
liberty,  that  there  should  be  room  left  for  such  appointments 
or  alterations  as  the  different  state  of  times  and  places  should 
require.  In  hotter  countries,  for  instance,  there  is  no  danger 
in  dipping;  but  if  it  is  otherwise  in  colder  climates,  then  since 
'  mercy  is  better  than  even  sacrifice,'  a  more  sparing  use  may  Hos.  vi.6. 
be  made  of  water;  aspersion  may  answer  the  true  end  of  bap-  Matt.xu.7 
tism.  A  stricter  or  gentler  discipline  of  offenders  must  be  also 
proportioned  to  what  the  times  will  bear,  and  what  men  can 
be  brought  to  submit  to.  The  dividing  of  Christians  into 
such  districts,  that  they  may  have  the  best  conveniences  to 
assemble  themselves  together  for  worship,  and  for  keeping 
up  of  order ;  the  appointing  the  times  as  well  as  the  places 
of  worship,  are  certainly  to  be  fixed  with  the  best  regard  to 
present  circumstances  that  may  be.  The  bringing  Christian 
assemblies  into  order  and  method,  is  necessary  for  their  solem- 
nity, and  for  preventing  that  dissipation  of  thought  that  a 
diversity  of  behaviour  might  occasion.  And  though  a  kiss  of 
peace,  and  an  order  of  deaconesses,  were  the  practices  of  the 
apostolical  time ;  yet  when  the  one  gave  occasion  to  raillery, 
and  the  other  to  scandal,  all  the  world  was,  and  still  is,  satisfied 
with  the  reasons  of  letting  both  fall. 

Now  if  churches  may  lay  aside  apostolical  practices  in  mat- 
ters that  are  ritual,  it  is  certainly  much  easier  to  justify  their 
making  new  rules  for  such  things  ;  since  it  is  a  higher  attempt 
to  alter  what  was  settled  by  the  apostles  themselves,  than  to 
set  up  new  rules  in  matters  which  they  left  untouched.  Ha- 
bits and  postures  are  the  necessary  circumstances  of  all  public 
meetings:  the  times  of  fasting  and  of  prayer,  the  days  of 
thanksgiving  and  communions,  are  all  of  the  same  nature. 
The  public  confession  of  sins  by  scandalous  persons ;  the 
time  and  manner  of  doing  it ;  the  previous  steps  that  some 
churches  have  made  for  the  trial  of  those  who  were  to  be 
received  into  holy  orders,  that  so  by  a  longer  inspection  into 


266 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  their  behaviour,  while  in  lower  orders,  they  might  discover  how 
XX"  fit  they  were  to  be  admitted  into  the  sacred  ones ;  and  chiefly 
the  prescribing  stated  forms  for  the  several  acts  of  religious 
worship,  and  not  leaving  that  to  the  capacities  or  humours, 
to  the  inventions,  and  often  to  the  extravagancies,  of  those 
who  are  to  officiate  :  all  these  things,  I  say,  fall  within  those 
general  rules  given  by  the  apostles  to  the  churches  in  their 

l  Cor.  xi.  time :  where  we  find  that  the  apostles  had  their  customs,  as 
well  as  the  churches  of  God;  which  were  then  opposed  to  the 
innovating  and  the  contentious  humours  of  some  factious  men. 
And  such  a  pattern  have  the  apostles  set  us  of  complying  with 
those  things  that  are  regularly  settled,  wheresoever  we  are,  that 

19— 23 1  We  ^nt^  '  became  all  things  to  all  men :  to  the  Jews  they 
became  Jews ;'  though  that  was  a  religion  then  extinguished 
in  its  obligation,  by  the  promulgation  of  the  gospel ;  and  was 
then  fallen  under  great  corruption :  yet,  in  order  to  the  gain- 
ing of  some  of  them,  such  was  the  spirit  of  charity  and  edifica- 
tion with  which  the  apostles  were  acted,  that  while  they  were 
among  them  they  complied  in  the  practice  of  those  abrogated 
rites ;  though  they  asserted  both  the  liberty  of  the  Gentiles, 
and  even  their  own,  in  that  matter :  it  was  only  a  compliance, 
and  not  a  submission,  to  their  opinions,  that  made  them  ob- 
serve days,  and  distinguish  meats,  while  among  them.  If 
then  such  rites,  and  the  rites  of  such  a  church,  were  still 
complied  with  by  inspired  men,  this  is  an  infallible  pattern 
to  us ;  and  let  us  see,  upon  how  much  stronger  reasons  we, 
who  are  under  those  obligations  to  unity  and  charity  with 
all  Christians,  ought  to  maintain  the  unity  of  the  body,  and 
the  decency  and  order  that  is  necessary  for  peace  and  mutual 
edification. 

Therefore,  since  there  is  not  any  one  thing  that  Christ  has 
enjoined  more  solemnly  and  more  frequently  than  love  and 
charity,  union  and  agreement,  amongst  his  disciples ;  since 
Heb.z.25.  we  are  also  required  to  assemble  ourselves  together,  to  con- 
stitute ourselves  in  a  body,  both  for  worshipping  God  jointly, 
and  for  maintaining  of  order  and  love  among  the  society  of 
Christians,  we  ought  to  acquiesce  in  such  rules  as  have  been 
agreed  on  by  common  consent,  and  which  are  recommended 
to  us  by  long  practice,  and  that  are  established  by  those  who 
have  the  lawful  authority  over  us.  Nor  can  we  assign  any 
other  bounds  to  our  submission  in  this  case,  than  those  that 
Acts  v.  29.  the  gospel  has  limited.  We  must  'obey  God,  rather  than  man 
21* '  xx""  and  we  must  in  the  first  place  '  render  to  God  the  things  that 
are  God's,'  and  then  '  give  to  Caesar  the  things  that  are  Cesar's/ 
So  that  if  either  church  or  state  have  power  to  make  rules  and 
laws  in  such  matters,  they  must  have  this  extent  given  them, 
that  till  they  break  in  upon  the  laws  of  God  and  the  gospel, 
we  must  be  bound  to  obey  them.  A  mean  cannot  be  put 
here  ;  either  they  have  no  power  at  all,  or  they  have  a  power 
that  must  go  to  every  thing  that  is  not  forbid  by  any  law  of 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  267 


God.  This  is  the  only  measure  that  can  be  given  in  this  ART. 
matter.  xx- 

But  a  great  difference  is  here  to  be  made  between  those 
rules  that  both  church  and  state  ought  to  set  to  themselves 
in  their  enacting  of  such  matters,  and  the  measures  of  the 
obedience  of  subjects :  the  only  question  in  the  point  of  obe- 
dience must  be,  lawful  or  unlawful.  For  expedient  or  inexpe- 
dient ought  never  to  be  brought  into  question,  as  to  the  point 
of  obedience ;  since  no  inexpediency  whatsoever  can  balance 
the  breaking  of  order,  and  the  dissolving  the  constitution  and 
society.  This  is  a  consideration  that  arises  out  of  a  man's 
apprehensions  of  the  fitness  or  usefulness  of  things ;  in  which 
though  he  might  be  in  the  right  as  to  the  antecedent  fitness 
of  them,  and  yet  even  there  he  may  be  in  the  wrong,  and  in 
common  modesty  every  man  ought  to  think  that  it  is  more 
likely  that  he  should  be  in  the  wrong,  than  the  governors  and 
rulers  of  the  society ;  yet,  I  say,  allowing  all  this,  it  is  certain 
that  order  and  obedience  are,  both  in  their  own  nature,  and  in 
their  consequences,  to  be  preferred  to  all  the  particular  con- 
siderations of  expediency  or  inexpediency.  Yet  still  those 
in  whose  hands  the  making  of  those  rules  is  put,  ought  to 
carry  their  thoughts  much  further:  they  ought  to  consider 
well  the  genius  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  therefore  they 
are  to  avoid  every  thing  that  may  lead  to  idolatry,  or  feed 
superstition ;  every  thing  that  is  apt  to  be  abused  to  give  false 
ideas  of  God,  or  to  make  the  world  think  that  such  instituted 
practices  may  balance  the  violation  of  the  laws  of  God.  They 
ought  not  to  overcharge  the  worship  of  God  with  too  great  a 
number  of  them :  the  rites  ought  to  be  grave,  simple,  and 
naturally  expressive  of  that  which  is  intended  by  them.  Vain 
pomp  and  indecent  levity  ought  to  be  guarded  against ;  and 
next  to  the  honour  of  God  and  religion,  the  peace  and  edifica- 
tion of  the  society  ought  to  be  chiefly  considered.  Due  regard 
ought  to  be  had  to  what  men  can  bear,  and  what  may  be  most 
suitable  to  the  present  state  of  the  whole ;  and  finally,  a  great 
respect  is  due  to  ancient  and  established  practices.  Antiquity 
does  generally  beget  veneration ;  and  the  very  changing  of 
what  has  been  long  in  use  does  naturally  startle  many,  and 
discompose  a  great  part  of  the  body.  So  all  changes,  unless 
the  expediency  of  making  them  is  upon  other  accounts  very 
visible,  labour  under  a  great  prejudice  with  the  more  staid 
sort  of  men ;  for  this  very  reason,  because  they  are  changes. 
But  in  this  matter,  no  certain  or  mathematical  rules  can  be 
given :  every  one  of  these  that  has  been  named  is  capable  of 
that  variety,  by  the  diversity  of  times  and  other  circum- 
stances ;  that  since  prudence  and  discretion  must  rule  the  use 
that  is  to  be  made  of  them,  that  must  be  left  to  the  conscience 
and  prudence  of  every  person  who  may  be  concerned  in  the 
management  of  this  authority.  He  must  act  as  he  will  answer 
it  to  God  and  to  the  church ;  for  he  must  be  at  liberty  in 


268 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  applying  those  general  rules  to  particular  times  and  cases. 
xx-  And  a  temper  must  be  observed :  we  must  avoid  a  sullen 
adhering  to  things  because  they  were  once  settled,  as  if  points 
of  honour  were  to  be  maintained  here  ;  and  that  it  looked  like 
a  reproaching  a  constitution,  or  the  wisdom  of  a  former  age, 
to  alter  what  they  did ;  since  it  is  certain  that  what  was  wisely 
ordered  in  one  time,  may  be  as  wisely  changed  in  another : 
as,  on  the  other  hand,  all  men  ought  to  avoid  the  imputation 
of  a  desultory  levity ;  as  if  they  loved  changes  for  changes' 
sake.  This  might  give  occasion  to  our  adversaries  to  triumph 
over  us,  and  might  also  fill  the  minds  of  the  weaker  among 
ourselves  with  apprehensions  and  scruples. 

The  next  particular  asserted  in  this  Article  is,  That  the 
church  hath  authority  in  matters  of  faith.  Here  a  distinction 
is  to  be  made  between  an  authority  that  is  absolute,  and 
founded  on  infallibility,  and  an  authority  of  order.  The  for- 
mer is  very  formally  disclaimed  by  our  church ;  but  the 
second  may  be  well  maintained,  though  we  assert  no  unerring 
authority.  Every  single  man  has  a  right  to  search  the  scrip- 
tures, and  to  take  his  faith  from  them ;  yet  it  is  certain  that 
he  may  be  mistaken  in  it.  It  is  therefore  a  much  surer  way 
for  numbers  of  men  to  meet  together,  and  to  examine  such 
differences  as  happen  to  arise ;  to  consider  the  arguments  of 
all  hands,  with  the  importance  of  such  passages  of  scripture 
as  are  brought  into  the  controversy ;  and  thus  to  inquire  into 
the  whole  matter :  in  which  as  it  is  very  natural  to  think  that 
a  great  company  of  men  should  see  further  than  a  less  number ; 
so  there  is  all  reason  to  expect  a  good  issue  of  such  delibera- 
tions, if  men  proceed  in  them  with  due  sincerity  and  diligence  ; 
if  pride,  faction,  and  interest,  do  not  sway  their  councils,  and 
if  they  seek  for  truth  more  than  for  victory. 

But  what  abuses  soever  may  have  crept  since  into  the  pub- 
lic consultations  of  the  clergy,  the  apostles  at  first  met  and 
Act  xv.  6.  consulted  together  upon  that  controversy  which  was  then 
moved  concerning  the  imposing  the  Mosaical  law  upon  the 
Gentiles :  they  ordered  the  pastors  of  the  church  to  be  able 
Titus  i.  9.  to  convince  gainsayers,  and  not  to  reject  a  man  as  a  heretic, 
— iii.  10.  till  after  a  first  and  a  second  admonition.  The  most  likely 
method  both  to  find  out  the  truth,  and  to  bring  such  as  are 
in  error  over  to  it,  is  to  consult  of  these  matters  in  common ; 
and  that  openly  and  fairly.  For  if  every  good  man,  that  prays 
earnestly  to  God  for  the  assistance  and  direction  of  his  Spirit, 
has  reason  to  look  for  it ;  much  more  may  a  body  of  pastors, 
brought  together  to  seek  out  the  truth,  in  any  point  under 
debate,  look  for  it,  if  they  bring  with  them  sincere  and  unpre- 
judiced minds,  and  do  pray  earnestly  to  God.  In  that  case, 
they  may  expect  to  be  directed  and  assisted  of  him.  But  this 
depends  upon  the  purity  of  their  hearts,  and  the  earnestness 
of  their  endeavours  and  prayers. 

When  any  synod  of  the  clergy  has  so  far  examined  a  point, 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


269 


as  to  settle  their  opinions  about  it,  they  may  certainly  decree  ART. 
that  such  is  their  doctrine:  and  as  they  judge  it  to  be  more  xx- 
or  less  important,  they  may  either  restrain  any  other  opinion, 
or  may  require  positive  declarations  about  it,  either  of  all  in 
their  communion,  or  at  least  of  all  whom  they  admit  to  minis- 
ter in  holy  things. 

This  is  only  an  authority  of  order  for  the  maintaining  of 
union  and  edification :  and  in  this  a  body  does  no  more  as  it 
is  a  body,  than  what  every  single  individual  has  a  right  to  do 
for  himself.  He  examines  a  doctrine  that  is  laid  before  him, 
he  forms  his  own  opinion  upon  it,  and  pursuant  to  that  he 
must  judge  with  whom  he  can  hold  communion,  and  from 
whom  he  must  separate. 

When  such  definitions  are  made  by  the  body  of  the  pastors 
of  any  church,  all  persons  within  that  church  do  owe  great 
respect  to  their  decision.  Modesty  must  be  observed  in  des- 
canting upon  it,  and  in  disputing  about  it.  Every  man  that 
finds  his  own  thoughts  differ  from  it,  ought  to  examine  the 
matter  over  again,  with  much  attention  and  care,  freeing  him- 
self all  he  can  from  prejudice  and  obstinacy ;  with  a  just  dis- 
trust of  his  own  understanding,  and  an  humble  respect  to  the 
judgment  of  his  superiors. 

This  is  due  to  the  considerations  of  peace  and  union, 
and  to  that  authority  which  the  church  has  to  maintain  it. 
Bat  if,  after  all  possible  methods  of  inquiry,  a  man  cannot 
master  his  thoughts,  or  make  them  agree  with  the  public 
decisions,  his  conscience  is  not  under  bonds;  since  this  au- 
thority is  not  absolute,  nor  grounded  upon  a  promise  of  infal- 
libility. 

This  is  a  tenet  that,  with  relation  to  national  churches  and 
their  decisions,  is  held  by  the  church  of  Rome,  as  well  as  by 
us :  for  they  place  infallibility  either  in  the  pope,  or  in  the 
universal  church :  but  no  man  ever  dreamt  of  infallibility  in 
a  particular  or  national  church :  and  the  point  in  this  Article 
is  only  concerning  particular  churches  ;  for  the  head  of  gene- 
ral councils  comes  in  upon  the  next.  That  no  church  can  add 
any  thing  as  necessary  to  salvation,  has  been  already  considered 
upon  the  sixth  Article. 

It  is  certain,  that  as  we  owe  our  hopes  of  salvation  only  to 
Christ,  and  to  what  he  has  done  for  us ;  so  also  it  can  belong 
only  to  him,  who  procured  it  to  us,  to  fix  the  terms  upon  which 
we  may  look  for  it :  nor  can  any  power  on  earth  clog  the  offers 
that  he  makes  us  in  the  gospel,  with  new  or  other  terms  than 
those  which  we  find  made  there  to  us.  There  can  be  no  dis- 
pute about  this :  for  unless  we  believe  that  there  is  an  infal- 
lible authority  lodged  in  the  church,  to  explain  the  scripture, 
and  to  declare  tradition  ;  and  unless  we  believe  that  the  scrip- 
tures are  both  obscure  and  defective,  and  that  the  one  must 
be  helped  by  an  infallible  commentary,  and  the  other  supplied 


270 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   by  an  authentical  declarer  of  tradition ;  we  cannot  ascribe  an 
XX-    authority  to  the  church,  either  to  contradict  the  scripture,  or 
to  add  necessary  conditions  of  salvation  to  it. 

We  own,  after  all,  that  the  church  is  the  depository  of  the 
whole  scriptures,  as  the  Jews  were  of  the  Old  Testament : 
but  in  that  instance  of  the  Jews,  we  may  see  that  a  body  of 
men  may  be  faithful  in  the  copying  of  a  book  exactly,  and  in 
the  handing  it  down  without  corrupting  it,  and  yet  they  may 
be  mistaken  in  the  true  meaning  of  that  which  they  preserve 
Rom.iii.2.  so  faithfully.  They  are  expressly  called  'the  keepers  of  the 
oracles  of  God;'  and  are  nowhere  reproved  for  having  at- 
tempted upon  this  depositum :  and  yet  for  all  that  fidelity 
they  fell  into  great  errors  about  some  of  the  most  important 
parts  of  their  religion :  which  exposed  them  to  the  rejecting 
the  Messias,  and  to  their  utter  ruin. 

The  church's  being  called  the  witness  of  holy  writ,  is  not 
to  be  resolved  into  any  judgment  that  they  pass  upon  it  as  a 
body  of  men  that  have  authority7  to  judge  and  give  sentence, 
so  that  the  canonicalness  or  the  uncanonicalness  of  any  book 
shall  depend  upon  their  testimony :  but  is  resolved  into  this, 
that  such  successions  and  numbers  of  men,  whether  of  the  laity 
or  clergy,  have  in  a  course  of  many  ages  had  these  books  pre- 
served and  read  among  them;  so  that  it  was  not  possible  to 
corrupt  that  upon  which  so  many  men  had  their  eyes  in  all 
the  corners  and  ages  of  Christendom. 

And  thus  we  believe  the  scriptures  to  be  a  book  written  by 
inspired  men,  and  delivered  by  them  to  the  church,  upon  the 
testimony  of  the  church  that  at  first  received  it ;  knowing 
that  those  great  matters  of  fact,  contained  and  appealed  to  in 
it,  were  true :  and  also  upon  the  like  testimony  of  the  suc- 
ceeding ages,  who  preserved,  read,  copied,  and  translated  that 
book,  as  they  had  received  it  from  the  first. 

The  church  of  Rome  is  guilty  of  a  manifest  circle  in  this 
matter:  for  they  say  they  believe  the  scriptures  upon  the  au- 
thority of  the  church,  and  they  do  again  believe  the  authority 
of  the  church,  because  of  the  testimony  of  the  scripture  con- 
cerning it. 

This  is  as  false  reasoning  as  can  be  imagined :  for  nothing 
can  be  proved  by  another  authority  till  that  authority  is  first 
fixed  and  proved :  and  therefore  if  the  testimony  of  the 
church  is  believed  to  be  sacred,  by  virtue  of  a  divine  grant  to 
it,  and  that  from  thence  the  scriptures  have  their  credit  and 
authority,  then  the  credit  due  to  the  church's  testimony  is 
antecedent  to  the  credit  of  the  scripture ;  and  so  must  not 
be  proved  by  any  passages  brought  from  it ;  otherwise  that 
is  a  manifest  circle.  But  no  circle  is  committed  in  our  way, 
who  do  not  prove  the  scriptures  from  any  supposed  authority 
in  the  church,  that  has  handed  them  down  to  us ;  but  only  as 
they  are  vast  companies  of  men,  who  cannot  be  presumed  to 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


271 


have  been  guilty  of  any  fraud  in  this  matter;  it  appearing  ART 

further  to  be  morally  impossible  for  any  that  should  have  J_ 

attempted  a  fraud  in  it,  to  have  executed  it.  When  there- 
fore the  scripture  itself  is  proved  by  moral  arguments  of  this 
kind,  we  may,  according  to  the  strictest  rules  of  reasoning, 
examine  what  authority  the  scripture  gives  to  the  pastors  of 
the  church  met  in  lesser  or  greater  councils. 


272 


AN  EXPOSITION  OP 


ART. 

XXL 

ARTICLE  XXI. 

Of  the  Authority  of  General  Councils. 

©eneral  Councils  map  not  be  gathered  together  foithout  the  Com* 
manttment  airtJ  totll  of  princes.  Knit  loljen  thep  be  gathered 
together  (forasmuch,  as  tljcp  be  an  Ssscmblp  of  fHcu  tohercof  all 
be  not  gobcruccj  uiith  the  Spirit  an*  EZaortr  of  €>oU)  thrp  man 
err,  antj  Sometimes  habe  erreS  ebeu  in  things  pertaining  unto 
©oft.  ©ahercfore  things  orttaincft  bp  t!)em  as  neccSSarp  to  £aU 
battou,  habe  neither  Strength  nor  autrjoritp,  unless  it  map  be 
ieclareft  that  thep  are  taken  out  of  Holp  Scriptures. 

There  are  two  particulars  settled  in  this  Article :  the  one 
is,  the  power  of  calling  of  councils,  at  least,  an  assertion  that 
they  cannot  be  called  without  the  will  of  princes :  the  other 
is,  the  authority  of  general  councils,  that  they  are  not  infalli- 
ble, and  that  some  have  erred:  and  therefore  the  inference  is 
justly  made,  that  whatever  authority  they  may  have  in  the 
rule  and  government  of  the  church,  their  decisions  in  matters 
necessary  to  salvation  ought  to  be  examined  by  the  word  of 
God,  and  are  not  to  be  submitted  to,  unless  it  appears  that 
they  are  conform  to  the  scripture. 

The  first  of  these  is  thus  proved :  clergymen  are  subject  to 
Rom.xiii.  their  princes,  according  to  these  words,  '  Let  every  soul  be 
J'  subject  to  the  higher  powers :'  if  they  are  then  subject  to 

them,  they  cannot  be  obliged  to  go  out  of  their  dominions 
upon  the  summons  of  any  other ;  their  persons  being  under 
the  laws  and  authority  of  that  country  to  which  they  belong. 

This  is  plain,  and  seems  to  need  no  other  proof.  It  is 
very  visible  how  much  the  peace  of  kingdoms  and  states  is 
concerned  in  this  point :  for  if  a  foreign  power  should  call 
their  clergv  away  at  pleasure,  they  might  be  not  onlv  left  in  a 
great  destitution  as  to  religious  performances,  but  their  clergy 
might  be  practised  upon,  and  sent  back  to  them  with  such 
notions,  and  upon  such  designs,  that,  chiefly  supposing  the  im- 
munity of  their  persons,  they  might  become,  as  they  often  were 
in  dark  and  ignorant  ages,  the  incendiaries  of  the  world,  and 
the  disturbers  and  betrayers  of  their  countries.  This  is  con- 
firmed by  the  practice  of  the  first  ages,  after  the  church  had 
the  protection  of  Christian  magistrates :  in  these  the  Roman 
emperors  called  the  first  general  councils,  which  is  expressly 
mentioned  not  only  in  the  histories  of  the  councils,  but  in 
their  acts ;  where  we  find  both  the  writs  that  summoned 
them,  and  their  letters,  sometimes  to  the  emperors,  and 
sometimes  to  the  churches,  which  do  all  set  forth  their  being 
summoned  by  the  sacred  authority  of  their  emperors,  without 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


mentioning  any  other.    In  calling  some  of  these  councils,  it  A  R  T. 
does  not  appear  that  the  popes  were  much  consulted ;  and  in  • 
others  we  find  popes  indeed  supplicating  the  emperors  to  call 
a  council,  but  nothing  that  has  so  much  as  a  shadow  of  their 
pretending  to  an  authority  to  summon  it  themselves. 

This  is  a  thing  so  plain,  and  may  be  so  soon  seen  into  by 
any  person  who  will  be  at  the  pains  to  turn  to  the  editions  ot 
the  first  four  general  councils  made  by  themselves,  not  to 
mention  those  that  followed  in  the  Greek  church,  that  the 
confidence  with  which  it  has  been  asserted,  that  they  were 
summoned  by  the  popes,  is  an  instance  to  shew  us  that  there 
is  nothing  at  which  men,  who  are  once  engaged,  will  stick 
when  their  cause  requires  it.  But  even  since  the  popes  have 
got  this  matter  into  their  own  hands,  though  they  summon 
the  council,  yet  they  do  not  pretend  to  it,  nor  expect  that  the 
world  would  receive  a  council  as  general,  or  submit  to  it,  unless 
the  princes  of  Christendom  should  allow  of  it,  and  consent  to 
the  publication  of  the  bull.  So  that,  by  reason  of  this,  coun- 
cils are  now  become  almost  unpracticable  things. 

When  all  Christendom  was  included  within  the  Roman 
empire,  then  the  calling  of  a  council  lay  in  the  breast  and 
powrer  of  one  man ;  and,  during  the  ages  of  ignorance  and  su- 
perstition, the  world  was  so  subjected  to  the  pope's  authority, 
that  princes  durst  seldom  oppose  their  summons,  or  deny 
their  bishops  leave  to  go  when  they  were  so  called.  But  after 
the  scandalous  schism  in  the  popedom,*  in  which  there  were 

*  '  After  the  death  of  Gregory  XI.  (which  happened  in  the  year  1378)  the  car- 
dinals assembled  to  consult  about  choosing  a  successor,  when  the  people  of  Rome, 
fearing  lest  the  vacant  dignity  should  be  conferred  on  a  Frenchman,  came  in  a 
tumultuous  manner  to  the  conclave,  and  with  great  clamours,  accompanied  with 
many  outrageous  threatenings,  insisted  that  an  Italian  should  be  advanced  to  the 
'  popedom.  The  cardinals,  terrified  by  this  uproar,  immediately  proclaimed  Bar- 
tholomew de  Pergnano,  who  was  a  Neapolitan,  and  archbishop  of  Bari,  and  as- 
sumed the  name  of  Urban  VI.  This  new  pontiff,  by  his  unpolite  behaviour,  inju- 
dicious severity,  and  intolerable  arrogance,  had  made  himself  many  enemies  among 
people  of  all  ranks,  and  especially  among  the  leading  cardinals.  These  latter, 
therefore,  tired  of  his  insolence,  withdrew  from  Rome  to  Agnoeni,  and  from  thence 
to  Fondi,  a  city  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  where  they  elected  to  the  pontificate, 
Robert,  count  of  Geneva,  who  took  the  name  of  Clement  VII.,  and  declared,  at 
the  same  time,  that  the  election  of  Urban  was  nothing  more  than  a  mere  ceremony, 
which  they  had  found  themselves  obliged  to  perform,  in  order  to  calm  the  turbulent 
rage  of  the  populace.  Which  of  these  two  is  to  be  considered  as  the  true  and 
lawful  pope,  is,  to  this  day,  matter  of  doubt;  nor  will  the  records  or  writings, 
alleged  by  the  contending  parties,  enable  us  to  adjust  that  point  with  any  certainty. 
Urban  remained  at  Rome :  Clement  went  to  Avignon  in  France.  His  cause  was 
espoused  by  France  and  Spain,  Scotland,  Sicily,  and  Cyprus,  while  all  the  rest  of 
Europe  acknowledged  Urban  to  be  the  true  Vicar  of  Christ. 

'  Thus  the  union  of  the  Latin  church  under  one  head  was  destroyed  at  the  death 
of  Gregory  XL,  and  was  succeeded  by  that  deplorable  dissension  commonly  known 
by  the  name  of  the  Great  Western  Schism.  This  dissension  was  fomented  with 
such  dreadful  success,  and  arose  to  such  a  shameful  height,  that,  for  the  space  of 
fifty  years,  the  church  had  two  or  three  different  heads  at  the  same  time  ;  each  of 
the  contending  popes  forming  plots,  and  thundering  out  anathemas  against  their 
competitors.'  

'  The  great  purpose  that  was  aimed  at  in  the  convocation  of  this  grand  assembly 
(the  council  of  Constance,  A.  D.  1414)  was  the  healing  of  the  schism  that  had  so 
long  rent  the  papacy  :  and  this  purpose  was  happily  accomplished.  It  was  solemnly 

T 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  for  a  great  while  two  popes,  and  at  last  three  at  a  time,  coun- 
cils  began  to  pretend  that  the  power  of  governing  the  church, 
and  of  censuring,  depriving,  and  making  of  popes,  was  radi- 
cally in  them,  as  representing  the  universal  church :  so  thev 
fell  upon  methods  to  have  frequent  councils,  and  that  whether 
both  popes  and  princes  should  oppose  it  or  not ;  for  thev  de- 
clared both  the  one  and  the  other  to  be  fallen  from  their  dig- 
nity, that  should  attempt  to  hinder  it.  Yet  they  carried  the 
claim  of  the  freedom  of  elections,  and  of  the  other  ecclesiasti- 
cal immunities,  so  high,  that  all  that  followed  upon  this  was, 
that  the  popes  being  terrified  with  the  attempts  begun  at  Con- 
stance, and  prosecuted  at  Basil  and  Pisa,  took  pains  to  have 
princes  on  their  side,  and  then  made  bargains  and  concordates 
with  them,  by  which  they  divided  all  the  rights  of  the  church, 
at  least  the  pretensions  to  them,  between  themselves  and  the 
princes.  Matters  of  gain  and  advantage  were  reserved  to  the 
see  of  Rome  ;  but  the  points  of  power  and  jurisdiction  were 
generally  given  up  to  the  princes.  The  temporal  authority 
has  by  that  means  prevailed  over  the  spiritual,  as  much  as 
the  spiritual  authority  had  prevailed  over  the  temporal  for 
several  ages  before.  Yet  the  pretence  of  a  general  council  is 
still  so  specious,  that  all  those  in  the  Roman  communion 
that  do  not  acknowledge  the  infallibility  of  their  popes,  do  still 
support  this  pretension,  that  the  infallibility  is  given  by  Christ 
to  his  church;  and  that  in  the  interval  of  councils  it  is  in  the 
community  of  the  bishops  and  pastors  of  the  church  ;  and  that 
when  a  council  meets,  then  the  infallibility  is  lodged  with  it ; 
AcUxVi    according  to  that,  ''It  seemed  good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 

28  tO  US.' 

The  first  thing  to  be  settled  in  every  question  is  the  mean- 


declared,  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  sessions  of  this  council,  by  two  deciees,  that  the 
Roman  pontiff  was  inferior  and  subject  to  a  general  assembly  of  the  universal 
church ;  and  the  authority  of  councils  was  vindicated  and  maintained  by  the  same 
decrees  in  the  most  effectual  manner.  This  vigorous  proceeding  prepared  the  way 
for  the  degradation  of  John  XXIII.,  who,  during  the  twelfth  session,  was  unani- 
mously deposed  from  the  pontificate  on  account  of  several  flagitious  crimes  that 
were  laid  to  his  charge,  and  more  especially  on  account  of  the  scandalous  violation 
of  a  solemn  engagement  he  had  taken,  about  the  beginning  of  the  council,  to  resign 
the  papal  chair  if  that  should  appear  necessary  to  the  peace  of  the  church ;  which 
engagement  he  broke  some  weeks  after,  by  a  clandestine  flight.  In  the  same  year 
(1415,1  Gregory  XII.  sent  to  the  council  Charles  de  Malatesta,  to  make  in  his 
name,  and  as  his  proxy,  a  solemn  and  voluntary  resignation  of  the  pontificate. 
About  two  years  after  this,  Benedict  XIII.  was  deposed  by  a  solemn  resolution  of 
the  council,  and  Otto  de  Colonna  raised,  by  the  unanimous  suffrages  of  the  cardinals, 
to  the  high  dignity  of  head  of  the  church,  which  he  ruled  under  the  title  of  Mar- 
tin V.  Benedict,  who  resided  still  at  Perpignan,  was  far  from  being  disposed  to 
submit  either  to  the  decree  of  the  council  which  deposed  him,  or  to  the  determina- 
tion of  the  cardinals,  with  respect  to  his  successor.  On  the  contrary,  he  persisted 
until  the  day  of  his  death,  which  happened  in  the  year  1423,  in  assuming  the  title, 
the  prerogatives,  and  the  authority,  of  the  papacy.  And  when  this  obstinate  man 
was  dead,  a  certain  Spaniard,  named  Giles  Munios,  was  chosen  pope  in  his  place, 
by  two  cardinals,  under  the  auspicious  patronage  of  Alphonsus  king  of  Sicily,  and 
adopted  the  title  of  Clement  VIII.  ;  but  this  sorry  pontiff,  in  the  year  1429,  was 
persuaded  to  resign  his  pretensions  to  the  papacy,  and  to  leave  the  government  of 
the  church  tc  Martin  V.  tfaftetM  [En.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  275 


ing  of  the  terms :  so  we  must  begin  and  examine  what  makes  A  R  T. 
a  general  council;  whether  all  the  bishops  must  be  present  in  XXI- 
person,  or  by  proxy?  And  what  share  the  laity,  or  the  princes  — 
that  are  thought  to  represent  their  people,  ought  to  have  in  a 
council  ?  It  is  next  to  be  considered,  whether  a  general  citation 
is  enough  to  make  a  council  general,  were  the  appearance  of 
the  bishops  ever  so  small  at  their  first  opening  ?  It  is  next  to 
be  considered,  whether  any  come  thither  and  sit  there  as  re- 
presenting others ;  and  if  votes  ought  to  be  reckoned  accord- 
ing to  the  numbers  of  the  bishops,  or  of  the  others  who  de- 
pute and  send  them  ?  And  whether  nations  ought  to  vote  in  a 
body  as  integral  parts  of  the  church ;  or  every  single  bishop 
by  himself?  And  finally,  whether  the  decisions  of  councils 
must  be  unanimous,  before  they  can  be  esteemed  infallible  ? 
or  whether  the  major  vote,  though  exceeding  only  by  one,  or 
if  some  greater  inequality  is  necessary  ;  such  as  two-thirds,  or 
any  other  proportion  ?  That  there  maybe  just  cause  of  raising 
scruples  upon  every  one  of  these,  is  apparent  at  first  view.  It 
is  certain,  a  bare  name  cannot  qualify  a  number  of  bishops 
sitting  together,  to  be  this  general  council.  The  number  of 
bishops  does  it  not  neither.  A  hundred  and  fifty  was  a  small 
number  at  Constantinople :  even  the  famous  three  hundred 
and  eighteen  at  Nice  were  far  exceeded  by  those  at  Arimini. 
All  the  first  general  councils  were  made  up  for  the  most  part 
of  eastern  bishops  ;  there  being  a  very  inconsiderable  number 
of  the  western  among  any  of  them ;  scarce  any  at  all  being  to 
be  found  in  some.  If  this  had  been  the  body  to  whom  Christ 
had  left  this  infallibility,  it  cannot  be  imagined  but  that  some 
definition  or  description  of  the  constitution  of  it  would  have 
been  given  us  in  the  scripture :  and  the  profound  silence  that 
is  about  it  gives  just  occasion  to  think,  that  how  wise  and  how 
good  soever  such  a  constitution  may  be,  if  well  pursued,  yet  it 
is  not  of  a  divine  institution;  otherwise  somewhat  concerning 
so  important  a  head  as  this  is  must  have  been  mentioned  in 
the  scripture. 

The  natural  idea  of  a  general  council,  is  a  meeting  of  all  the 
bishops  of  Christendom,  or  at  least  of  proxies  instructed  by 
them  and  their  clergy.  Now  if  any  will  stand  to  this  descrip- 
tion, then  we  are  very  sure  that  there  was  never  yet  a  true 
general  council ;  which  will  appear  to  every  one  that  reads  the 
subscriptions  of  the  councils.  Therefore  we  must  conclude, 
that  general  councils  are  not  constituted  by  a  divine  authority; 
since  we  have  no  direction  given  us  from  God,  by  which  we 
may  know  what  they  are,  and  what  is  necessary  to  their  con- 
stitution. And  we  cannot  suppose  that  God  has  granted  any 
privileges,  much  less  infallibility,  which  is  the  greatest  of  all, 
to  a  body  of  men,  of  whom,  or  of  whose  constitution,  he  has 
said  nothing  to  us.  For  suppose  we  should  yield  that  there 
were  an  infallibility  lodged  in  general  in  the  church  diffusive, 
so  that  the  church  in  some  part  or  other  shall  be  always  pre- 


276 


AX  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  served  from  error ;  yet  the  restraining  this  to  the  greater 
number  of  such  bishops  as  shall  happen  to  come  to  a  council, 
they  living  perhaps  near  it,  or  being  more  capable  and  more 
forward  to  undertake  a  journey,  being  healthier,  richer,  or  more 
active,  than  others ;  or,  which  is  as  probable,  because  it  has 
often  fallen  out,  they  being  picked  out  by  parties  or  princes  to 
carry  on  cabals,  and  manage  such  intrigues  as  may  be  on  foot 
at  the  council ;  the  restraining  the  infallibility,  I  say,  to  the 
greater  number  of  such  persons,  unless  there  is  a  divine  au- 
thority for  doing  it,  is  the  transferring  the  infallibility  from 
the  whole  body  to  a  select  number  of  persons,  who  of  them- 
selves are  the  least  likely  to  consent  to  the  engrossing  this 
privflege  to  the  majority  of  their  body,  it  being  their  interest 
to  maintain  their  right  to  it,  free  from  intrigue  or  management. 

We  need  not  wonder  if  such  things  have  happened  in  the 
latter  ages,  when  Xazianzen  laments  the  corruptions,  the  am- 
bition, and  the  contentions,  that  reigned  in  those  assemblies  in 
his  own  time ;  so  that  he  never  desired  to  see  any  more  of 
them.  He  was  not  only  present  at  one  of  the  general  coun- 
cils, but  he  himself  felt  the  effects  of  jealousy  and  violence 
in  it. 

Further,  it  will  appear  a  thing  incredible,  that  there  is  an 
infallibdity  in  councils  because  they  are  called  general,  and  are 
assembled  out  of  a  great  many  kingdoms  and  pro^  inces  :  Avhen 
we  see  them  go  backward  and  forward,  according  to  the  influ- 
ences of  courts,  and  of  interests  directed  from  thence.  We 
know  how  differently  counefls  decreed  in  the  Arian  controver- 
sies ;  and  what  a  variety  of  them  Constantius  set  up  against 
that  at  Xice.  So  it  was  in  the  Eutychian  heresy,  approved 
in  the  second  councd  at  Ephesus,  but  soon  after  condemned 
at  Chalcedon.  So  it  was  in  the  business  of  images,  con- 
demned at  Constantinople  in  the  east ;  but  soon  after  upon 
another  change  at  court  maintained  in  the  second  at  Xice ; 
and  not  long  after  condemned  in  a  very  numerous  councd  at 
Francfort.  And  in  the  point  in  hand,  as  to  the  authority  of 
councils,  it  was  asserted  at  Constance  and  Basil,  but  con- 
demned in  the  Lateran :  and  was  upon  the  matter  laid  aside 
at  Trent.  Here  were  great  numbers  of  all  hands ;  both  sides 
took  the  name  of  general  councils. 

It  will  be  a  further  prejudice  against  this,  if  we  see  great 
violence  and  disorders  entering  into  the  management  of  some 
councils ;  and  craft  and  artifice  into  the  conduct  of  others. 
Xumbers  of  factious  and  furious  monks  came  to  some  councils, 
and  drove  on  matters  bv  their  clamours;  so  it  was  at  Ephesus. 
We  see  gross  fraud  in  the  second  at  Xice,  both  in  the  persons 
set  up  to  represent  the  absent  patriarchs,  and  in  the  bocks 
and  authorities  that  were  vouched  for  the  worship  of  images. 
The  intrigues  at  Trent,  as  they  are  set  out  even  by  cardinal 
Pallavicini,  were  more  subrile,  but  not  less  apparent,  nor  less 
scandalous.    Xothing  was  trusted  to  a  session,  tiU  it  was  first 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


277 


canvassed  in  congregations  ;  which  were  what  a  committee  of  ART. 
the  whole  house  is  in  our  parliaments;  and  then  every  man's  XXI* 
vote  was  known;  so  that  there  was  hereby  great  occasion  given 
for  practice.  This  alone,  if  there  had  been  no  more,  shewed 
plainly  that  they  themselves  knew  they  were  not  guided  by 
the  Spirit  of  God,  or  by  infallibility ;  since  a  session  was  not 
thought  safe  to  be  ventured  on,  but  after  a  long  previous  can- 
vassing. 

Another  question  remains  yet  to  be  cleared,  concerning 
their  manner  of  proceeding;  whether  the  infallibility  is  affixed 
to  their  vote,  whatsoever  their  proceedings  may  be?  or  whether 
they  are  bound  to  discuss  matters  fully?  The  first  cannot  be 
said,  unless  it  is  pretended  that  they  vote  by  a  special  inspi- 
ration. If  the  second  is  allowed,  then  we  must  examine 
both  what  makes  a  full  discussion ;  and  whether  they  have 
made  it  ? 

If  we  find  opinions  falsely  represented;  if  books  that  are 
spurious  have  been  relied  on ;  if  passages  of  scripture,  or  of 
the  fathers,  on  which  it  appears  the  stress  of  the  decision  has 
turned,  have  been  manifestly  misunderstood  and  wrested,  so 
that  in  a  more  enlightened  age  no  person  pretends  to  justify 
tiie  authority  that  determined  them,  can  we  imagine  that  there 
should  be  more  truth  in  their  conclusions,  than  we  do  plainly 
see  was  in  the  premises  out  of  which  they  were  drawn  ?  So 
it  must  either  be  said,  that  they  vote  by  an  immediate  inspi- 
ration, or  all  persons  cannot  be  bound  to  submit  to  their 
judgment  till  they  have  examined  their  methods  of  proceeding, 
and  the  grounds  on  which  they  went :  and  when  all  is  done, 
the  question  comes,  concerning  the  authority  of  such  decrees 
after  they  are  made ;  whether  it  follows  immediately  upon 
their  being  made,  or  must  stay  for  the  confirmatory  bulls  ?  If 
it  must  stay  for  the  bull,  then  the  infallibility  is  not  in  the 
council:  and  that  is  only  a  more  solemn  way  of  preparing 
matters  in  order  to  the  laying  them  before  the  pope.  If  they 
are  infallible  before  the  confirmation,  then  the  infallibility  is 
wholly  in  the  council;  and  the  subsequent  bull  does,  instead  of 
confirming  their  decrees,  derogate  much  from  them:  for  to  pre- 
tend to  confirm  them,  imports  that  they  wanted  that  addition  of 
authority,  which  destroys  the  supposition  of  their  infallibility, 
since  what  is  infallible  cannot  be  made  stronger;  and  the  pre- 
tending to  add  strength  to  it,  implies  that  it  is  not  infallible. 
Human  constitutions  may  be  indeed  so  modelled,  that  there 
must  be  a  joint  concurrence  before  a  law  can  be  made:  and 
though  it  is  the  last  consent  that  settles  the  law,  yet  the  pre- 
vious consents  were  necessary  stej)s  to  the  giving  it  the  autho- 
rity of  a  law. 

And  thus  it  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  that,  as  to  the  matters 
of  government,  the  church  may  cast  herself  into  such  a  model, 
that  as  by  a  decree  of  the  council  of  Nice  the  bishops  of  a  pro- 
vince might  conclude  nothing  without  the  consent  of  the 


278 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  metropolitan;  so  another  decree  might  even  limit  a  general 
XX1"  council  to  stay  for  the  consent  of  one  or  more  patriarchs. 
But  this  must  only  take  place  in  matters  of  order  and  govern- 
ment, which  are  left  to  the  disposal  of  the  church,  but  not  in 
decisions  about  matters  of  faith.  For  if  there  is  an  infallibility 
in  the  church,  it  must  be  derived  from  a  special  grant  made 
by  Christ  to  his  church :  and  it  must  go  according  to  the 
nature  of  that  grant,  unless  it  can  be  pretended  that  there  is  a 
clause  in  that  grant,  empowering  the  church  to  dispose  of  it, 
and  model  it  at  pleasure.  For  if  there  is  no  such  power,  as 
it  is  plain  there  is  not,  then  Christ's  grant  is  either  to  a  single 
person,  or  to  the  whole  community  :  if  to  a  single  person,  then 
the  infallibility  is  wholly  in  him,  and  he  is  to  manage  it  as  he 
thinks  best :  for  if  he  calls  a  council,  it  is  only  an  act  of  his  hu- 
mility and  condescension, to  hear  the  opinions  of  many  in  differ- 
ent corners  of  the  church,  that  so  he  may  know  all  that  comes 
from  all  quarters :  it  may  also  seem  a  prudent  way  to  make 
his  authority  to  be  the  more  easily  borne  and  submitted  to, 
since  what  is  gently  managed  is  best  obeyed :  but  after  all, 
these  are  only  prudential  and  discreet  methods.  The  infalli- 
bility must  be  only  in  bim,  if  Christ  has  by  the  grant  tied  him 
to  such  a  succession.  Whereas  on  the  other  hand,  if  the  in- 
fallibility is  granted  to  the  whole  community,  or  to  their  repre- 
sentatives, then  all  the  applications  that  they  may  make  to  any 
one  see  must  only  be  in  order  to  the  execution  of  their  decrees, 
like  the  addresses  that  they  make  to  princes  for  the  civil  sanc- 
tion. But  still  the  infallibility  is  where  Christ  put  it.  It  rests 
wholly  in  their  decision,  and  belongs  only  to  that :  and  any 
other  confirmation  that  they  desire,  unless  it  be  restrained 
singly  to  the  execution  of  their  decrees,  is  a  wound  given  by 
themselves  to  their  own  infallibility,  if  not  a  direct  disclaim- 
ing of  it. 

When  the  confirmation  of  the  council  is  over,  a  new  diffi- 
culty arises  concerning  the  receiving  the  decrees :  and  here 
it  may  be  said,  that  if  Christ's  grant  is  to  the  whole  commu- 
nity, so  that  a  council  is  only  the  authentical  declarer  of  the 
tradition,  the  whole  body  of  the  church  that  is  possessed  of 
the  tradition,  and  conveys  it  down,  must  have  a  right  to  exa- 
mine the  decision  that  the  council  has  made,  and  so  is  not 
bound  to  receive  it,  but  as  it  finds  it  to  be  conformable  to 
tradition. 

Here  it  is  to  be  supposed,  that  every  bishop,  or  at  the  least 
i  all  the  bishops  of  any  national  church,  know  best  the  tradi- 

tion of  their  own  church  and  nation :  and  so  they  will  have  a 
right  to  re-examine  things  after  they  have  been  adjudged  in  a 
general  council. 

This  will  entirely  destroy  the  whole  pretension  to  infallibi- 
lity :  and  yet  either  this  ought  to  have  been  done  after  the 
councils  at  Arimini,  or  the  second  of  Ephesus,  or  else  the 
world  must  have  received  semi-Arianism,  or  Eutychianisrrij 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  2^9 

implicitly  from  them.  It  is  also  no  small  prejudice  against  A  R  T. 
this  opinion,  that  the  church  was  constituted,  the  scriptures  x  x 
were  received,  many  heresies  were  rejected,  and  the  persecu- 
tions were  gone  through,  in  a  course  of  three  centuries;  in  all 
which  time  there  was  nothing  that  could  pretend  to  he  called 
a  general  council.  And  when  the  ages  came,  in  which  coun- 
cils met  often,  neither  the  councils  themselves,  who  must  be 
supposed  to  understand  their  own  authority  best,  nor  those 
who  wrote  in  defence  of  their  decrees,  who  must  be  supposed 
to  be  inclined  enough  to  magnify  their  authority,  being  of  the 
same  side ;  neither  of  these,  I  say,  ever  pretended  to  argue  for 
their  opinions,  from  the  infallibility  of  those  councils  that  de- 
creed them. 

They  do  indeed  speak  of  them  with  great  respect,  as  of 
bodies  of  men  that  were  guided  by  the  Spirit  of  God :  and 
so  do  we  of  our  reformers,  and  of  those  who  prepared  our 
Liturgy :  but  we  do  not  ascribe  infallibility  to  them,  and  no 
more  did  thev.  Nor  did  they  lay  the  stress  of  their  argu- 
ments upon  the  authority  of  such  decisions ;  they  knew  that 
the  objection  might  have  been  made  as  strong  against  them, 
as  they  could  put  the  argument  for  them ;  and  therefore  they 
offered  to  wave  the  point,  and  to  appeal  to  the  scripture,  set- 
ting aside  the  definitions  that  had  been  made  in  councils  both 
ways. 

To  conclude  this  argument. 

If  the  infallibility  is  supposed  to  be  in  councils,  then  the 
church  may  justly  apprehend  that  she  has  lost  it :  for  as  there 
has  been  no  council  that  has  pretended  to  that  title,  now  during 
one  hundred  and  thirty  years,  so  there  is  no  great  probability 
of  our  ever  seeing  another.  The  charge  and  noise,  the  expecta- 
tions and  disappointments,  of  that  at  Trent,  has  taught  the 
world  to  expect  nothing  from  one :  they  plainly  see  that  the 
management  from  Home  must  carry  every  thing  in  a  council: 
neither  princes  nor  people,  no  nor  the  bishops  themselves, 
desire  or  expect  to  see  one. 

The  claim  set  up  at  Rome  for  infallibility  makes  the  de- 
mand of  one  seem  not  only  needless  there,  but  to  imply  a 
doubting  of  their  authority,  when  other  methods  are  looked 
after,  which  will  certainly  be  always  unacceptable  to  those 
who  are  in  possession,  and  act  as  if  they  were  infallible :  nor 
can  it  be  apprehended,  that  they  will  desire  a  council  to  re- 
form those  abuses  in  discipline,  which  are  all  occasioned  by 
that  absolute  and  universal  authority  of  which  they  are  now 
possessed. 

So  by  all  the  judgments  that  can  be  made  from  the  state 
of  things,  from  the  interests  of  men,  and  the  last  manage- 
ment at  Trent,  one  may  without  a  spirit  of  prophecy  con- 
clude, that,  unless  Christendom  puts  on  a  new  face,  there 
will  be  no  more  general  councils.    And  so  here  infallibility 


280 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.    is  at  an  end,  and  has  left  the  church  at  least  for  a  very  long 
XXI-  interval. 

It  remains  that  those  passages  should  be  considered  that 
Matt.xviii.  are  brought  to  support  this  authority.  Christ  says,  'Tell  the 
church ;  and  if  he  neglects  to  hear  the  church,  let  him  be  unto 
thee  as  a  heathen  man,  and  a  publican.' 

These  words  in  themselves,  and  separated  from  all  that 
went  before,  seem  to  speak  this  matter  very  fully :  but  when 
the  occasion  of  them,  and  the  matter  that  is  treated  of  in 
them,  are  considered,  nothing  can  be  plainer  than  that  our 
Saviour  is  speaking  of  such  private  differences  as  may  arise 
among  men,  and  of  the  practice  of  forgiving  injuries,  and  com- 
posing their  differences.  '  If  thy  brother  sin  against  thee ;' 
first,  private  endeavours  were  to  be  used :  then  the  interposi- 
tion of  friends  was  to  be  tried ;  and  finally,  the  matter  was  to 
be  referred  to  the  body,  or  assembly,  to  which  they  belonged : 
and  those  who  could  not  be  gained  by  such  methods,  were  no 
more  to  be  esteemed  brethren,  but  were,  to  be  looked  on  as 
very  bad  men,  like  heathens.  They  might  upon  such  refrac- 
toriness be  excommunicated,  and  prosecuted  afterwards  in 
temporal  courts,  since  they  had  by  their  perverseness  forfeited 
all  sort  of  right  to  that  tenderness  and  charity  that  is  due  to 
true  Christians. 

This  exposition  does  so  fully  agree  to  the  occasion  and 
scope  of  these  words,  that  there  is  no  colour  of  reason  to  carry 
them  further.* 

The  character  given  to  the  church  of  Ephesus,  in  St. 
l  Tim.  iii.  Paul's  Epistle  to  Timothy,  that  it  was  '  the  pillar  and  ground 
15-         of  truth,'  is  a  figurative  expression :  and  it  is  never  safe  to 

build  upon  metaphors,  much  less  to  lay  much  weight  upon 

them. 

The  Jews  described  their  synagogues  by  such  honourable 
characters,  in  which  it  is  known  how  profuse  all  the  eastern 
nations  are.  These  are  by  St.  Paul  applied  to  the  church  of 
Ephesus :  for  he  there  speaks  of  the  church  where  Timothy 
was  then,  in  which  he  instructs  him  to  behave  himself  well. 
It  has  visibly  a  relation  to  those  inscriptions  that  were  made 
on  pillars  which  rested  upon  firm  pedestals :  but  whatsoever 
the  strict  importance  of  the  metaphor  may  be,  it  is  a  meta- 
phor, and  therefore  it  can  be  no  argument.  Christ's  promise 
John  xvi.  of  the  Spirit  to  his  apostles,  that  should  '  lead  them  into  all 

*  '  But  the  command  to  tell  the  offence  of  our  private  brother  is  not  a  command 
to  tell  it  to  the  church  catholic  met  in  council  ;  for  then  this  precept  could  not 
have  been  obeyed  for  the  first  three  centuries,  no  such  council  ever  meeting  till  the 
time  of  Constantine.  Then,  secondly,  the  church  must  always  be  assembled  in 
such  a  council,  because  doubtless  there  are,  and  will  be  always,  persons  thu3 
oifending  against  their  Christian  brethren.  And  thirdly,  then  every  private  person 
must  be  obliged,  at  what  distance  soever  he  be  from  it,  and  how  unable  soever  he 
may  be  to  do  so,  to  travel  to  this  council,  and  lay  his  private  grievance  before 
them:  all  which  are  palpable  absurdities.'  Whitby. — [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


281 


truth/  relates  visibly  to  that  extraordinary  inspiration  hy  which  ART. 
they  were  to  be  acted,  and  that  was,  '  to  shew  them  things  to  XX1- 
come ;'  so  that  a  succession  of  prophecy  may  be  inferred  from 
these  words,  as  well  as  of  infallibility. 

Those  words  of  our  Saviour,  with  which  St.  Matthew  con-  Mat.xxviii. 
eludes  his  Gospel,  '  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even  to  the  20, 
end  of  the  world,'  infer  no  infallibility,  but  only  a  promise 
of  assistance  and  protection :  which  was  a  necessary  encou- 
ragement to  the  apostles,  when  they  were  sent  upon  so  labo- 
rious a  commission,  that  was  to  involve  them  in  so  much 
danger.    God's  'being with  any,'  his  'walking  with  them/  his  ^6Cor-  vi" 
'  being  in  the  midst  of  them/  his  'never  leaving  nor  forsaking  {le'b-  xiii_ 
them/  are  expressions  often  used  in  the  scripture,  which  5. 
signify  no  more  but  God's  watchful  providence,  guiding,  sup- 
porting, and  protecting  his  people :  all  this  is  far  from  infalli- 
bility. 

The  last  objection  to  be  proposed  is  that  which  seems  to 
relate  most  to  the  point  in  hand,  taken  from  the  decree  made 
by  a  council  at  Jerusalem,  which  begins,  '  It  seemed  good  to  A^ets  xv- 
the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  us  :'  from  which  they  infer,  that  the 
Holy  Ghost  is  present  with  councils,  and  that  what  seems 
good  to  them  is  also  approved  by  the  Holy  Ghost.  But  it 
will  not  be  easy  to  prove  that  this  was  such  a  council,  as  to  be 
a  pattern  to  succeeding  ones  to  copy  after  it.  We  find  bre- 
thren are  here  joined  with  the  apostles  themselves  :  now  since 
these  were  no  other  than  the  laity,  here  an  inference  will  be 
made,  that  will  not  easily  go  down.  If  they  sat  and  voted 
with  the  apostles,  it  will  seem  strange  to  deny  them  the  same 
privilege  among  bishops.  By  elders  here  it  seems  presbyters 
are  meant,  and  this  will  give  them  an  entrance  into  a  general 
council,  out  of  which  they  cannot  be  well  excluded,  if  the  laity 
are  admitted.  But  here  was  no  citation,  no  time  given  to  all 
churches  to  send  their  bishops  or  proxies :  it  was  an  occasional 
meeting  of  such  of  the  apostles  as  happened  to  be  then  at  Je- 
rusalem, who  called  to  them  the  elders  or  presbyters,  and  other 
Christians  at  Jerusalem:  for  the  Holy  Ghost  was  then  poured 
out  so  plentifully  on  so  many,  that  no  wonder  if  there  were 
then  about  that  truly  mother  church  a  great  many  of  both 
sorts,  who  were  of  such  eminence,  that  the  apostles  might 
desire  them  to  meet  and  to  join  with  them. 

The  apostles  were  divinely  assisted  in  the  delivering  that 
commission  wh;ch  our  Saviour  gave  them  in  charge,  '  To  Mart  xvi. 
preach  to  every  creature  ;'  and  so  were  infallibly  assisted  in  j5£or  v» 
the  executing  of  it:  yet  when  other  matters  fell  in,  which  were  6,  12. 
no  parts  of  that  commission,  they,  no  doubt,  did  as  St.  Paul, 
who  sometimes  writ  by  permission,  as  well  as  at  other  times 
by  commandment :  of  which  he  gives  notice,  by  saying,  '  It  is 
I,  and  not  the  Lord :'  he  suggested  advices,  which  to  him, 
according  to  his  prudence  and  experience,  seemed  to  be  well 


282 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  founded;  and  he  offered  them  with  great  sincerity;  for  though 
XXI-    he  had  some  reason  to  think  that  what  he  proposed,  flowed 

yer>  40i  from  the  '  Spirit  of  the  Lord,'  from  that  inspiration  that  was 
acting  him  ;  yet  because  that  did  not  appear  distinctly  to  him, 

Ver.  25.  he  speaks  with  reserves,  and  says,  he  '  gives  his  judgment  as 
one  that  had  obtained  mercy  of  the  Lord  to  be  faithful.'  So 
the  apostles  here,  receiving  no  inspiration  to  direct  them  in 
this  case,  but  observing  well  what  St.  Peter  put  them  in  mind 
of,  concerning  God's  sending  him  by  a  special  vision  to  preach 
to  the  Gentiles,  and  that  God  had  poured  out  the  Holy  Ghost 
on  them,  even  as  he  had  done  upon  the  apostles,  who  were 

Acts  xv.  9.  Jews  by  nature,  and  that  '  he  did  put  no  difference  in  that 
between  Jews  and  Gentiles,  purifying  the  hearts  of  the  Gen- 
tiles by  faith  i  they  upon  this  did  by  their  judgment  conclude 
from  thence,  that  what  God  had  done  in  the  particular  instance 
of  Cornelius,  was  now  to  be  extended  to  all  the  Gentiles.  So 
by  this  we  see  that  those  words,  ' seemed  good  to  the  Holy 
Ghost,'  relate  to  the  case  of  Cornelius ;  and  those  words, 
e  seemed  good  to  us,'  import  that  they  resolved  to  extend  that 
to  be  a  general  rule  to  all  the  Gentiles. 

This  gives  the  words  a  clear  and  distinct  sense,  which 
agrees  with  all  that  had  gone  before ;  whereas  it  will  other- 
wise look  very  strange  to  see  them  add  their  authority  to 
that  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  which  is  too  absurd  to  suppose : 
nor  will  it  be  easy  to  give  any  other  consisting  sense  to  these 
words. 

Here  is  no  precedent  of  a  council,  much  less  of  a  general 
one :  but  a  decision  is  made  by  men  that  were  in  other  things 
divinely  inspired,  which  can  have  no  relation  to  the  judgments 
of  other  councils.  And  thus  it  appears  that  none  of  those 
places,  which  are  brought  to  prove  the  infallibility  of  councils, 
come  up  to  the  point :  for  so  great  and  so  important  a  matter 
as  this  is,  must  be  supposed  to  be  either  expressly  declared  in 
the  scriptures,  or  not  at  all. 

The  Article  affirming,  that  some  general  councils  have  erred, 
must  be  understood  of  councfls  that  pass  for  such ;  and  that 
mav  be  called  general  councils,  much  better  than  many  others 
that  go  by  that  name  :  for  that  at  Arimini  was  both  very  nu- 
merous, and  was  drawn  out  of  many  different  provinces.  As 
to  the  strict  notion  of  a  general  council,  there  is  great  reason 
to  believe  that  there  was  never  any  assembly  to  which  it  will 
be  found  to  agree.  And  for  the  four  general  councils,  which 
this  church  declares  she  receives,  they  are  received  only 
because  we  are  persuaded  from  the  scriptures  that  their  deci- 
sions were  made  according  to  them :  that  the  Son  is  truly 
God,  of  the  same  substance  with  the  Father.  That  the  Holy 
Ghost  is  also  truly  God.  That  the  divine  nature  was  truly 
united  to  the  human  in  Christ;  and  that  in  one  person.  That 
both  natures  remained  distinct;  and  that  the  human  nature 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


283 


was  not  swallowed  up  of  the  divine.  These  truths  we  find  in  ART. 
the  scriptures,  and  therefore  we  believe  them.  We  reverence  XX1, 
those  councils  for  the  sake  of  their  doctrine;  but  do  not  believe 
the  doctrine  for  the  authority  of  the  councils.  There  appeared 
too  much  of  human  frailty  in  some  of  their  other  proceedings, 
to  give  us  such  an  implicit  submission  to  them,  as  to  believe 
things  only  because  they  so  decided  them. 


2S4 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART 

XXII. 


ARTICLE  XXII. 
Of  Purgatory. 

Che  Romish  Doctrine  concerning  }3uvgaton>,  33arTjons',  IHorsljip* 
ping  ana  Violation,  as  Lurll  of  {-mages'  as  of  iirltras,  anil  also 
invocation  of  j?aints,  is  a  font)  thing,  faatnln  inucntco  anti 
grountu'o  upon  no  Warrant  of  Scripture,  but  rather  repugnant 
to  the  ciloio  of  €>oi. 

There  are  two  small  variations  in  this  Article,  from  that 
published  in  king  Edward's  reign.  What  is  here  called  the 
Romish  doctrine,  is  there  called  the  doctrine  of  schoolmen. 
The  plain  reason  of  this  is,  that  these  errors  were  not  so  fully 
espoused  bv  the  body  of  the  Roman  church,  when  those  Arti- 
cles were  first  pubUshed,  so  that  some  writers  that  softened 
matters  threw  them  upon  the  schoolmen  ;  and  therefore  the 
Article  was  cautiously  worded,  in  laying  them  there :  but  before 
these  that  we  have  now  were  pubUshed,  the  decree  and  canons 
concerning  the  mass  had  passed  at  Trent,  in  which  most  of 
the  heads  of  this  Article  are  either  affirmed  or  supposed; 
thuugh  the  formal  decree  concerning  them  was  made  some 
months  after  these  Articles  were  published.*    This  will  serve 

*  This  point  deserves  serious  attention.  Many  of  those  articles  against  which  we 
protest  are  so  far  from  being  Catholic  doctrines,  that  they  were  not  defined,  and  there- 
fore not  universally  received  even  in  the  papal  church  until  after  the  Reformation. 
This  fact  the  champions  of  popery  cannot  deny.  This  subject  is  discussed  by  Stil- 
lingfleet  with  ereat  ability  in  his  '  Reformation  of  the  Church  of  England  justified," 
in  which  he  tiijs  notices  the  assertion  that  we  have  rejected  catholic  truth  : — '  Ac- 
cording to  your  principles  that  which  differenceth  a  catholic  doctrine  from  a  par- 
ticular opinion,  is  the  church's  definition ;  before  then  the  church  had  passed  a 
definition  in  these  points,  they  could  not  be  held  as  catholic  doctrines.  To  make 
this  somewhat  clearer,  because  it  is  necessary  for  undeceiving  those  who  are  told, 
as  you  tell  us  here,  that  at  the  Reformation  we  rejected  such  things  which  were 
universallv  owned  for  catholic  doctrines,  which  is  so  far  from  being  true,  that  it  is 
impossible  they  should  be  owned  for  such  by  the  church  of  Rome  upon  your  own 
principles.  For,  I  pray,  tell  us,  are  there  not  several  sorts  of  opinions  among  you 
at  this  dav,  none  of  which  are  pretended  to  be  catholic  doctrines  ?  and  this  you  con- 
stantly tell  us,  when  we  object  to  you  your  dissensions  about  them.  As  for  instance, 
the  pope's  personal  infallibility,  the  superiority  of  popes  over  general  councils,  the 
immaculate  conception  of  the  blessed  Virgin,  the  disputes  about  predestination,  &c. 
^"hen  we  tell  you  of  your  differences  in  these  points,  you  answer,  that  these  hinder  not 
the  unity  of  the  church,  because  these  are  only  in  matters  of  opinion ;  and  that  it  is 
not  de  fiat  that  men  should  hold  either  way.  When  we  demand  the  reason  of  this 
difference  concerning  these  things,  your  answer  is,  that  the  church  hath  defined 
some  things  to  be  believed,  and  not  others ;  that  what  the  church  hath  defined,  is 
to  be  looked  on  as  catholic  doctrine,  and  the  deniers  of  it  are  guilty  of  heresy  ;  but 
where  the  church  hath  not  defined,  those  are  not  catholic  doctrines,  but  only  at 
best  but  pious  opinions,  and  men  may  be  good  catholics  and  yet  differ  about  them. 
I  pray,  tell  me,  is  this  your  doctrine  or  is  it  not  ?  If  not,  there  may  be  heretics 
within  your  church,  as  well  as  without.  If  it  be  your  doctrine,  apply  it  to  the  mat- 
ters in  hand.  Were  these  things  defined  by  the  church  at  the  beginning  of  the 
Reformation  ?    If  they  were,  produce  those  definitions  for  all  those  things  which 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


285 


to  justify  that  diversity.    The  second  difference  is  only  the   A  R  T. 
leaving  out  of  a  severe  word.    Perniciously  repugnant  to  the  x^n. 
word  of  God,  was  put  at  first;  hut  perniciously  being  considered  — 
to  he  only  a  hard  word,  they  judged  very  right  in  the  second 
edition  of  them,  that  it  was  enough  to  say  repugnant  to  the 
ivord  of  God. 

There  are  in  this  Article  five  particulars,  that  are  all  ingre- 
dients in  the  doctrine  and  worship  of  the  church  of  Rome ; 
purgatory,  pardons,  the  worship  of  images,  and  of  relics,  and 
the  invocation  of  saints ;  that  are  rejected  not  only  as  ill- 
grounded,  brought  in  and  maintained  without  good  warrants 
from  the  scripture,  but  as  contrary  to  it. 

The  first  of  these  is  purgatory ;  concerning  which,  the  doc- 
trine of  the  church  of  Rome  is,  that  every  man  is  liable  both 
to  temporal  and  to  eternal  punishment  for  his  sins;  that  God, 
upon  the  account  of  the  death  and  intercession  of  Christ,  does 
indeed  pardon  sin  as  to  its  eternal  punishment;  but  the  sinner 
is  still  liable  to  temporal  punishment,  which  he  must  expiate 
by  acts  of  penance  and  sorrow  in  this  world,  together  with 
such  other  sufferings  as  God  shall  think  fit  to  lay  upon  him : 
hut  if  he  does  not  expiate  these  in  this  life,  there  is  a  state  of 
suffering  and  misery  in  the  next  world,  where  the  soul  is  to 
bear  the  temporal  punishment  of  its  sins;  which  may  continue 
longer  or  shorter,  till  the  day  of  judgment.  And  in  order  to 
the  shortening  this,  the  prayers  and  supererogations  of  men 
here  on  earth,  or  the  intercession  of  the  saints  in  heaven,  but 
above  all  things,  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass,  are  of  great  efficacy. 
This  is  the  doctrine  of  the  church  of  Rome,  asserted  in  the 
councils  of  Florence  and  Trent.*  What  has  been  taught  among 

you  say  were  owned  as  catholic  doctrines  then  ;  that  we  may  see,  that  at  least  in  the 
judgment  of  your  church  they  were  accounted  so.  Tell  us,  when  and  where  those 
doctrines  were  defined  before  the  Council  of  Trent  ?  and,  I  hope  you  will  not  say, 
that  was  before  the  beginning  of  the  Reformation.  If  then  there  were  no  such 
definitions  concerning  them,  they  could  not  by  your  church  be  accounted  as  catholic 
doctrines  ;  at  the  most,  they  could  be  but  only  pious  opinions,  as  that  of  the  pope's 
infallibility  among  you  is,  and  consequently  men  might  be  catholics  still,  though 
they  disputed  or  denied  them.  And  how  then  come  the  Protestants  to  be  ac- 
counted heretics  in  their  reformation,  if,  upon  your  own  principles,  those  things 
which  they  denied  were  then  no  catholic  doctrines  ?' — [Ed.] 

*  The  council  of  Florence  decreed,  '  That  if  true  penitents  depart  in  the  love  of 
God,  before  they  have  satisfied  for  their  sins  of  omission,  or  commission,  by  fruits 
of  repentance,  their  souls  go  to  purgatory  to  be  purged.'  The  council  of  Trent 
has  thus  decreed  concerning  this  doctrine  : — 

'  Decretum  de  purgatorio. 

'  Cum  catholica  ecclesia,  spiritu  sancto  edocta,  ex  sacris  litteris,  et  antiqua 
patrum  traditione,  in  sacris  conciliis,  et  novissime  in  hac  cecumcnica  synodo  docu- 
erit,  purgatorium  esse  ;  animasque  ibi  detentas,  fidelium  suffragiis,  potissimum  vero 
acceptabili  altaris  sacrificio  juvari ;  praecipit  sancta  synodus  episcopis,  ut  sanam  de 
purgatorio  doctrinam,  a  Sanctis  patribus  et  sacris  conciliis  traditam,  a  Christi 
fidehbus  credi,  teneri,  doceri,  et  ubique  praedieari  diligenter  studeant.  Apud 
rudem  vero  plebem  difficiliores  ac  subtihores  quaestiones,  quacque  ad  aedificationtm 
non  faciunt,  et  ex  quibus  plerumque  nulla  fit  pietatis  accessio,  a  popularibus  con- 
cionibus  secludantur.  Incerta  item,  vel  quae  specie  falsi  laborant,  evulgari  ac  trao 
tari  non  permittant.  Ea  vero  quae  ad  curiositatem  quamdam  aut  superstitionem 
spectant,  vel  turpe  lucrum  sapiunt,  tanquam  scandala  et  fidelium  offendicula  pro- 
hibeant.    Curent  autem  episcopi  ut  fidelium  vivorum  suffragia,  missarum  scilicet 


286 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  them  concerning  the  nature  and  the  degrees  of  those  torments, 
XX11,  though  supported  by  many  pretended  apparitions  and  revela- 
tions, is  not  to  be  imputed  to  the  whole  body;  and  is  indeed 
only  the  doctrine  of  schoolmen,  though  it  is  generally  preached 
and  infused  into  the  consciences  of  the  people.  Therefore  I 
shall  only  examine  that  which  is  the  established  doctrine  of 
the  whole  Roman  church.  And  first  as  to  the  foundation  of 
it,  that  sins  are  only  pardoned,  as  to  their  eternal  punishment, 
Rom. v.  l.  to  those  'who  being  justified  by  faith  have  peace  with  God 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ:'  there  is  not  a  colour  for  it  in 
the  scriptures.  Remission  of  sins  is  in  general  that  with  which 
the  preaching  of  the  gospel  ought  always  to  begin;  and  this  is 
so  often  repeated,  without  any  such  reserve,  that  it  is  a  high 
assuming  upon  God,  and  his  attributes  of  goodness  and  mercy, 
to  limit  these  when  he  has  not  limited  them ;  but  has  ex- 
pressly said,  that  this  is  a  main  part  of  the  new  covenant,  that 
Jer.  xxxi.  '  he  will  remember  our  sins  and  iniquities  no  more.'  Now  it 
Heb  viii  seems  t°  be  a  maxim,  not  only  of  the  law  of  nations,  but  of 
12.  nature,  that  all  offers  of  pardon  are  to  be  understood  in  the 
full  extent  of  the  words,  without  any  secret  reserves  or  limita- 
tions ;  unless  they  are  plainly  expressed.  An  indemnity  being 
offered  by  a  prince  to  persuade  his  subjects  to  return  to  their 
obedience,  in  the  fullest  words  possible,  without  any  reserves 
made  in  it,  it  would  be  looked  on  as  a  very  perfidious  thing, 
if  when  the  subjects  come  in  upon  it,  trusting  to  it,  they  should 
be  told  that  they  were  to  be  secured  by  it  against  capital  pu- 
nishments; but  that,  as  to  all  inferior  punishments,  they  were 
still  at  mercy.  We  do  not  dispute  whether  God,  if  he  had 
thought  fit  so  to  do,  might  not  have  made  this  distinction  ; 
nor  do  we  deny  that  the  grace  of  the  gospel  had  been  infinitely 
valuable,  if  it  had  offered  us  only  the  pardon  of  sin  with  rela- 
tion to  its  eternal  punishment,  and  had  left  the  temporal  pu- 
nishment on  us,  to  be  expiated  by  ourselves.  But  then  we  say, 
this  ought  to  have  been  expressed :  the  distinction  ought  to 
have  been  made  between  temporal  and  eternal:  and  we  ought 
not  to  have  been  drawn  into  a  covenant  with  God,  by  words 
that  do  plainly  import  an  entire  pardon  and  oblivion,  upon 
which  there  lay  a  limited  sense  that  was  not  to  be  told  the 

sacrificia,  orationes,  eleemosynae,  aliaque  pietatis  opera,  qua?  a  fidelibus  pro  aliis 
fidelibus  defunctis  fieri  consuverunt,  secundum  ecclesiae  instituta  pie  et  devote 
fiant ;  et  qua  pro  illis  ex  testatorum  fundationibus,  vel  alia  ratione  debentur,  non 
perfunctorie,  sed  a  sacerdotibus,  et  ecclesiae  ministris,  et  aliis,  qui  hoc  praestare 
tenentur,  diligenter  et  accurate  persolvantur.' — Sessio  xxv. 

We  see  from  the  above  how  careful  the  council  was  not  to  entangle  itself  in  the 
dispute  respecting  the  nature  of  purgatory ;  the  decree  simply  stating  that  there 
is  such  a  place.  Equally  vague  is  the  article  in  the  creed  of  pope  Pius  IV.  on  this 
subject.  The  catechism  of  the  council  of  Trent  made,  however,  a  bolder  step, 
and  has  informed  us  that  purgatory  is  a  fire  in  which  the  souls  of  the  faithful  are 
tormented. 

'  Praeterea  est  purgatorius  ignis,  quo  piorum  animae  ad  definitum  tempus  cru- 
ciatae,  expiantur  ut  eis  in  aeternam  patriam  ingressus  patere  possit,  in  quam  nihil 
coinquinatum  ingreditur.'  Cat.  ad  Par.  De  Symbolo.  Art.  descend'*  ad  inferos. 
— [Ed.1 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


287 


world  till  it  was  once  well  engaged  in  the  Christian  religion.  ART. 
Upon  these  reasons  it  is  that  we  conclude,  that  this  doctrine  xxlt> 
not  heing  contained  in  the  scriptures,  is  not  only  without  any 
warrant  in  them,  but  that  it  is  contrary  to  those  full  offers 
of  mercy,  peace,  and  oblivion,  that  are  made  in  the  gospel ; 
it  is  contrary  to  the  truth  and  veracity,  and  to  che  justice  and 
goodness  of  God,  to  affirm  that  there  are  reserves  to  be  un- 
derstood for  punishments,  when  the  offers  and  promises  are 
made  to  us  in  such  large  and  unlimited  expressions. 

Thus  we  lay  our  foundation  in  this  matter,  which  does  very 
fully  overthrow  theirs.  We  do  not  deny  but  that  God  does 
in  this  world  punish  good  men  for  those  sins,  which  yet  are 
forgiven  them  through  Christ,  according  to  those  words  in  the 
Psalm,  'Thou  wast  a  God  that  forgavest  them,  though  thou  Ps.xcix.8. 
tookest  vengeance  of  their  inventions  :'  but  this  is  a  considera- 
tion quite  of  another  nature.  God,  in  the  government  of  this 
wcrld,  thinks  fit,  by  his  Providence,  sometimes  to  interpose 
in  visible  blessings,  as  well  as  judgments,  to  shew  how  he 
protects  and  favours  the  good,  and  punishes  the  bad ;  and 
that  the  bad  actions  of  good  men  are  odious  to  him,  even 
though  he  has  received  their  persons  into  his  favour.  He  has 
also  in  the  gospel  plainly  excepted  the  government  of  this 
world,  and  the  secret  methods  of  his  Providence,  out  of  the 
mercy  that  he  has  promised,  by  the  warnings  that  are  given 
to  all  Christians  to  prepare  for  crosses  and  afflictions  in  this 
life.  He  has  made  faith  and  patience  in  adversities  a  main 
condition  of  this  new  covenant ;  he  has  declared,  that  these 
are  not  the  punishments  of  an  angry  God,  but  the  chastise- 
ments of  a  kind  and  merciful  Father,  who  designs  by  them 
both  to  shew  to  the  world  the  impartiality  of  his  justice  in 
punishing  some  crying  sins  in  a  very  signal  manner,  and  to 
give  good  men  deep  impressions  of  their  odiousness,  to  oblige 
them  to  a  severer  repentance  for  them,  and  to  a  greater  watch- 
fulness against  them  ;  as  also  to  give  the  world  such  examples 
of  resignation  and  patience  under  them,  that  they  may  edify 
others  by  that,  as  much  as  by  their  sins  they  may  have  offended 
them.  So  that,  upon  all  these  accounts,  it  seems  abundantly 
clear,  that  no  argument  can  be  drawn  from  the  temporal 
punishments  of  good  men  for  their  sins  in  this  world,  to  a 
reserve  of  others  in  another  state.  The  one  are  clearly  men- 
tioned and  reserved  in  the  offers  of  mercy  that  are  made 
in  the  gospel,  whereas  the  others  are  not.  This  being  the 
most  plausible  thing  that  they  say  for  this  distinction  of  those 
twofold  punishments,  it  is  plain  that  there  is  no  foundation 
for  it. 

As  for  those  words  of  Christ's,  (ye  shall  not  come  out  till  Mat.  v.  26. 
ye  have  paid  the  uttermost  farthing ;'  from  which  they  would 
infer,  that  there  is  a  state  in  which,  after  we  shall  be  cast  into 
prison,  we  are  paying  off  our  debts :  this,  if  an  argument  at 
all,  will  prove  too  much ;  that  in  hell  the  damned  are  clearing 


288 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART  scores  ;  and  that  they  shall  he  delivered  when  all  is  paid  off. 
X  For  by  prison  there,  that  only  can  be  meant,  as  appears  by  the 
■whole  contexture  of  the  discourse,  and  by  other  parables  of 
the  like  nature.  It  is  a  figure  taken  from  a  man  imprisoned 
for  a  great  debt ;  and  the  continuance  of  it,  till  the  last  tar- 
thing  is  paid,  does  imply  their  perpetual  continuance  in  that 
state,  since  the  debt  is  too  great  to  be  ever  paid  off.  From  a 
phrase  in  a  parable,  no  consequence  is  to  be  drawn,  beyond 
that  which  is  the  true  scope  of  the  parable,  which  in  this  par- 
ticular is  only  intended  by  our  Saviour,  to  shew  the  severe 
punishment  of  those  who  hate  implacably,  which  is  a  sin  that 
does  certainly  deserve  hell,  and  not  purgatory. 

Our  Saviour's  words  concerning  the  sin  against  'the  Holy 

Matt.  xii.   Ghost,'  that  '  it  is  neither  forgiven  in  this  life,  nor  in  that 

32-  which  is  to  come,'  is  also  urged  to  prove,  that  some  sins  are 
pardoned  in  the  next  life,  which  are  not  pardoned  in  this. 
But  still  this  will  seem  a  stronger  argument  against  the  eter- 
nity of  hell-torments,  than  for  purgatory ;  and  will  rather  im- 
port, that  the  damned  may  at  last  be  pardoned  their  sins,  since 
these  are  the  only  persons  whose  sins  are  not  pardoned  in  this 
world ;  for  of  those  who  are  justified,  it  cannot  be  said  that 
their  sins  are  not  forgiven  them,  and  such  only  go  to  purga- 
tory :  therefore,  either  this  is  only  a  general  way  of  speaking, 
to  exclude  all  hopes  of  pardon,  and  to  imply  that  God's  judg- 
ments will  pursue  such  blasphemers,  both  in  this  life,  and  in 
the  next ;  or,  if  we  will  understand  them  more  critically,  by 
this  life,  or  this  age,  and  the  next,  according  to  a  common 
opinion  and  phrase  of  the  Jews,  which  is  founded  on  the  pro- 
phecies, are  to  be  understood  the  dispensation  of  the  Law,  and 
the  dispensation  of  the  Messias ;  the  age  to  come  being  a  com- 
mon phrase  for  the  times  of  the  Messias ;  according  to  those 

Heb.  ii.  5.  words  in  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  '  He  hath  not  put  in 
subjection  to  angels  the  world  to  come.'  By  the  Mosaical 
law,  sacrifices  were  only  received,  and  by  consequence  pardon 
was  offered  for  sins  of  a  less  heinous  nature ;  but  those  that 
were  more  heinous  were  to  be  punished  by  death,  or  by  cut- 
ting off  without  mercy ;  whereas  a  full  promise  of  the  pardon 
of  all  sins  is  offered  in  the  gospel :  so  that  the  meaning  of 
these  words  of  Christ's  is,  that  such  a  blasphemy  was  a  sin 
not  only  beyond  the  pardon  offered  in  the  Law  of  Moses, 
which  was  the  age  that  then  was  ;  but  that  it  was  a  sin  beyond 
that  pardon  which  was  to  be  offered  by  the  Messias  in  the  age 
to  come,  that  is,  in  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  that  was  then  at 
hand.  But  these  words  can  by  no  means  be  urged  to  prove 
this  distinction  of  temporal  and  eternal  punishment;  there- 

i^unexxiv.  fore  we  mUst  conclude,  that  since  'repentance  and  remission 
of  sins'  are  joined  together  in  the  first  commission  to  preach 
the  gospel ;  and  since  life,  peace,  and  salvation,  are  promised 
to  such  as  believe,  that  all  this  is  to  be  understood  simplv  and 
plainly,  without  any  other  limitation  or  exception  than  that 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


289 


which  is  expressed,  which  is  only  of  such  chastisements  as  A,T\T- 
God  thinks  fit  to  exercise  good  men  with  in  this  life.  XXII. 

In  the  next  place,  we  shall  consider  what  reason  we  have 
to  reject  the  doctrine  of  purgatory ;  as  we  have  already  seen 
how  weak  the  foundation  is  upon  which  it  is  huilt.  The 
scripture  speaks  to  us  of  two  states  after  this  life,  of  happi- 
ness, and  misery;  and  as  it  divides  all  mankind  into  good 
and  bad,  into  those  that  do  good  and  those  that  do  evil,  into 
believers  and  unbelievers,  righteous  and  sinners ;  so  it  pro- 
poses always  the  end  of  the  one  to  be  everlasting  happiness 
and  the  end  of  the  other  to  be  everlasting  punishment,  with- 
out the  least  hint  of  any  middle  state  after  death.  So  that  it 
is  very  plain  there  is  nothing  said  in  scripture  of  men  too 
good  to  be  damned,  but  not  so  good  as  to  be  immediately 
saved.  Now,  if  there  had  been  yet  a  great  deal  to  be  suffered 
after  death,  and  that  there  were  many  very  effectual  ways  to 
prevent  and  avoid,  or  at  least  to  shorten  those  sufferings ; 
and  if  the  apostles  knew  this,  and  yet  said  not  a  word  of  it, 
neither  in  their  first  sermons  nor  in  their  Epistles;  here  was  a 
great  treachery  in  the  discharge  of  their  function,  and  that  to 
the  souls  of  men,  not  to  warn  them  of  their  danger,  nor  to 
direct  them  to  the  proper  methods  of  avoiding  it ;  but,  on  the 
contrary,  to  speak  and  write  to  them,  just  as  we  can  suppose 
impostors  would  have  done,  to  terrify  those  who  would  not 
receive  their  gospel,  with  eternal  damnation,  but  not  to  say  a 
word  to  those  who  received  it,  of  their  danger,  in  case  they 
lived  not  up  to  that  exactness  that  their  religion  required,  and 
yet  upon  the  main  adhered  to  it  and  followed  it.  This  is  a 
method  that  does  not  agree  with  common  honesty,  not  to  say 
inspiration.  A  fair  way  of  proceeding,  is  to  make  men  sen- 
sible of  dangers  of  all  sorts,  and  to  shew  them  how  to  avoid 
them ;  the  apostles  told  their  converts,  that  '  through  much  Acts  xiv. 
tribulation  we  must  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  heaven;'  they  22. 
assured  them,  that  '  their  present  sufferings  were  not  worthy  ]8°m'vm" 
to  be  compared  to  the  glory  that  was  to  be  revealed;'  and  that  2  Cor.  iv. 
'  those  light  afflictions,  which  are  for  a  moment,  wrought  for  17- 
them  a  more  exceeding  and  eternal  weight  of  glory.'  Here,  if 
they  knew  any  thing  of  purgatory,  a  powerful  consideration 
was  passed  over  in  silence,  that  by  these  afflictions  they 
should  be  delivered  from  those  torments. 

This  argument  goes  further  than  mere  silence ;  though  that 
is  very  strong.    The  scriptures  speak  always  as  if  the  one  did 
immediately  follow  the  other;  and  that  the  saints,  or  true 
Christians,  pass  from  t  e  miseries  of  this  state  to  the  glories 
of  the  next.    So  does  our  Saviour  represent  the  matter  in  the 
parable  of  Lazarus  and  the  rich  glutton ;  whose  souls  were 
presently  carried  to  their  different  abodes ;  the  one  to  be,  , 
comforted,  as  the  other  was  tormented.    He  promised  also  to  25. 
the  repenting  thief,  '  To-day  thou  shalt  be  with  me  in  paradise.'  Luke  xxiii. 
St.  Paul  comforts  himself,  in  the  apprehension  of  his  dissolu-  43, 

u 


290 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART    tion  that  was  approaching,  with  the  prospect  of  the  '  crown  of 
XXII.    righteousness  that  should  be  given  him'  after  death  ;  and  so 
2  jlm  iv  he  states  these  two  as  certain  consequents  one  of  another,  '  to 
8.  be  dissolved  and  to  be  with  Christ,  to  be  absent  from  the 

2  C '  '  2(5  ^odv,  and  present  with  the  Lord :'  and  he  makes  it  appear 
8  or"  '  '  that  it  was  no  peculiar  privilege  that  he  promised  to  himself, 
but  that  which  all  Christians  had  a  right  to  expect;  for  he 
v.l,  2.  says  in  general,  this  'we  know  that  if  our  earthly  house  of 
this  tabernacle  be  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God,  a 
house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the  heavens.'  In  the 
Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  the  patriarchs  under  the  old  dispen- 
lleb.xi.10.  sation  are  represented  as  'looking  for  that  city  whose 
builder  and  founder  is  God :'  though  in  that  state  the  mani- 
festations of  another  life  were  more  imperfect  than  in  this ;  in 
which  '  life  and  immortality  are  brought  to  light ;'  they  being 
veiled  and  darkened  in  that  state.  And  finally,  St.  John  heard 
Rev.  xiv.  a  vojce  commanding  him  to  write,  '  Blessed  are  the  dead  who 
die  in  the  Lord  (that  is,  being  true  Christians)  from  hence- 
forth (or  immediately)  :  Yea,  saith  the  Spirit,  that  they  may 
rest  from  their  labours  :  and  their  works  do  follow  them.'  From 
the  solemnity  with  which  these  words  are  delivered,  they  carry 
in  them  an  evidence  sufficient  to  determine  the  whole  matter. 
So  that  we  must  have  very  hard  thoughts  of  the  sincerity  of 
the  writers  of  the  New  Testament,  and  very  much  disparage 
their  credit,  not  to  say  their  inspiration,  if  we  can  imagine  that 
there  are  scenes  of  suffering,  and  those  very  dismal  ones,  to 
be  gone  through,  of  which  thev  gave  the  world  no  sort  of  no- 
tice ;  but  spoke  in  the  same  style  that  we  do,  who  believe  no 
such  dismal  interval  between  the  death  of  good  men  and  their 
2  Ep.  final  blessedness.  The  scriptures  do  indeed  speak  of  a  full 
vcr  4.  reward  and  of  different  degrees  of  glory,  '  as  one  star  exceeds 
1  Cor.  xv.  another.'  They  do  also  represent  the  day  of  judgment  upon 
41  •  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  as  that  which  gives  the  full  and 
entire  possession  of  blessedness ;  so  that  from  hence  some 
have  thought,  upon  very  probable  grounds,  that  the  blessed, 
though  admitted  to  happiness  immediatelv  upon  their  death, 
yet  were  not  so  completely  happy  as  they  shall  be  after  the 
resurrection :  and  in  this  there  arose  a  diversity  of  opinions, 
which  is  very  natural  to  all  who  will  go  and  form  systems  out 
of  some  general  hints.  Some  thought  that  the  souls  of  good 
men  were  at  rest,  and  in  a  good  measure  happy,  but  that  they 
did  not  see  God  before  the  resurrection.  Others  thought  that 
Christ  was  to  come  down  and  reign  visibly  upon  earth  a  thou- 
sand years  before  the  end  of  the  world ;  and  that  the  saints 
were  to  rise  and  to  reign  with  him,  some  sooner  and  some 
later.  Some  thought  that  the  last  conflagration  was  so  to 
affect  all,  that  every  one  was  to  pass  through  it,  and  that  it 
was  to  give  the  last  and  highest  purification  to  those  bodies 
that  were  then  to  be  glorified  ;  but  that  the  better  Christians 
that  any  had  been,  they  should  feel  the  less  of  the  pain  of  that 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


291 


last  fire.    These  opinions  were  very  early  entertained  in  the  ART. 
church  :  an  itch  of  intruding  too  far  into  things  which  men  did  XXII. 
not  thoroughly  understand,  concerning  angels,  hegan  to  dis- 
turb the  church  even  in  the  days  of  the  apostles  :  which  made 
St.  Paul  charge  the  Colossians  to  beware  of  vain  philosophy.  Col.  ii.  8, 
Plato  thought  there  was  a  middle  sort  of  men,  who  though  18. 
they  had  sinned,  yet  had  repented  of  it,  and  were  in  a  curable 
condition,  and  that  they  went  down  for  some  time  into  hell, 
to  be  purged  and  absolved  by  grievous  torments.    The  Jews 
had  also  a  conceit,  that  the  souls  of  some  men  continued  for 
a  year,  going  up  and  down  in  a  state  of  purgation.  From 
these  opinions  somewhat  of  a  curiosity  in  describing  the 
degrees  of  the  next  state  began  pretty  early  to  enter  into  the 
church. 

As  for  that  opinion  of  the  Platonists,  and  the  fictions  of 
Homer  and  Virgil,  setting  forth  the  complaints  of  souls  de- 
parted, for  their  not  being  relieved  by  prayers  and  sacrifices, 
though  these  perhaps  are  the  true  sources  of  the  doctrine  of 
purgatorv,  and  of  redeeming  souls  out  of  it,  yet  we  are  not  so 
much  concerned  in  them,  as  in  what  is  represented  to  us  by 
the  author  of  the  second  book  of  the  Maccabees,  concerning 
the  sacrifice  that  was  offered  by  Judas  Maccabeus,  for  those, 
about  whom,  after  they  were  killed,  they  found  such  things 
as  shewed  that  they  had  defiled  themselves  with  the  idolatry 
of  the  heathens.  All  this  is  of  less  authority  with  us,  who  do 
not  acknowledge  that  book  to  be  canonical :   according  to 
what  was  set  out  in  its  proper  place.    And  although  we  set  a 
due  value  upon  some  of  the  apocryphal  books,  yet  others  are 
of  a  lower  character.    The  first  book  of  Maccabees  is  a  very 
grave  history,  writ  with  much  exactness  and  a  true  judgment ; 
but  the  second  is  the  work  of  a  mean  writer:  he  was  an 
abridger  of  a  larger  work ;  and  as  he  has  the  modesty  to  ask 
his  readers  pardon  for  his  defects,  so  it  is  very  plain  to  every 
one  that  reads  him,  that  he  needs  often  many  grains  of  allow- 
ance.   So  that  this  book  is  one  of  the  least  valuable  pieces  of 
the  Apocrypha ;  and  there  are  very  probable  reasons  to  ques- 
tion the  truth  of  that  relation,  concerning  those  who  were 
thus  prayed  for.    But  because  that  would  occasion  too  long  a 
digression,  we  are  to  make  a  difference  between  the  story  that 
he  relates,  and  the  author's  own  reflections  upon  it ;  for  as  we 
ought  not  to  make  any  great  account  of  his  reflections,  these 
being  only  his  private  thoughts,  who  might  probably  have  im- 
bibed some  of  the  principles  of  the  Greek  philosophy,  as  some 
of  the  Jews  had  done,  or  he  might  have  believed  that  notion 
which  is  now  very  generally  received  by  the  Jews,  that  every 
Jew  shall  have  a  share  in  the  world  to  come,  but  that  such  as 
have  lived  ill  must  be  purged  before  they  arrive  at  it.    It  is 
of  much  more  importance  to  consider  what  Judas  Maccabeus  2  Maccab 
did ;  which  even  by  that  relation  seems  to  be  no  more  than  xii.  40. 
this,  that  he  finding  some  things  consecrated  to  the  idols  of 

U2 


292 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  the  Jamnites,  about  the  bodies  of  those  who  were  killed,  con- 
eluded  that  to  have  been  the  cause  of  their  death:  and  upon 
this  he  and  all  his  men  betook  themselves  to  prayer,  and  be- 
sought God  that  the  sin  might  be  wholly  put  out  of  remem- 
brance :  he  exhorted  his  people  to  keep  themselves,  by  that 
example,  from  the  like  sin  ;  and  he  made  a  collection  of  a  sum 
of  money,  and  sent  it  to  Jerusalem  to  offer  a  sin-offering  be- 
fore the  Lord.  So  far  the  matter  agrees  well  enough  with  the 
Jewish  dispensation.  It  had  appeared  in  the  days  of  Joshua, 
Joshua  vii.  how  much  guilt  the  sin  of  Achan,  though  but  one  person,  had 
brought  upon  the  whole  congregation  ;  and  their  law  had  upon 
another  occasion  prescribed  a  sin-offering  for  the  whole  con- 
gregation to  expiate  blood  that  was  shed,  when  the  murderer 
could  not  be  discovered:  that  so  the  judgments  of  God  might 
not  come  upon  them,  by  reason  of  the  cry  of  that  blood. 
And  by  a  parity  of  reason,  Judas  might  have  offered  such  an 
offering  to  free  himself  and  his  men  from  the  guilt  which  the 
idolatry  of  a  few  might  have  brought  upon  greater  numbers ; 
such  a  sacrifice  as  this  might,  according  to  the  nature  of  that 
law,  have  been  offered :  but  to  offer  a  sin-offering  for  the  dead, 
was  a  new  thing  without  ground,  or  any  intimation  of  any 
thing  like  it  in  their  law.  So  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt,  but 
that,  if  the  story  is  true,  Judas  offered  this  sin-offering  for  the 
living,  and  not  for  the  dead.  If  they  had  been  alive  then,  by 
their  law  no  sin-offering  could  have  been  made  for  them :  for 
idolatry  was  to  be  punished  by  cutting  off,  and  not  to  be  ex- 
piated by  sacrifice :  what  then  could  not  have  been  done  for 
them  if  alive,  could  much  less  be  done  for  them  after  their 
death.  So  we  have  reason  to  conclude  that  Judas  offered  this 
sacrifice  only  for  the  living :  and  we  are  not  much  concerned 
in  the  opinion  which  so  slight  a  writer,  as  the  author  of  that 
book,  had  concerning  it.  But  whatever  might  be  his  opinion, 
it  was  far  from  that  of  the  Roman  church.  By  this  instance 
of  the  Maccabees,  men  who  died  in  a  state  of  mortal  sin,  and 
that  of  the  highest  nature,  had  sacrifices  offered  for  them : 
whereas,  according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  church  of  Rome,  hell, 
and  not  purgatory,  is  to  be  the  portion  of  all  such  :  so  this 
will  prove  too  much,  if  any  thing  at  all,  that  sacrifices  are  to 
be  offered  for  the  damned.  The  design  of  Judas's  sending  to 
make  an  offering  for  them,  as  that  writer  states  it,  was,  that 
their  sins  might  be  forgiven,  and  that  they  might  have  a  happy 
resurrection.  Here  is  nothing  of  redeeming  them  out  of  mi- 
sery, or  of  shortening  or  alleviating  their  torments :  so  that 
the  author  of  that  book  seems  to  have  been  possessed  with 
that  opinion,  received  commonly  among  the  Jews,  that  no  Jew 
could  finally  perish  ;  as  we  find  St.  Jerome  expressing  himself 
with  the  like  partiality  for  all  Christians.  But  whatever  the 
author's  opinion  was,  as  that  book  is  of  no  authority,  it  is 
highly  probable  that  Judas's  design  in  that  oblation  was 
misunderstood  by  the  historian ;  and  we  are  sure  that  even 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


293 


his  sense  of  it  differs  totally  from  that  of  the  church  of  ART. 
Rome.  XXII. 

A  passage  in  the  New  Testament  is  brought  as  a  full  proof  x  Cor  i;i 
of  the  fire  of  purgatory.  When  St.  Paul  in  his  Epistle  to  the  10—15. 
Corinthians  is  reflecting  on  the  divisions  that  were  among 
them,  and  on  that  diversity  of  teachers  that  formed  men  into 
different  principles  and  parties,  he  compares  them  to  different 
builders.  Some  raised  upon  a  rock  an  edifice  like  the  temple 
at  Jerusalem,  of  gold  and  silver,  and  noble  stones,  called  pre- 
cious stones ;  whereas  others  upon  the  same  rock  raised  a  mean 
hovel  of  wood,  hay,  and  stubble ;  of  both  he  says,  '  every  man's 
work  shall  be  made  manifest.  For  the  day  shall  reveal  it; 
because  it  shall  be  revealed  by  fire  ;  for  the  fire  shall  try  every 
man's  work  of  what  sort  it  is/  And  he  adds,  '  If  any  man's 
work  abide  which  he  hath  built  thereupon,  he  shall  re- 
ceive a  reward ;  and  if  any  man's  work  shall  be  burnt, 
he  shall  suffer  loss ;  but  he  himself  shall  be  saved,  yet 
so  as  by  fire.'  From  the  first  view  of  these  words  it 
will  not  be  thought  strange  if  some  of  the  ancients,  who 
were  too  apt  to  expound  places  of  scripture  according  to  their 
first  appearance,  might  fancy,  that  at  the  last  day  all  were 
to  pass  through  a  great  fire ;  and  to  suffer  more  or  less  in  it : 
but  it  is  visible  that  that  opinion  is  far  enough  from  the  doc- 
trine of  purgatory.  These  words  relate  to  a  fire  that  was  soon 
to  appear,  and  that  was  to  try  every  man's  work.  It  was  to 
be  revealed,  and  in  it  every  man's  work  was  to  be  made  mani- 
fest. So  this  can  have  no  relation  to  a  secret  purgatory  fire.* 
The  meaning  of  it  can  be  no  other,  but  that  whereas  some  with 
the  apostles  were  building  up  the  church,  not  only  upon  the 
foundation  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  belief  of  his  doctrine,  but 
were  teaching  men  doctrines  and  rules  that  were  virtuous, 
good,  and  great ;  others  at  the  same  time  were  daubing  with  a 
profane  mixture,  both  of  Judaism  and  Gentilism,  joining  these 
with  some  of  the  precepts  of  Christianity ;  a  day  would  soon 
appear,  which  probably  is  meant  of  the  destruction  of  Jerusa- 
lem, and  of  the  Jewish  nation ;  or  it  may  be  applied  to  the 
persecution  that  was  soon  to  break  out;  in  that  day,  those 
who  had  true  notions,  generous  principles,  and  suitable  prac- 
tices, would  weather  that  storm  :  whereas  others,  that  were  en- 
tangled with  weak  and  superstitious  conceits,  would  then  run 
a  great  risk,  though  their  firm  believing  that  Jesus  was  the 
Messias  would  preserve  them :  yet  the  weakness  and  folly  of 

* '  But  whether  we  understand  these  words  of  that  day  (of  the  destruction  of  Je- 
rusalem) or  any  other  day  of  judgment,  this  is  certain,  that  the  apostle  cannot  be 
here  supposed  to  speak  of  the  Roman  purgatory  fire  ;  ( 1 )  because  the  fire  the  apos- 
tle speaks  of,  as  Origen  hath  noted,  is  not  <r?j  l/Xixii  xai  mirttvrit,  ixxk  r^/rxcbeytx'n, 
fire  properly,  but  metaphorically,  so  called,  as  appears  from  those  words,  he  shall 
escape  as  by  fire.  (2)  Because  this  fire  is  to  try  every  man's  mrrk,  Paul  and  Apollos't, 
as  well  as  theirs  who  built  on  the  foundation  hay  and  stubble  ;  and  sure  they  will 
not  say  Paul  and  Apollos  went  to  purgatory.  (3)  This  fire  shall  try  every  man's 
work,  of  what  sort  it  it :  now  purgatory  fire  doth  not  try  every  man's  works,  but 
punishes  them  for  them.'  Whitby. — [Ed.] 


294 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  those  teachers  would  appear,  their  opinions  would  involve 
XXit-  them  in  such  danger,  that  their  escaping  would  be  difficult;  like 
one  that  gets  out  of  a  house  that  is  all  on  fire  round  about  him. 
So  that  these  words  cannot  possibly  belong  to  purgatory ;  but 
must  be  meant  of  some  signal  discrimination  that  was  to  be 
made,  in  some  very  dreadful  appearances  which  would  distin- 
guish between  the  true  and  the  false  apostles ;  and  that  could 
be  no  other  but  either  in  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem,  or  in 
the  persecution  that  was  to  come  on  the  church ;  though  die 
first  is  the  more  probable. 

It  were  easy  to  pursue  this  argument  further,  and  to  shew, 
that  the  doctrine  of  purgatory,  as  it  is  now  in  the  Roman 
church,  was  not  known  in  the  church  of  God  for  the  first  six 
hundred  years ;  that  then  it  began  to  be  doubtfully  received. 
But  in  an  ignorant  age,  visions,  legends,  and  bold  stories  pre- 
vailed much ;  yet  the  Greek  church  never  received  it.  Some 
of  the  fathers  speak  indeed  of  the  last  probatory  fire ;  but 
though  they  did  not  think  the  saints  were  in  a  state  of  con- 
summate blessedness,  enjoying  the  vision  of  God,  yet  they 
thought  they  were  in  a  state  of  ease  and  quiet,  and  that  in 
Aug:,  de    heaven.    St.  Austin  speaks  in  this  whole  matter  very  doubt- 
1  21  ?e'J  fuuy ;  he  varies  often  from  himself ;  he  seems  sometimes  very 
18. ad  22.  positive  only  for  two  states;  at  other  times,  as  he  asserts  the 

Enchir.  c.  last  probatorv  fire,  so  he  seems  to  think  that  good  souls  might 
67  68  69  •  • 

Ad  Diil-    suffer  some  grief  in  that  sequestered  state  before  the  last  day, 
cid.         upon  the  account  of  some  of  their  past  sins,  and  that  by  de- 
quffist.      grees  they  might  arise  up  to  their  consummation.    All  these 
prima*      contests  were  proposed  very  doubtfully  before  Gregory  the 
Great's  days ;  and  even  then  some  doubts  seem  to  have  been 
made  :  but  the  legends  were  so  copiously  played  upon  all  those 
doubts,  that  this  remnant  of  paganism  got  at  last  into  the 
western  church.    It  was  no  wonder,  that  the  opinions  for- 
merly mentioned,  which  began  to  appear  in  the  second  age, 
had  produced  in  the  third  the  practice  of  praying  for  the 
C6rtUM  i 6  ^ea<^ '  °^  '"'hicl1  we  nn(l  such  full  evidence  in  Tertullian  and 
c3.de  Ex-  St-  Cyprian's  writings,  that  the  matter  of  fact  is  not  to  be  de- 
hor, c.  13.  nied.    This  appears  also  in  all  the  ancient  liturgies :  and 
e'VF>34  37  -^piphanius  charges  Aerius  with  this  of  rejecting  all  prayers 
Epiph.'    '  for  the  dead,  asking,  why  were  they  prayed  for?  The  opinions 
II*r.  75.  that  they  fell  into  concerning  the  state  of  departed  souls,  in 
1. 3.  n.  3.  the  interval  between  their  death  and  the  day  of  judgment, 
gave  occasion  enough  for  prayer ;  they  thought  they  were  ca- 
pable of  making  a  progress,  and  of  having  an  early  resurrec- 
tion.   They  also  had  this  notion  among  them  ;  that  it  was  the 
peculiar  privilege  of  Jesus  Christ  to  be  above  all  our  prayers ; 
but  that  no  men,  not  excepting  the  apostles,  nor  the  blessed 
Virgin,  were  above  the  pravers  of  the  church.    They  thought 
this  was  an  act  of  church-communion,  that  we  were  to  hold 
Ecd  Hier  even  w*tn  tne  samts  in  heaven,  to  pray  for  them.  Thus  in  the 
'-'    'Apostolical  Constitutions,  in  the  books  of  the  Ecclesiastical 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


295 


Hierarchy,  and  in  the  Liturgies  that  are  ascribed  to  St.  Basil  art. 
and  St.  Chrysostom,  they  offer  unto  God  these  prayers,  which  XXII. 
they  thought  their  reasonable  service,  for  those  who  were  at 
rest  in  the  faith,  their  forefathers,  fathers,  patriarchs,  prophets, 
and  apostles ;  preachers,  evangelists,  martyrs,  confessors,  re- 
ligious persons,  and  for  every  spirit  perfected  in  the  faith ; 
especially  for  our  most  holy,  immaculate,  most  blessed  Lady, 
the  mother  of  God,  the  ever  Virgin  Mary.  Particular  in- 
stances might  also  be  given  of  this  out  of  St.  Cyprian,  St. 
Ambrose,  Nazianzen,  and  St.  Austin  ;  who  in  that  famous  and  Aug.conf. 
much  cited  passage  concerning  his  mother,  Monica,  as  he  '  9*  °'  13 
speaks  nothing  of  any  temporal  pains  that  she  suffered,  so  he 
plainly  intimates  his  belief  that  God  had  done  all  that  he  de- 
sired. Thus  it  will  appear  to  those  who  have  examined  all 
the  passages  which  are  brought  out  of  the  fathers,  concerning 
their  prayers  for  the  dead,  that  they  believed  they  were  then  in 
heaven,  and  at  rest ;  and  by  consequence,  though  these  prayers 
for  the  dead  did  very  probably  give  the  chief  rise  to  the  doc- 
trine of  purgatory ;  yet,  as  they  then  made  them,  they  were 
utterly  inconsistent  with  that  opinion.  Tertullian,  who  is  the  De  Cor. 
first  that  is  cited  for  them,  says,  we  make  oblations  for  the  Mil* 
dead,  and  we  do  it  for  that  second  nativity  of  theirs  (natalitia) 
once  a  year.  The  signification  of  the  word  natalitia,  as  they 
used  it,  was  the  saint's  day  of  death,  in  which  they  reckoned  he 
was  born  again  to  heaven  :  so,  though  they  judged  them  there, 
yet  they  offered  up  prayers  for  them :  and  when  Epiphanius 
brings  in  Aerius  asking,  why  those  prayers  were  made  for  the 
dead  ?  though  it  had  been  very  natural,  and  indeed  unavoid- 
able, if  he  had  believed  purgatory,  to  have  answered,  that  it 
was  to  deliver  them  from  thence :  yet  he  makes  no  such  an- 
swer, but  only  asserts,  that  it  had  been  the  practice  of  the 
church  so  to  do.  The  Greek  church  retains  that  custom, 
though  she  has  never  admitted  of  purgatory.  Here  then  an 
objection  may  be  made  to  our  constitution,  that  in  this  of 
praying  for  the  dead  we  have  departed  from  the  practice  of 
the  ancients :  we  do  not  deny  it,  both  the  church  of  Rome 
and  we  in  another  practice,  of  equal  antiquity,  of  giving  the 
eucharist  to  infants,  have  made  changes,  and  let  that  custom 
fall.  The  curiosities  in  the  second  century  seem  to  have  given 
rise  to  those  prayers  in  the  third ;  and  they  gave  the  rise  to 
many  other  disorders  in  the  following  centuries.  Since,  there- 
fore, God  has  commanded  us,  while  we  are  on  earth,  to  pray 
for  one  another,  and  has  made  that  a  main  act  of  our  charity 
and  church-communion,  but  has  nowhere  directed  us  to  pray 
for  those  that  have  finished  their  course ;  and  since  the  only 
pretence  that  is  brought  from  scripture,  of  St.  Paul's  praying, 
that  '  Onesiphorus  might  find  mercy  in  the  day  of  the  Lord,'  2  Tim.  u 
cannot  be  wrought  up  into  an  argument,  for  it  cannot  be  18. 
proved  that  he  was  then  dead ;  and  since  the  fathers  reckon 
this  of  praying  for  the  dead  only  as  one  of  their  customs,  for 


29G 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  which  they  vouch  no  other  warrant  but  practice ;  since,  also, 
XXII.  this  has  been  grossly  abused,  and  has  been  applied  to  sup- 
port  a  doctrine  totally  different  from  theirs ;  we  think  that  we 
have  as  good  a  plea  for  not  following  them  in  this,  as  we  have 
for  not  giving  infants  the  sacrament,  and  therefore  we  think 
it  no  imputation  on  our  church,  that  we  do  not  in  this  follow 
a  groundless  and  a  much  abused  precedent,  though  set  us  in 
ages  which  we  highly  reverence. 

The  greatest  corruption  of  this  whole  matter  comes  in  the 
last  place  to  be  considered ;  which  is,  the  methods  proposed 
for  redeeming  souls  out  of  purgatory.  If  this  doctrine  had 
rested  in  a  speculation,  we  must  still  have  considered  it  as  de- 
rogatory to  the  death  of  Christ,  and  the  truth  of  the  gospel : 
but  it  raises  our  zeal  a  little  more,  when  we  consider  the  use 
that  was  made  of  it ;  and  that  fears  and  terrors  being  by  this 
means  infused  into  men's  minds,  new  methods  were  proposed 
to  free  them  from  these.  The  chief  of  which  was  the  saying 
of  masses  for  departed  souls.  It  was  pretended,  that  this  being 
the  highest  act  of  the  communion  of  Christians,  and  the  most 
sublime  piece  of  worship,  therefort  God  was  so  well  pleased 
with  the  frequent  repetition  of  it,  with  the  prayers  that  accom- 
panied it,  and  with  those  that  made  provisions  for  men  who 
should  be  constantly  employed  in  it,  that  this  was  a  most  ac- 
ceptable sacrifice  to  God.  Upon  this  followed  all  those  vast 
endowments  for  saying  masses  for  departed  souls ;  though  in 
the  institution  of  that  sacrament,  and  in  all  that  is  spoken  of 
it  in  the  scripture,  there  is  not  an  hint  given  of  this.  Sacra- 
ments are  positive  precepts,  which  are  to  be  measured  only  by 
the  institution,  in  which  there  is  not  room  left  for  us  to  carry 
them  further.  We  are  '  to  take,  eat  and  drink,  and  thereby 
shew  forth  the  Lord's  death  till  his  second  coming :'  all  which 
has  no  relation  to  the  applying  this  to  others  who  are  gone  off 
the  stage ;  therefore  if  we  can  have  any  just  notions  either  of 
superstition,  or  of  will-worship,  they  are  applicable  here.  Men 
will  fancy  that  there  is  a  virtue  in  an  action,  which  we  are 
sure  it  has  not  of  itself,  and  we  cannot  find  that  God  has  put 
in  it ;  and  yet  they,  without  any  authority  from  God,  do  set 
up  a  new  piece  of  worship,  and  imagine  that  God  will  be 
pleased  with  them  in  every  thing  they  do  or  ask,  only  because 
they  are  perverting  this  piece  of  worship,  clearly  contrary  to 
the  institution,  to  be  a  solitary  mass.  In  the  primitive  church, 
where  all  the  service  of  the  whole  assembly  ended  in  a  com- 
munion, there  was  a  roll  read,  in  which  the  names  of  the  more 
eminent  saints  of  the  catholic  church,  and  of  the  holy  bishops, 
martyrs,  or  confessors  of  every  particular  church,  were  regis- 
tered. This  was  an  honourable  remembrance  that  was  kept 
up  of  such  as  had  died  in  the  Lord.  When  the  soundness  of 
any  person's  faith  was  brought  in  suspicion,  his  name  was  not 
read  till  that  point  was  cleared,  and  then  either  his  name  con- 
tinued to  be  read,  or  it  was  quite  dashed  out.    This  was 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  297 


thought  an  honour  due  to  the  memory  of  those  who  had  died  ART. 
in  the  faith  :  and  in  St.  Cyprian's  time,  in  the  infancy  of  this    XXIL  _ 
practice,  we  see  he  counted  the  leaving  a  man's  name  out  as  a  Cypr. 
thing  that  only  left  a  blot  upon  him,  but  not  as  a  thing  of  any  Epist.  l. 
consequence  to  his  soul ;  for  when  a  priest  had  died,  who  had  p^^' 
by  his  last  will  named  another  priest  the  tutor  (or  guardian)  of  Oxon. 
his  children,  this  seemed  to  him  a  thing  of  such  ill  example, 
to  put  those  secular  cares  upon  the  minds  of  the  clergy,  that 
he  appointed  that  his  name  should  be  no  more  read  in  the 
daily  sacrifice :  which  plainly  shews,  unless  we  will  tax  St. 
Cyprian  with  a  very  unreasonable  cruelty,  that  he  considered 
that  only  as  a  small  censure  laid  on  his  memory,  but  not  as  a 
prejudice  to  his  soul.    This  gives  us  a  very  plain  view  of  the 
sense  that  he  had  of  this  matter.    After  this  roll  was  read, 
then  the  general  prayer  followed,  as  was  formerly  acknow- 
ledged, for  all  their  souls ;  and  so  they  went  on  in  the  com- 
munion service.    This  has  no  relation  to  a  mass  said  by  a 
single  priest  to  deliver  a  soul  out  of  purgatory. 

Here,  without  going  far  in  tragical  expressions,  we  cannot 
hold  saying  what  our  Saviour  said  upon  another  occasion,  Mark  xi. 
4  My  house  is  a  house  of  prayer,  but  ye  have  made  it  a  den  17- 
of  thieAres.'  A  trade  was  set  up  on  this  foundation.  The 
world  was  made  to  believe,  that  by  virtue  of  so  many  masses, 
which  were  to  be  purchased  by  great  endowments,  souls  were 
redeemed  out  of  purgatory ;  and  scenes  of  visions  and  appa- 
ritions, sometimes  of  the  tormented,  and  sometimes  of  the 
delivered  souls,  were  published  in  all  places :  which  had  so 
wonderful  an  effect,  that  in  two  or  three  centuries  endow- 
ments increased  to  so  vast  a  degree,  that  if  the  scandals  of  the 
clergy  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  statutes  of  mortmain  on  the 
other,  had  not  restrained  the  profuseness  that  the  world  was 
wrought  up  to  upon  this  account,  it  is  not  easy  to  imagine  how 
far  this  might  have  gone ;  perhaps  to  an  entire  subjecting  of 
the  temporal ty  to  the  spiritualty.  The  practices  by  which 
this  was  managed,  and  the  effects  that  followed  on  it,  we  can 
call  by  no  other  name  than  downright  impostures ;  worse  than 
the  making  or  vending  false  coin :  when  the  world  was  drawn 
in  by  such  arts  to  plain  bargains,  to  redeem  their  own  souls, 
and  the  souls  of  their  ancestors  and  posterity,  so  many  masses 
were  to  be  said,  and  forfeitures  were  to  follow  upon  their  not 
being  said :  thus  the  masses  were  really  the  price  of  the  lands. 
An  endowment  to  a  religious  use,  though  mixed  with  error 
or  superstition  in  the  rules  of  it,  ought  to  be  held  sacred, 
according  to  the  decision  given  concerning  the  censers  of 
those  that  were  in  the  rebellion  of  Corah:  so  that  we  do  not  Numb.xvi. 
excuse  the  violation  of  such  from  sacrilege;  yet  we  cannot38, 
think  so  of  endowments,  where  the  only  consideration  was  a 
false  opinion  first  of  purgatory,  and  then  of  redemption  out 
of  it  by  masses;  this  being  expressed  in  the  very  deeds 
themselves.    By  the  same  reasons,  by  which  private  persons 


298 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


R-T.  are  obliged  to  restore  what  they  have  drawn  from  others  by 
XI1-  base  practices,  by  false  deeds,  or  counterfeit  coin ;  bodies  are 
also  bound  to  restore  what  they  have  got  into  their  hands  by 
such  fraudulent  practices ;  so  that  the  states  and  princes  of 
Christendom  were  at  full  liberty  upon  the  discovery  of  these 
impostures,  to  void  all  the  endowments  that  had  followed 
upon  them  ;  and  either  to  apply  them  to  better  uses,  or  to 
restore  them  to  the  families  from  which  they  had  been  drawn, 
if  that  had  been  practicable,  or  to  convert  them  to  any  other 
use.  This  was  a  crying  abuse,  which  those  who  have  ob- 
served the  progress  that  this  matter  made  from  the  eighth 
century  to  the  twelfth,  cannot  reflect  on  without  both  amaze- 
ment and  indignation.  We  are  sensible  enough  that  there  are 
many  political  reasons  and  arguments  for  keeping  up  the  doc- 
trine of  purgatory.  But  we  have  not  so  learned  Christ.  We 
ought  not  to  lie  even  for  God,  much  less  for  ourselves,  or  for 
anv  other  pretended  ends  of  keeping  the  world  in  awe  and 
order :  therefore  all  the  advantages  that  are  said  to  arise  out 
of  this,  and  all  the  mischief  that  may  be  thought  to  follow  on 
the  rejecting  of  it,  ought  not  to  make  us  presume  to  carry  on 
the  ends  of  religion  by  unlawful  methods.  This  were  to  call 
in  the  assistance  of  the  Devil  to  do  the  work  of  God ;  if  the 
just  apprehensions  of  the  wrath  of  God,  and  the  guilt  of  sin, 
together  with  the  fear  of  everlasting  burnings,  will  not  reform 
the  world,  nor  restrain  sinners,  we  must  leave  this  matter  to 
the  wise  and  unsearchable  judgments  of  God. 

The  next  particular  in  this  Article  is  the  condemning  the 
Romish  doctrine  concerning  pardons:  that  is  founded  on  the 
distinction  between  the  temporal  and  eternal  punishment  of 
sin ;  and  the  pardon  is  of  the  temporal  punishment,  which  is 
believed  to  be  done  by  a  power  lodged  singly  in  the  pope,  de- 
rived from  those  words,  fFeed  my  sheep,'  and  'To  thee  will  I 
give  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  heaven/  This  may  be  by 
him  derived,  as  they  teach,  not  only  to  bishops  and  priests, 
but  to  the  inferior  orders,  to  be  dispensed  by  them ;  and  it 
excuses  from  penance,  unless  he  who  purchases  it  thinks  fit 
to  use  his  penance  in  a  medicinal  way,  as  a  preservative 
against  sin.    So  the  virtue  of  indulgences*  is  the  applying 

•  The  system  of  indulgences  had  its  foundation  in  the  early  ages  of  Christianity, 
when  many  of  those  who  had  apostatized  under  the  persecution  of  Decius  were 
anxious  to  be  re-admitted  to  the  communion  of  the  church,  '  without  submitting 
to  that  painful  course  of  penitential  discipline,  which  the  ecclesiastical  laws  indis- 
pensably required.  The  bishops  were  divided  upon  this  matter  :  some  were  for 
shewing  the  desired  indulgence,  while  others  opposed  it  with  all  their  might.  In 
Egypt  and  Africa,  many,  in  order  to  obtain  more  speedily  the  pardon  of  their 
apostacy,  interested  the  martyrs  in  their  behalf,  and  received  from  them  letters  of 
reconciliation  and  peace,  i.  e.  a  formal  act,  by  which  they  (the  martyrs)  declared 
in  their  last  moment?,  that  they  looked  upon  them  as  worthy  of  their  communion, 
and  desired,  of  consequence,  that  they  should  be  restored  to  their  place  among  the 
brethren.' — Mosheim. 

The  subsequent  scandalous  abuse  of  this  practice,  and  the  iniquitous  traffic  in 
indulgences  which  called  forth  the  zeal  of  Martin  Luther,  are  too  well  known  to 
require  any  further  remarks. — [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


299 


the  treasure  of  the  church  upon  sucli  terms  as  popes  shall 
think  fit  to  prescribe,  in  order  to  the  redeeming  souls  from 
purgatory,  and  from  all  other  temporal  punishments,  and  that 
for  such  a  number  of  years  as  shall  be  specified  in  the  bulls; 
some  of  which  have  gone  to  thousands  of  years ;  one  I  have 
seen  to  ten  hundred  thousand:  and  as  these  indulgences  are 
sometimes  granted  by  special  tickets,  like  tallies  struck  on 
that  treasure ;  so  sometimes  they  are  affixed  to  particular 
churches  and  altars,  to  particular  times,  or  days,  chiefly  to  the 
year  of  jubilee ;  they  are  also  affixed  to  such  things  as  may 
be  carried  about,  to  Agnus  Dei's,  to  medals,  to  rosaries  and 
scapularies ;  they  are  also  affixed  to  some  prayers,  the  devout 
saying  of  them  being  a  mean  to  procure  great  indulgences. 
The  granting  these  is  f.^ft  to  the  pope's  discretion,  who  ought 
to  distribute  them  as  he  thinks  may  tend  most  to  the  honour 
of  God,  and  the  good  of  the  church ;  and  he  ought  not  to  be 
too  profuse,  much  less  to  be  too  scanty,  in  dispensing  them. 

This  has  been  the  received  doctrine  and  practice  of  the 
church  of  Rome  since  the  twelfth  century ;  and  the  council 
of  Trent*  in  a  hurry,  in  its  last  session,  did  in  very  general 
words  approve  of  the  practice  of  the  church  in  this  matter, 
and  decreed  that  indulgences  should  be  continued ;  only  they 
restrained  some  abuses,  in  particular  that  of  selling  them; 
yet  even  those  restraints  were  wholly  referred  to  the  popes 
themselves :  so  that  this  crying  abuse,  the  scandal  of  which 
had  occasioned  the  first  beginnings  and  progress  of  the  Refor- 
mation, was  upon  the  matter  established ;  and  the  correcting 
the  excesses  in  it  was  trusted  to  those  who  had  been  the  au- 
thors of  them,  and  the  chief  gainers  by  them.  This  point  of 
their  doctrine  is  more  fully  opened  than  might  perhaps  seem 
necessary,  if  it  were  not  that  a  great  part  of  the  confutation  of 
some  doctrines  is  the  exposing  of  them.  For  though  in  ages 
and  places  of  ignorance  these  things  have  been,  and  still  are, 

•  '  Derretum  de  Indulgentiis. 

'  Cum  potestas  conferendi  indulgentias  a  Christo  ecclesiae  coneessa  sit ;  atque 
hujusmodi  potestatc,  divinitus  sibi  tradita,  antiquissimis  etiam  temporibus  ilia  usa 
fuerit  :  sacrosancta  synodus  indulgentiarum  usum,  Christiano  populo  maxime  salu- 
tarem,  et  sacrorum  conciliorum  auctoritate  probatum,  in  ecclesia  retinendum  esse 
docet  et  praecipit ;  eosque  anathemate  damnat,  qui  aut  inutiles  esse  asserunt,  vel 
eas  concedendi  in  ecclesia  potestatem  esse  negant :  in  his  tamen  concedendis  mo- 
derationem,  juxta  veterem  et  probatam  in  ecclesia  consuetudinem,  adhiberi  cupit ; 
ne  nimia  facilitate  ecclesiastica  disciplina  enervetur.  Abusus  vero,  qui  in  his  ir- 
repserunt,  et  quorum  occasione  insigne  hoc  indulgentiarum  nomen  ab  haereticis 
blasphematur,  emendatos  et  correctos  cupiens,  praesenti  decreto  generaliter  statuit 
pravos  quaestus  omnes  pro  his  consequendis,  unde  plurima  in  Christiano  populo 
abusuum  causa  fluxit,  omnino  abolendos  esse.  Caeteros  vero,  qui  ex  superstitione, 
ignorantia,  irreverentia,  aut  aliunde  quomodocumque  provenerunt,  cum  ob  multi- 
plices  locorum  et  provinciarum,  apud  quas  hi  committuntur,  corruptelas  commode 
nequeant  specialiter  prohiberi ;  mandat  omnibus  episcopis,  ut  diligenter  quisque 
hujusmodi  abusus  ecclesiae  suae  colligat,  eosque  in  prima  synodo  provincial  referat : 
ut  aliorum  quoque  episcoporum  sententia  cogniti,  statim  ad  summum  romanum 
pontificem  deferantur ;  cujus  auctoritate  et  prudentia,  quod  universali  ecclesiae  ex- 
pediet,  statuatur ;  ut  ita  sanctarum  indulgentiarum  munus,  pie,  sancte,  et  incor- 
rupte  omnibus  fidelibus  dispensitur.   Satto  xxv. — [Ed.] 


300 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  practised  with  great  assurance,  and  to  very  extravagant  ex- 
XXI1-  cesses ;  yet  in  countries  and  ages  of  more  light,  when  they 
come  to  be  questioned,  they  are  disowned  with  an  assurance 
equal  to  that  with  which  they  are  practised  elsewhere. 
Among  us  some  will  perhaps  say,  that  these  are  only  ex- 
emptions from  penance;  which  cannot  be  denied  to  be  within 
the  power  of  the  church ;  and  they  argue,  that  though  it  is 
very  fit  to  make  severe  laws,  yet  the  execution  of  these  must 
be  softened  in  practice.  This  is  all  that  they  pretend  to 
justify,  and  they  give  up  any  further  indulgences  as  an  abuse 
of  corrupt  times.  Whereas  at  the  same  time  a  very  different 
doctrine  is  taught  among  them,  where  there  is  no  danger,  but 
much  profit,  in  owning  it.  All  this  is  only  a  pretence;  for  the 
episcopal  power,  in  the  inflicting,  abating,  or  commuting  of 
penance,  is  stated  among  them  as  a  thing  wholly  different 
from  the  power  of  indulgences.  They  are  derived  from  dif- 
ferent originals ;  and  designed  for  ends  totally  different  from 
one  another.  The  one  is  for  the  outward  discipline  of  the 
church,  and  the  other  is  for  the  inward  quiet  of  consciences, 
and  in  order  to  their  future  state.  The  one  is  in  every 
bishop,  and  the  other  is  asserted  to  be  peculiar  to  the  pope. 
Nor  will  they  escape  by  laying  this  matter  upon  the  ignorance 
and  abuses  of  former  times.  It  was  published  in  bulls,  and 
received  by  the  whole  church :  so  that  if  either  the  pope,  or 
the  diffusive  body  of  the  church  are  infallible,  there  must  be 
such  a  power  in  the  pope ;  and  the  decree  of  the  council  of 
Trent  confirming  and  approving  the  practice  of  the  church  in 
that  point,  must  bind  them  all.  For  if  this  doctrine  is  false, 
then  their  infallibility  must  go  with  it ;  for  in  every  hypothe- 
sis in  which  infallibility  is  said  to  be  lodged,  whether  in  the 
pope  or  in  councils,  this  doctrine  has  that  seal  to  it. 

As  for  the  doctrine  itself,  all  that  has  been  already  said 
against  the  distinction  of  temporal  and  eternal  punishment, 
and  against  purgatory,  overthrows  it;  since  the  one  is  the 
foundation  on  which  it  is  built,  and  the  other  is  that  which  it 
pretends  to  secure  men  from :  and  therefore  this  falls  with 
those.  All  that  was  said  upon  the  head  of  the  sufficiency  of 
the  scriptures  comes  also  in  here ;  for  if  the  scriptures  ought 
to  be  our  rule  in  any  thing,  it  must  be  chiefly  in  those  mat- 
ters which  relate  to  the  pardon  of  sin,  to  the  quiet  of  our 
consciences,  and  to  a  future  state.  Therefore  a  doctrine  and 
practice  that  have  not  so  much  as  colours  from  scripture 
in  a  matter  of  such  consequence,  ought  to  be  rejected  by  us 
upon  this  single  account.  If  from  the  scripture  we  go  to  the 
practice  and  tradition  of  the  church,  we  are  sure  that  this  was 
not  thought  on  for  above  ten  centuries ;  all  the  indulgences 
that  were  then  known  being  only  the  abatements  of  the 
severity  of  the  penitentiary  canons ;  but  in  the  ages  in  which 
aspiring  and  insolent  popes  imposed  on  ignorant  and  super- 
stitious multitudes,  a  jumble  was  made  of  indulgences  for- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  301 


merly  granted,  of  purgatory,  and  of  the  papal  authority,  that  ART. 
was  then  very  implicitly  submitted  to;  and  so  out  of  all  that  XXI1- 
mixture  this  arose  ;  which  was  as  ill  managed  as  it  was  ill 
grounded.  The  natural  tendency  of  it  is  not  only  to  relax  all 
public  discipline,  but  also  all  secret  penance,  when  shorter 
methods  to  peace  and  pardon  may  be  more  easily  purchased. 
The  vast  application  to  the  executing  the  many  trifling  per- 
formances to  which  indulgences  are  granted,  has  brought  in 
among  them  such  a  prostitution  of  holy  things,  that  either  it 
must  be  said  that  those  are  public  cheats,  and  that  they  were 
so  from  the  beginning,  or  that  their  virtue  is  now  exhausted, 
though  the  bulls  that  grrnt  them  are  perpetual;  or  else  a  man 
may  on  very  easy  terms  preserve  himself  and  redeem  his 
friends  out  of  purgatory.  If  the  saying  a  prayer  before  a  pri- 
vileged altar,  or  the  visiting  some  churches  in  the  time  of 
jubilee,  with  those  slight  devotions  that  are  then  enjoined, 
have  such  efficacy  in  them,  it  is  scarce  possible  for  any  man  to 
be  in  danger  of  purgatory. 

The  third  head  rejected  in  this  Article  is  the  worshipping  of 
images.  Here  those  of  the  church  of  Rome  complain  much 
of  the  charge  of  idolatry,  that  our  church  has  laid  upon  them, 
so  fully  and  so  severely  in  the  Homilies.  Some  among  our- 
selves have  also  thought  that  we  must  either  renounce  that 
charge,  or  that  we  must  deny  the  possibility  of  salvation  in 
that  church,  and  in  consequence  to  that  conclude,  that  neither 
the  baptism  nor  the  orders  of  that  church  are  valid :  for  since 
idolaters  are  excluded  from  the  kingdom  of  heaven,  they 
argue,  that  if  there  can  be  no  salvation  where  idolatry  is  com- 
mitted by  the  whole  body  of  a  church,  then  that  can  be  no 
church,  and  in  it  there  is  no  salvation.  But  here  we  are  to 
consider,  before  we  enter  upon  the  specialities  of  this  matter, 
that  idolatry  is  a  general  word,  which  comprehends  many  se- 
veral sorts  and  ranks  of  sins  under  it.  As  lying  is  capable  of 
many  degrees,  from  an  officious  lie  to  the  swearing  falsely 
against  the  life  of  an  innocent  man  in  judgment :  the  one  is 
the  lowest,  and  the  other  is  the  highest  act  of  that  kind ;  but 
all  are  lying :  and  yet  it  would  appear  an  unreasonable  thing 
to  urge  every  thing  that  is  said  of  any  act  in  general,  and 
whioh  belongs  to  the  highest  acts  of  it,  as  if  all  the  inferior 
degrees  did  necessarily  involve  the  guilt  of  the  highest.  There 
is  another  distinction  to  be  made  between  actions,  as  they 
signify  either  of  themselves,  or  by  the  public  constructions 
that  are  put  on  them,  by  those  who  authorize  them,  and  those 
same  actions  as  they  may  be  privately  intended  by  particular 
persons.  We,  in  our  weighing  of  things,  are  only  to  consider 
what  actions  signify  of  their  own  nature,  or  by  public  autho- 
rity, and  according  to  that  we  must  form  our  judgments  about 
them,  and  in  particular  in  the  point  of  idolatry :  but  as  for  the 
secret  thoughts  or  intentions  of  men,  we  must  leaAre  these  to 
the  judgment  of  God,  who  only  knows  them,  and  who  being 


302 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  infinitely  gracious,  slow  to  anger,  and  ready  to  forgive,  will, 
XXII.  we  do  not  doubt,  make  all  the  abatements  in  the  weighing 
men's  actions  that  there  is  reason  for.  But  we  ought  not  to 
enter  into  that  matter ;  we  ought  neither  to  aggravate  nor  to 
mollify  things  too  much :  we  are  to  judge  of  things  as  they 
are  in  themselves,  and  to  leave  the  case  of  men's  intentions 
and  secret  notions  to  that  God  who  is  to  judge  them.  As  for 
the  business  of  images,  we  know  that  the  heathens  had  them 
of  several  sorts.  Some  they  believed  were  real  resemblances 
of  those  deities  that  they  worshipped :  those  divinities  had 
been  men,  and  the  statues  made  for  them  resembled  them. 
Other  images  they  believed  had  a  divine  virtue  affixed  to  them, 
perhaps  from  the  stars,  which  were  believed  to  be  gods ;  and 
it  was  thought  that  the  influences  of  their  aspects  and  posi- 
tions were  by  secret  charms  called  down,  and  fastened  to  some 
figures.  Other  images  were  considered  as  emblems  and  re- 
presentations of  their  deities :  so  that  they  only  gave  them 
occasion  to  represent  them  to  their  thoughts.  These  images, 
thus  of  different  sorts,  were  all  worshipped ;  some  more,  some 
less :  they  kneeled  before  them ;  they  prayed  to  them,  and 
made  many  oblations  to  them ;  they  set  lights  before  them, 
and  burnt  incense  to  them ;  they  set  them  in  their  temples, 
market-places,  and  highways ;  and  they  had  them  in  their 
houses :  they  set  them  off  with  much  pomp,  and  had  many 
processions  to  their  honour.  But  in  all  this,  though  it  is  like 
the  vulgar  among  them  might  have  gross  thoughts  of  those 
images,  yet  the  philosophers,  not  only  after  the  Christian  re- 
ligion had  obliged  them  to  consider  well  of  that  matter,  and 
to  express  themselves  cautiously  about  it;  but  even  while 
they  were  in  the  peaceable  possession  of  the  world,  did  believe 
that  the  deity  was  not  in  the  image,  but  was  only  represented 
by  it ;  that  the  deity  was  worshipped  in  the  image,  so  that  the 
honour  done  the  image  did  belong  to  the  deity  itself.  Here 
then  were  two  false  opinions :  the  one  was  concerning  those 
deities  themselves ;  the  other  was  concerning  this  way  of  wor- 
shipping them ;  and  both  were  blamed ;  not  only  the  wor- 
shipping a  false  god,  but  the  worshipping  that  god  by  an 
image.  If  idolatry  had  only  consisted  in  the  acknowledging 
a  false  god,  and  if  the  worshipping  the  true  God  in  an  image 
had  not  been  idolatry,  then  all  the  fault  of  the  heathenish 
idolaters  should  have  consisted  in  this,  that  they  worshipped 
a  false  god ;  but  their  worshipping  images  should  not  of  itself 
have  been  an  additional  fault.  But  in  opposition  to  this,  what 
can  we  think  of  those  full  and  copious  words,  in  which  God 
did  not  only  forbid  the  having  of  false  gods,  but  the  making  of 
Ex.  xx.  4,  '  a  graven  image,  or  the  likeness  of  any  thing  in  heaven,  in 
£•  earth,  or  under  the  earth  ?'  The  '  bowing  down  to  it,  and  the 

worshipping  it,'  are  also  forbid.  Where,  besides  the  copious- 
ness of  these  words,  we  are  to  consider,  that  Moses,  in  the 
rehearsal  of  that  law  in  Deuteronomy,  does  over  and  over 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


303 


again  add  and  insist  on  this,  that  '  they  saw  no  manner  of  si-  ART. 
militude,'  when  God  spoke  to  them,  'lest  they  should  corrupt  XXU- 
themselves,  and  make  to  them  a  graven  image an  enumera-  D  ut  ir 
tion  is  made  of  many  different  likenesses ;  and  after  that  13, 15,  17, 
comes  another  species  of  idolatry,  '  the  worshipping  the  host  ^3- 
of  heaven ;'  and  therefore  Moses  charges  them  in  that  chapter  30e  '  x"' 
again  and  again  'to  take  heed,  to  take  good  heed  to  themselves,  Levitxxvi. 
lest  they  should  forget  the  covenant  of  the  Lord  their  God,      ^  . 
and  make  them  a  graven  image:'  and  he  lays  the  same  charge  22      •  " 
a  third  time  upon  them  in  the  same  chapter.    A  special  law 
is  also  given  against  the  most  innocent  of  all  the  images  that 
could  be  made  :  they  were  required  not  only  not  to  have  idols, 
nor  graven  images,  but  '  not  to  rear  up  a  standing  image  or 
pillar ;  nor  to  set  up  anv  image  of  stone,  or  any  carved  stone  ;' 
such  were  the  Baitulia  ;  the  least  tempting  or  ensnaring  of  all 
idols  :  'they  were  not  to  bow  down  before  it ;'  and  the  reason 
given  is,  '  For  I  am  the  Lord  your  God.'    The  importance  of 
those  laws  will  appear  clearer,  if  they  are  compared  with  the 
practice  of  those  times,  and  particularly  in  those  symbolical 
images,  which  were  sacred  emblems  and  hieroglyphics,  that 
were  not  meant  to  be  a  true  representation  of  the  Divine 
Being,  but  were  a  combination  of  many  symbols,  intended  to 
represent  at  once  to  the  thoughts  of  the  worshipper  many  of 
the  perfections  of  God  :  these  were  most  particularly  practised 
in  Egypt,  and  to  them  the  copiousness  of  the  Second  Com- 
mandment seems  to  have  a  particular  respect,  such  having 
been  the  images  which  they  had  lately  seen,  and  which  seem 
the  most  excusable  of  all  others :  when,  I  say,  all  this  is  laid 
together,  with  the  commandment  itself,  and  with  those  other 
laws  that  accompany  and  explain  it,  nothing  seems  more  evi- 
dent, than  that  God  intended  to  forbid  all  outward  represen- 
tations, that  should  be  set  up  as  the  objects  of  worship.  It 
is  also  very  plain,  that  the  prophets  expostulated  with  the 
people  of  Israel  for  their  carved  and  molten  images,  as  well  as 
for  their  false  gods :  and  among  the  reasons  given  against 
images,  one  is  often  repeated,  '  To  whom  will  ye  liken  me  ?'  isaiah  «i. 
which  seerns  to  import,  that  by  these  images  they  represented  18—27. 
the  living  God.    And  Isaiah  often,  as  also  both  Jeremiah  and  2j* 
Habakkuk,  when  they  set  forth  the  folly  of  making  an  image,  i_i7, 
of  praying  to  it,  and  trusting  in  it,  bring  in  the  greatness  and  Hab.  ii.  18, 
glory  of  the  living  God,  in  opposition  to  these  images.    Now    '  20- 
though  it  is  possible  enough  to  apprehend,  how  that  the  Jews 
might  make  images  in  imitation  of  the  heathen,  to  represent 
that  God  whom  they  served ;  yet  it  is  no  way  credible  that 
they  could  have  fallen  into  such  a  degree  of  stupidity,  as  to 
fancy  that  a  piece  of  wood,  which  they  had  carved  into  such 
a  figure,  was  a  real  deity.    They  might  think  it  a  god  by  re- 
presentation, as  the  heathens  thought  their  idols  were ;  but 
more  than  this  cannot  be  easily  apprehended.    So  that  it  is 
most  reasonable  to  think,  that  they  knew  the  God  they  had  thus 


304 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART. 
XXII. 


Ex.  xxxii. 
1,  4,  5. 


Aclsvii.41 
Psal.  cvi. 
19,  20. 


1  Kings 
xii.  27— 
33. 


1  Kings 
xvi.  31. 

2  Kings  x. 
28,  29. 


Hos.viii.4, 
5. 


made,  and  prayed  to,  was  only  a  piece  of  wood ;  but  they 
might  well  fall  into  that  corruption  of  many  of  the  heathen, 
of  thinking  that  they  honoured  God  by  serving  him  in  such  an 
image.  If  the  sin  of  the  Jews  was  only  their  having  other 
gods  ;  and  if  the  worshipping  an  image  was  only  evil,  because 
a  false  deity  was  honoured  by  it,  why  is  image-woi&hip  con- 
demned, with  reasons  that  will  hold  full  as  strong  against  the 
images  of  the  true  God,  as  of  false  gods,  if  it  had  not  been  in- 
tended to  condemn  simply  all  image-worship  ?  Certainly,  if 
the  prophets  had  intended  to  have  done  it,  they  could  not 
have  expressed  themselves  more  clearly  and  more  fully  than 
they  did. 

To  this  it  is  to  be  added,  that  it  seems  very  clear  from  the 
history  of  the  golden  calf,  that  the  Israelites  did  not  intend, 
by  setting  it  up,  to  cast  off  the  true  Jehovah,  that  'had 
brought  them  out  of  Egypt/  They  plainly  said  the  contrary, 
and  appointed  a  feast  to  Jehovah.  It  is  probable  they  thought 
Moses  was  either  burnt  or  starved  on  Mount  Sinai,  so  they 
desired  some  visible  representation  of  the  Deity  to  go  before 
them;  they  intended  still  to  serve  him ;  but  since  Lhey  thought 
they  had  lost  their  prophet  and  guide,  they  hoped  that  this 
should  have  been  perhaps  as  a  teraphim  to  them ;  yet  for  all 
this,  the  calf  is  called  an  idol :  and  they  are  said  £  to  have 
changed  their  glory  into  the  similitude  of  an  ox  that  eateth 
grass.'  So  that  here  an  emblem  of  the  Deity  is  called  an  idoL 
They  could  take  the  calf  {or  no  other,  but  as  a  visible  sign  or 
symbol  in  which  they  intended  to  worship  their  God  or  Elo- 
him;  and  the  Lord  or  Jehovah.  Such  very  probably  were 
also  the  calves  of  Dan  and  Bethel,  set  up  by  Jeroboam,  who 
seemed  to  have  no  design  to  change  the  object  of  their  wor- 
ship, or  the  nature  of  their  religion  ;  but  only  to  divert  them 
from  going  up  to  Jerusalem,  and  to  furnish  them  with  conve- 
niences to  worship  the  living  God  nearer  home.  His  design 
was  only  to  establish  the  kingdom  to  himself;  and  in  order 
to  that,  we  must  think,  that  he  would  venture  on  no  more 
than  was  necessary  for  his  purpose  Besides,  we  do  clearly 
see  an  opposition  made  between  the  calves  set  up  by  Jero- 
boam, and  the  wrorship  of  Baal  brought  from  Tyrus  by  Ahab. 
Those  who  hated  that  idolatry,  such  as  Jehu  and  his  familv, 
yet  continued  in  the  sin  of  Jeroboam ;  and  they  are  repre- 
sented as  '  zealous  for  Jehovah/  though  they  worshipped  the 
calves  of  Dan  and  Bethel.  These  are  called  idols  by  Hosea. 
From  all  which  it  seems  to  be  very  evident  that  the  ten  tribes 
still  feared  and  worshipped  the  true  Jehovah.  This  appears 
yret  more  clear  from  the  sequel  of  their  history,  when  they 
were  carried  away  by  the  kings  of  Assyria ;  and  new  inhabit- 
ants were  sent  to  people  the  country,  who  brought  their  idols 
along  with  them,  and  did  not  acknowledge  e  Jehovah  the  true 
God but  upon  thf  i]  being  plagued  with  Hons,  to  prevent 
this,  the  king  of  Assyria  sent  one  of  the  priests,  that  had  been 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


305 


carried  out  of  the  country,  who  taught  them  how  they  should  ART. 
'fear  the  Lord:'  out  of  which  that  mixture  arose,  that  they  XXII: 
'  feared  the  Lord,  and  served  their  own  images.'    This  proves,  2~Kin^ 
beyond  all  contradiction,  that  the  ten  tribes  did  still  worship  xvii.  28, 
Jehovah  in  those  calves  that  they  had  at  Dan  and  Bethel :  32,  41- 
and  thus  it  appears  very  clear,  that,  through  the  whole  Old 
Testament  the  use  of  all  images  in  worship  was  expressly 
forbid ;  and  that  the  worshipping  them,  even  when  the  true 
God  was  worshipped  by  them,  was  called  idolatry.  The 
words  in  which  this  matter  is  expressed  are  copious  and  full, 
and  the  reasons  given  for  the  precept  are  taken  from  the  na- 
ture of  God,  who  could  be  likened  to  nothing,  and  who  had 
sh  ,ved  no  similitude  of  himself  when  he  appeared  to  their 
fat  lers,  and  delivered  their  law  to  them. 

The  new  dispensation  does  in  all  respects  carry  the  ideas  of 
God  and  of  true  religion  much  higher,  and  raises  them  much 
above  those  compliances  that  were  in  the  old,  to  men's  senses, 
and  to  sensitive  natures ;  and  it  would  seem  to  contradict  the 
whole  design  of  it,  if  we  could  imagine  that  such  things  were 
allowed  in  it,  which  were  so  expressly  forbid  in  the  old. 
Upon  this  occasion  it  is  remarkable,  that  the  two  fullest  pas- 
sages in  the  New  Testament  concerning  images,  are  written 
upon  the  occasion  of  the  most  refined  idolatry  that  was  then 
in  the  world,  which  was  at  Athens.  When  St.  Paul  was 
there,  his  spirit  was  moved  within  him,  when  he  saw  that  city 
'  full  of  idols  :'  he  upon  that  charges  them  for  thinking  that  Acts  ivii. 
the  '  Godhead  was  like  unto  gold  or  silver,  or  stone  graven  16' 24— 
by  art  or  man's  device :'  he  argues  from  the  majesty  of  God, 2  ' 
who  made  the  world  and  all  things  therein,  and  was  the  Lord 
of  heaven  and  earth,  and  therefore  was  not  to  be  'shipped  by 
men's  hands  (that  is,  images  made  by  them),  who  needed 
nothing,  since  he  gives  us  life,  breath  (or  the  continuance  of 
life),  and  all  things.'  He  therefore  condemns  that  way  of 
worship  as  an  effect  of  ignorance,  and  tells  them,  '  of  a  day  in 
which  God  will  judge  the  world.'  It  is  certain  that  the  Athe- 
nians at  that  time  did  not  think  their  images  were  the  proper 
resemblances  of  the  Divinity.  Tully,  who  knew  their  theo-  Cic.deNat. 
logy  well,  gives  us  a  very  different  account  of  the  notion  that  J^01^' 
they  had  of  their  images.  Some  images  were  of  no  figure  at  cap* 
all,  but  were  only  stones  and  pillars  that  had  no  particular 
shape;  others  were  hieroglyphics  made  up  of  many  several 
emblems,  of  which  some  signified  one  perfection  of  the  Deity, 
and  some  another ;  and  others  were  indeed  the  figures  of  men 
and  women ;  but  even  in  these  the  wiser  among  them  said, 
they  worshipped  one  Eternal  Mind,  and  under  him  some 
inferior  beings,  demons,  and  men ;  who  they  believed  were 
subordinate  to  God,  and  governed  this  world.  So  it  could 
not  be  said  of  such  worshippers,  that  they  thought  that  the 
Godhead  was  like  unto  their  images ;  since  the  best  writers 
among  them  tell  us  plainly  that  they  thought  no  such  thing. 

x 


306 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  St.  Paul  therefore  only  argues  in  this  against  image- worship 
XXII>  in  itself,  which  does  naturally  lead  men  to  these  low  thoughts 
of  God ;  and  which  is  a  very  unreasonable  thing  in  all  those 
who  do  not  think  so  of  him.  It  is  contrary  to  the  nature  and 
perfections  of  God :  few  men  can  think  God  is  like  to  those 
images,  therefore  that  is  a  very  good  argument  against  all 
worshipping  of  them.  And  we  may  upon  very  sure  grounds 
say  that  the  Athenians  had  such  elevated  notions  both  of 
God  and  of  their  images,  that  whatsoever  was  a  good  argu- 
ment against  image-worship  among  them,  will  hold  good 
against  all  image-worship  whatsoever. 

But  as  St.  Paul  stayed  long  enough  at  Athens  to  under- 
stand their  opinions  well,  and  that  no  doubt  he  learned  their 
doctrine  very  particularly  from  his  convert  Dionysius,  so  at 
his  coining  to  Corinth  from  thence,  when  he  had  learned  from 
Aquila  and  Priscilla  the  state  of  the  church  in  Rome,  and  no 
doubt  had  learned  among  other  things  that  the  Romans  ad- 
mired the  Greeks,  and  made  them  their  patterns ;  he  in  the 
beginning  of  his  Epistle  to  them,  having  still  deep  impres- 
sions upon  his  spirit  of  what  he  had  seen  and  known  at 
Athens,  arraigns  the  whole  Greek  philosophy ;  and  especially 
Rom.  i.  20  those  among  them  c  who  professed  themselves  wise,  but  be- 
came fools ;  who  though  they  knew  God,  yet  glorified  him 
not  as  God,  nor  were  thankful;  but  became  vain  in  their 
imaginations,  so  that  their  foolish  heart  was  darkened.'  They 
had  high  speculations  of  the  unity  and  simplicity  of  the 
Divine  Essence;  but  they  set  themselves  to  find  such  excuses 
for  the  idolatry  of  the  vulgar,  that  they  not  only  continued  to 
comply  with  them  in  the  grossest  of  all  their  practices,  but 
they  studied  more  laboured  defences  for  them,  than  the  ruder 
multitudes  could  ever  have  fallen  upon.  They  knew  the  true 
God;  for  God  had  shewed  to  them  'that  which  might  be 
known  of  him :  but  they  held  the  truth  in  unrighteousness, 
and  changed  the  glory  of  the  incorruptible  God  into  an  image 
made  like  to  corruptible  man,  and  to  birds  and  four-footed 
beasts,  and  to  creeping  things :'  which  seems  to  be  a  descrip- 
tion of  hieroglyphic  figures,  the  most  excusable  of  all  those 
images  by  which  they  represented  the  Deity.  This  St.  Paul 
makes  to  be  the  original  of  all  the  corruption  and  immorality 
that  was  spread  over  the  Gentile  world,  which  came  in,  partly 
as  the  natural  consequence  of  idolatry,  of  its  debasing  the  ideas 
of  God,  and  wounding  true  religion  and  virtue  in  its  source 
and  first  seeds,  and  partly  as  an  effect  of  the  just  judgments 
of  God  upon  those  who  thus  dishonoured  him,  that  was  to  a 
very  monstrous  degree  spread  over  both  Greece  and  Rome. 
Of  these  St.  Paul  gives  us  some  very  enormous  instances, 
with  a  catalogue  of  the  vices  that  sprang  from  those  vitiated 
principles.  These  two  passages,  the  one  of  St.  Paul's  preach- 
ing, and  the  other  of  his  writing,  being  both  applied  to  those 
who  had  the  finest  speculations  among  the  heathen,  do  evi- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


307 


dently  demonstrate  how  contrary  the  Christian  doctrine  is  to  ART. 
the  worshipping  of  images  of  all"  sorts,  how  speciously  soever  XXIL 
that  may  be  disguised. 

If  these  things  wanted  an  explanation,  we  find  it  given  us 
very  fully  in  all  the  writings  of  the  fathers  during  their  dis- 
putes with  the  heathens.  They  do  not  only  charge  them 
with  the  false  notions  that  they  had  of  God,  the  many  deities 
they  worshipped,  the  absurd  legends  that  they  had  concern- 
ing them ;  but  in  particular  they  dwell  long  upon  this  of  the 
worshipping  God  in  or  by  an  image,  with  arguments  taken 
both  from  the  pure  and  spiritual  nature  of  God,  and  from  the 
plain  revelation  he  made  of  his  will  in  this  matter.  Upon 
this  argument  many  long  citations  might  be  gathered  from 
Justin  Martyr,  from  Clemens*  of  Alexandria,  Origen,  Tertul- 
lian,  Cyprian,  Arnobius,  Minutius  Felix,  Lactantius,  Eusebius, 
Ambrose,  and  St.  Austin.  Their  reasonings  are  so  clear  and 
so  full,  that  nothing  can  be  more  evident  than  that  they  con- 
demned all  the  use  of  images  in  the  worship  of  God :  and  yet 
both  Celsus,  Porphyry,  Maximus  Tyrius,  and  Julian,  told 
them  very  plainly,  that  they  did  not  believe  that  the  God- 
head was  like  their  images,  or  was  shut  up  within  them;  they 
only  used  them  as  helps  to  their  imagination  and  apprehen- 
sion, that  from  thence  they  might  form  suitable  thoughts  of 
the  Deity.  This  did  not  satisfy  the  fathers,  who  insisted  on 
it  to  the  last,  that  all  such  images  as  were  made  the  objects 
of  worship  were  idols ;  so  that  if  in  any  one  thing  we  have  a 
very  full  account  of  the  sense  of  the  whole  church  for  the  first 
four  centuries,  it  is  in  this  matter.  They  do  not  speak  of  it 
now  and  then  only  by  the  way,  as  in  a  digression;  in  which 
the  heat  of  argument,  or  of  rhetoric,  may  be  apt  to  carry  men 
too  far:  they  set  themselves  to  treat  of  this  argument  very 
nicely;  and  they  were  engaged  in  it  with  philosophers,  who 
were  as  good  at  subtleties  and  distinctions  as  other  men. 
This  was  one  of  the  main  parts  of  the  controversy :  so,  if 
in  any  head  whatsoever,  they  writ  exactly  upon  those  sub- 
jects. They  attacked  the  established  religion  of  the  Roman 
empire ;  and  this  was  not  to  be  done  with  clamour,  nor  could 
they  offer  at  it  in  a  plain  contradiction  to  such  principles  as 
are  consistent  with  the  Christian  religion,  if  the  doctrine  of 
the  Roman  church  is  true.  Here  then  we  have  not  only  the 
scripture  but  tradition  fully  of  our  side. 

Some  pretended  Christians,  it  is  true,  did  very  early  wor- 
ship images  ;  but  those  were  the  Gnostics,  held  in  detestation 
by  all  the  orthodox.    Ireneeus,  Epiphanius,  and  St.  Austin  Iren.  1  L 
tell  us,  that  they  worshipped  the  images  of  Christ,  together  E'  ^ 

*  Just.  Mart.  Apol.  I.  i.  c.  5.   Clem.  Alex.  Strom.  1.  i.  c.  15.   Protr.  Orig.  cont.  Heeres.  27. 
Cels.l.  i.  sect.  2,  3,  5,  7.    Tertull.  Apol.c.  12.    Cypr.  de  Idol.  Vanitate.    Amob.  August  da 
lib.  v.    Minut.  Felix.  Oct.  c.  18.    Euseb.  Praep.  Evang.  1.  iii.    Lactan.  1.  ii.  c.  2. 
Ambros.ad.  Valent.  Imperat.  relat.  Sym.  respond.  Epist.  31.    August,  de  Civitate  caP* 
Dei,  1.  vii.  c.  5. 

Orig.  con.  Cels.  1.  vii.  c.  44.    Euseb.  Praep.  Ev.  L  iii.  c.  4.    Max.  Tyr.  diss.  30. 
Jul.  Frag.  Ep.  Euseb.  Praep.  Evang.  1.  iv.  o.  1. 

x2 


308 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  with  Pythagoras,  Plato,  and  Aristotle:  nor  are  they  only 
XXIt-    blamed  for  worshipping  the  images  of  Christ,  together  with 
these  of  the  philosophers ;  but  they  are  particularly  blamed 
for  having  several  sorts  of  images,  and  worshipping  these 
as  the  heathens  did;  and  that  among  these  there  was  an 
image  of  Christ,  which  they  pretended  to  have  had  from 
Pilate.    Besides  these  corrupters  of  Christianity,  there  were 
no  others  among  the  Christians  of  the  first  ages  that  wor- 
shipped images.    This  was  so  well  known  to  the  heathens, 
that  they  bring  this,  among  other  things,  as  a  reproach 
against  the  Christians,  that  they  had  no  images :  which  the 
first  apologists  are  so  far  from  denying,  that  they  answered 
them,  that  it  was  impossible  for  him  who  knew  God,  to 
worship  images.    But  as  human  nature  is  inclined  to  visible 
objects  of  worship,  so  it  seems  some  began  to  paint  the  walls 
of  their  churches  with  pictures,  or  at  least  moved  for  it.  In 
the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century  this  was  condemned  by 
the  council  of  Eliberis,  Can.  36.  It  pleases  us  to  have  no 
pictures  in  churches,  lest  that  which  is  worshipped  should  be 
painted  upon  the  walls.    Towards  the  end  of  that  century,  we 
£piph.  Ep.  have  an  account  given  us  by  Epiphanius,  of  his  indignation 
ad  Joan,    occasioned  by  a  picture  that  he  saw  upon  a  veil  at  Anablatha. 
He  did  not  much  consider  whose  picture  it  was,  whether  a 
picture  of  Christ  or  of  some  saint;  he  positively  affirms  it  was 
against  the  authority  of  the  scriptures,  and  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, and  therefore  he  tore  it,  but  supplied  that  church  with 
another  veil.    It  seems,  private  persons  had  statues  of  Christ 
and  the  apostles ;  which  Eusebius  censures,  where  he  reports 
Euseb.     it  as  a  remnant  of  heathenism.*  It  is  plain  enough  from  some 
Tvii  c  18  Passages  hi  St.  Austin,  that  he  knew  of  no  images  in  churches 
Aug.  in.    in  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century.    It  is  true,  they  began 
Ps.  cxiii.   to  be  brought  before  that  time  into  some  of  the  churches  of 
E^dc'ath.  P°ntus  and  Cappadocia,  which  was  done  very  probably  to 
c  34. 

*  The  following  is  the  passage  from  Eusebius  referred  to  by  our  author: 
'  In  so  much  as  we  have  made  mention  of  this  city,  Paneas,  I  think  I  shall  offend 
if  I  pass  over  with  silence  a  certain  history  worthy  to  be  related  to  the  posterity. 
The  report  goeth,  that  the  woman  whose  bloody  flux  we  learn  to  have  been  cured 
by  our  Saviour  in  the  gospel,  was  of  the  aforesaid  city,  and  that  her  house  is  there 
to  be  seen,  and  a  worthy  monument  yet  there  to  continue  of  the  benefit  conferred 
by  our  Saviour  upon  her.  That  there  standeth  over  an  high  stone,  right  over 
against  the  door  of  her  house,  an  image  of  brass  resembling  the  form  of  a  woman 
kneeling  upon  her  knees,  holding  her  hands  before  her,  after  the  manner  of  suppli- 
cation. Again,  that  there  standeth  over  against  this  another  image  of  a  man 
molten  of  the  same  metal,  comely  arrayed  in  a  short  vesture,  stretching  forth  his 
hand  unto  the  woman,  at  whose  feet  in  the  same  pillar  there  groweth  up  from  the 
ground  a  certain  unknown  kind  of  herb  in  the  height  unto  the  hem  of  the  brazen 
image's  vesture,  curing  all  kinds  of  maladies.  This  picture  of  the  man,  they  report 
to  be  the  image  of  Jesus.  It  hath  continued  unto  our  time,  and  is  to  be  seen  of  tra- 
vellers that  frequent  the  same  city.  Neither  is  it  any  marvel  at  all,  that  they  which 
of  the  Gentiles  were  cured  by  our  Saviour,  made  and  set  up  such  things,  for  that 
we  have  seen  the  pictures  of  his  apostles,  to  wit,  of  Paul,  of  Peter,  and  of  Christ 
himself,  being  graven  in  their  colours,  to  have  been  kept  and  reverenced.  For  the 
men  of  old  of  a  heathenish,  custom,  were  wont  to  honour  after  this  manner  such  as  they 
counted  saviours.' — [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


309 


draw  the  heathens,  by  this  piece  of  conformity  to  them,  to  A  R  T. 
like  the  Christian  worship  the  better.     For  that  humour  xxn- 
began  to  work,  and  appeared  in  many  instances  of  other 
kinds  as  well  as  in  this. 

It  was  not  possible  that  people  could  see  pictures  in  their 
churches  long,  without  paying  some  marks  of  respect  to 
them,  which  grew  in  a  little  time  to  the  downright  worship 
of  them.  A  famous  instance  we  have  of  this  in  the  sixth 
century :  Serenus,  bishop  of  Marseilles,  finding  that  he  could 
not  restrain  his  people  from  the  worship  of  images,  broke 
them  in  pieces ;  upon  which  pope  Gregory  writ  to  him,  Greg, 
blaming  him  indeed  for  breaking  the  images,  but  commending  Epist.  1.  ix, 
him  for  not  allowing  them  to  be  worshipped :  this  he  pro-  Eo<  9* 
secutes  in  a  variety  of  very  plain  expressions ;  It  is  one  thing 
to  worship  an  image,  and  another  thing  to  learn  by  it  what  is  to 
be  worshipped :  he  says  they  were  set  up,  not  to  be  wor- 
shipped, but  to  instruct  the  ignorant,  and  cites  our  Saviour's 
words,  '  Thou  shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  and  him  only 
shalt  thou  serve,'  to  prove  that  it  was  not  lawful  to  worship 
the  work  of  men's  hands.  We  see  by  a  fragment  cited  in  the 
second  Nicene  council,  that  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  took 
advantages  from  the  worship  of  images,  to  reproach  the 
Christians  soon  after  that  time.  The  Jews  were  scandalized 
at  their  worshipping  images,  as  being  expressly  against  the 
command  of  God.  The  Gentiles  had  also  by  it  great  ad- 
vantages of  turning  back  upon  the  Christians  all  that  had 
been  written  against  their  images  in  the  former  ages. 

At  last,  in  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century,  the  famous 
controversy  about  the  having  or  breaking  of  images  grew  hot. 
The  churches  of  Italy  were  so  set  on  the  worshipping  of  them, 
that  pope  Gregory  the  Second*  gives  this  for  the  reason  of 
their  rebelling  against  the  emperor,  because  of  his  opposition 
to  images.  And  here  in  little  more  than  an  hundred  years 
the  see  of  Rome  changed  its  doctrine,  pope  Gregory  the 
Second  being  as  positive  for  the  worshipping  them,  as  the 
first  of  that  name  had  been  against  it.  Violent  contentions 
arose  upon  this  head.  The  breakers  of  images  were  charged 
with  Judaism,  Samaritanism,  and  Manicheism ;  and  the  wor- 
shippers of  them  were  charged  with  Gentilism  and  idolatry. 
One  general  council  at  Constantinople,  consisting  of  about 
three  hundred  and  thirty-eight  bishops,  condemned  the  wor- 
shipping them  as  idolatrous :  but  another  at  Nice,  of  three 
hundred  and  fifty  bishops,  though  others  say  they  were  only 
three  hundred,  asserted  the  worship  of  them.  Yet  as  soon 
as  this  was  known  in  the  west,  how  active  soever  the  see 
of  Rome  was  for  establishing  their  worship,  a  council  of  about 
three  hundred  bishops  met  at  Francfurt,  under  Charles  the 

*  This  is  owned  by  all  the  historians  of  that  age,  Anastasius,  Zonaras,  Cedrenus, 
Glycas,  Theophanes,  Sigebert,  Otho,  Fris.  Urspergensis,  Sigonius,  Rubens,  and 
Ciaconius. 


310 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  RT.  Great,  which  condemned  the  Nicene  council,  together  with  the 
XXI1-  worship  of  images.  The  Gallican  church  insisted  long  upon 
this  matter ;  books  were  published  in  the  name  of  Charles 
the  Great  against  them.  A  council  held  at  Paris  under  his 
son  did  also  condemn  image-worship  as  contrary  to  the  honour 
that  is  due  to  God  only,  and  to  the  commands  that  he 
has  given  us  in  scripture.  The  Nicene  council  was  rejected 
here  in  England,  as  our  historians  tell  us,  because  it  asserted 
the  adoration  of  images,  which  the  church  of  God  abhors. 
Agobard,  bishop  of  Lyons,  and  Claud  of  Turin,  writ  against 
it ;  the  former  writ  with  great  vehemence :  the  learned  men 
of  that  communion  do  now  acknowledge,  that  what  he  writ 
was  according  to  the  sense  of  the  Gallican  church  in  that  age: 
and  even  Jonas  of  Orleans,  who  studied  to  moderate  the  matter, 
and  to  reconcile  the  Gallican  bishops  to  the  see  of  Rome,  yet 
does  himself  declare  against  the  worship  of  images. 

We  are  not  concerned  to  examine  how  it  came  that  all  this 
vigorous  opposition  to  image-worship  went  off  so  soon.  It  is 
enough  to  us,  that  it  was  once  made  so  resolutely ;  let  those 
Act  who  think  it  so  incredible  a  thing,  that  churches  should  depart 
Nic.  2.  D  fr°m  their  received  traditions,  answer  this  as  they  can.  As 
Action.  4,  for  the  methods  then  used,  and  the  arguments  that  were  then 
5,  6,  7.  brought  to  infuse  this  doctrine  into  the  world,  he  who  will 
read  the  history  and  acts  of  the  Nicene  council,  will  find 
enough  to  incline  him  to  a  very  bad  opinion,  both  of  the  men 
and  of  their  doctrine  :  though  he  were  ever  so  much  inclined 
to  think  well  of  them.  After  all,  though  that  council  laid  the 
foundation  of  image-worship,  yet  the  church  of  Rome  has 
made  great  improvements  in  it  since.  Those  of  Nice  ex- 
pressed a  detestation  of  an  image  made  to  represent  the 
Deity ;  they  go  no  higher  than  the  images  of  Christ  and  the 
saints  ;  whereas  since  that  time  the  Deity  and  the  Trinity  have 
been  represented  by  images  and  pictures :  and  that  not  only 
by  connivance,  but  by  authority  in  the  church  of  Rome.  Bel- 
larmine,*  Suarez,  and  others,  prove  the  lawfulness  of  such 
images  from  the  general  practice  of  the  church.  Others  go 
further,  and  from  the  caution  given  in  the  decree  of  the 
council  of  Trent,  concerning  the  images  of  God,  do  infer,  that 
they  are  allowed  by  that  council,  provided  they  be  decently 
made.  Directions  are  also  given  concerning  the  use  of  the 
image  of  the  Trinity  in  public  offices  among  them.  In  a  word, 
all  their  late  doctors  agree,  that  they  are  lawful,  and  reckon 
the  calhng  that  in  question  to  be  not  only  rashness,  but  an 
error ;  and  such  as  have  held  it  unlawful  to  make  such  images 
were  especially  condemned  at  Rome,  December  17,  1690. 
The  varieties  of  those  images,  and  the  boldness  of  them,  are 
things  apt  to  give  horror  to  modest  minds,  not  accustomed  to 

*  Bellarm.  1.  ii.  c.  8.  Do  Relig.  et  imagin.  Sanct.  Suarez.  M.  3.  Ysambert 
de  Mist.  Incarn.  ad  queest.  25.  dis.  3.  Vasquez  in  3  Aquin.  disp.  113.  c.  3.  et  d.sp. 
cxlv.  cc.  3.  4.    Cajetan.  in  3  Aquin.  quaest.  25.  A.  3. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


311 


such  attempts.    It  must  be  acknowledged,  that  the  old  em-  A  RT. 
blematical  images  of  the  Egyptians,  and  the  grosser  ones  now  XXI1, 
used  by  the  Chinese,  are  much  more  instructing,  and  much 
less  scandalous  figures. 

As  the  Roman  church  has  gone  beyond  the  Nicene  council  Con.  Nic. 
in  the  images  that  they  allow  of,  so  they  have  also  gone  be-  A'c^Cg  7" 
yond  them  in  the  degrees  of  the  worship  that  they  offer  to 
them.    At  Nice  the  worship  of  images  was  very  positively 
decreed,  with  anathemas  against  those  who  did  it  not  :*  a  bare 
honour  they  reckoned  was  not  enough.    They  thought  it  was 
a  very  valuable  argument,  that  was  brought  from  those  words 
of  Christ  to  the  Devil,  'Thou  shalt worship  the  Lord  thy  God,  ^f10' 
and  him  only  shalt  thou  serve  f  that  here  service  is  only  ap- 
propriated to  God,  but  not  worship.     Among  the  acts  of 
worship  they  reckon  the  oblation  of  incense  and  lights ;  and 
the  reason  given  by  them  for  all  this  is,  because  the  honour  of 
the  image,  or  type,  passes  to  the  original,  or  prototype ;  so  that 
plain  and  direct  worship  was  to  terminate  on  the  image  itself : 
and  Durandus  passed  for  little  less  than  a  heretic,  because  he  Duran.  in 
thought  that  images  were  worshipped  only  improperly  and  |ej.l™g" 
abusively,  because  at  their  presence  we  call  to  mind  the  object  q'  2.  n.  15, 
represented  by  them,  which  we  worship  before  the  image,  as 
if  the  object  itself  were  before  us. 

The  council  of  Nice  did  plainly  assert  the  direct  worship  of 
images,  but  they  did  as  positively  declare,t  that  they  meant 

•  IVire  2,  Act.  i,    Labbai  et  Cossartii,  vol.  vii.  p.  60.    Paris,  1671.    Adrian  I. 
Pojie,  anno  787. 

'  Sanctae  et  universal]  synodo  Theodosius  exiguus  Cliristianus.  Confiteor,  et 
polliceor,  et  recipio  amplector  atque  adoro  principaliter  intemeratam  iconam  domini 
Nostri  Jesu  Chnsti  veri  Dei  Nostri,  et  iconam  Dei  genetricis,  quae  ilium  sine  Semitic 
peperit ;  et  auxilium  et  protectionem  ejus,  et  intercessiones  illius  unaquaque  die 
ac  nocte  invoco  ut  peccator  in  adjutorium  meum,  tanquam  earn,  quae  habeat 
confidentiam  apud  Christum  Dominum  Nostrum,  qui  ex  ea  natus  est.  Pari  modo 
sanctorum  et  laudabilissimorum  Apostolorum,  prophetarum,  et  martyrum,  et  patrum 
atque  cultorum  eremi  iconas  recipio  et  adoro,  non  tanquam  deos  (absit)  sed  affec- 
tum et  amorem  animae  mess,  quern  habebam  prius  in  eos,  etiam  nunc  ostendens,  rogo 
cunctos  illos  ex  tota  anima  ut  intercedant  pro  me  ad  Deum,  quatenus  det  mihi  per 
intercessiones  eorum  invenire  misericordiam  penes  se  in  die  judicii.  Similiter  et 
lipsana  sanctorum  adoro  et  honoro,  et  amplector,  tanquam  eorum  qui  decertaverint 
pro  Christo,  et  acceperint  gratiam  ab  ipso  ad  sanitatis  efficiendas,  et  languores 
curandos,  et  daemones  ejiciendos,  quemadmodum  ecclesia  Christianorum  suscepit 
a  Sanctis  Apostolis  et  patribus,  et  usque  ad  nos.  Pingi  autem  consentio  in  ecclesiis 
sanctorum  principaliter  iconam  domini  Nostri  Jesu  Chnsti  et  sanctae  Dei  genetricis, 
ex  varia  materia  auri  et  argenti,  et  omni  colore :  ut  carnea  dispensatio  ipsius  om- 
nibus innotescat. —  His  qui  non  adorant,  anathema.  His  qui  audent  detrahere,  &c. 
vel  vocare  illas  idola,  anathema.  His  qui  non  docent  diligenter  cunctum  Christi  ama- 
torem  populum  adorare  venerabiles  iconas,  &c.  Sec.  anathema.' — [Ed.] 

t  Act  7.  Vol.  vii.  p.  556. 

'  Definimus  in  omni  certitudine  ac  diligentia,  sicut  figuram  preciosae  ac  vivificae 
crucis,  ita  venerabiles  ao  sanctas  imagines  proponendas,  tarn  quae  de  coloribus  et 
tessellis,  quam  quse  ex  alia  materia  congruentur  in  Sanctis  Dei  ecclesiis,  et  sacris 
vasis,  et  vestibus,  et  in  parietibus  ac  tabulis,  domibus  et  viis  :  tarn  videlicet  imaginem 
domini  Dei  et  salvatoris  nostri  Jesu  Christi  quam  intemeratae  dominae  nostrae  sanctae 
Dei  genetricis,  honorabilumq.  angelorum,  et  omnium  sanctorum  simul  et  almorum 
virorum.  Quanto  enim  frequentius  per  imaginalem  formationem  videntur,  tanto  qui 
hus  contemplantur,  alacrius  criguntur  ad  primitivorum  earum  memoriam  et  desi- 


312 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  only  that  it  should  be  an  honorary  adoration,  and  not  the  true 
XXII.  latria,  which  was  only  due  to  God.  And  whatever  some 
modern  represcnters  and  expositors  of  the  Roman  doctrine 
may  say,  to  soften  the  harshness  of  the  worship  of  images,  it 
is  very  copiously  proved,  both  from  the  words  of  the  council 
Con.  Nic.  of  Nice,  and  from  all  the  eminent  writers  in  that  communion, 
Act.  2.  even  from  the  time  of  Aquinas,*  and  of  the  modern  schoolmen, 
and  writers  of  controversy,  that  direct  worship  ought  to  be 
offered  to  the  image  itself :  this  reserve  of  the  latria  to  God, 
being  an  evident  proof,  that  all  inferior  acts  of  worship  were 
allowed  them.  But  this  reserve  does  no  way  please  the 
later  writers ;  for  Aquinas,  and  many  from  him  do  teach, 
that  the  same  acts  and  degrees  of  worship  which  are  due 
to  the  original,  are  also  due  to  the  image ;  they  think  an 
image  has  such  a  relation  to  the  original,  that  both  ought  to 
be  worshipped  by  the  same  act,  and  that  to  worship  the  image 
with  any  other  sort  of  acts,  is  to  worship  it  on  its  own  account, 
which  they  think  is  idolatry.  Whereas  others  adhering  to  the 
Nicene  doctrine,  think  that  the  image  is  to  be  worshipped  with 
an  inferior  degree,  that  otherwise  idolatry  must  follow.  So 
here  the  danger  of  idolatry  is  threatened  of  both  sides ;  and 
since  one  of  them  must  be  chosen,  thus  it  will  follow,  that  let 
a  man  do  what  he  can,  he  must  commit  idolatry,  according  to 
the  opinion  of  some  very  subtile  and  learned  men  among  them. 
|°n  Tn<l.  The  council  of  Trent  did  indeed  decline  to  give  a  clear  de- 
cision in  this  matter,  and  only  decreed,  that  due  worship  should 
be  given  to  images  ;f  but  did  not  determine  what  that  due 


derium,  et  ad  osculum,  et  ad  honorariam  his  adorationem  tribuendam.  Non  tamen  ad 
veram  latriam,  quae  secundum  fidem  est,  quaeq.  soiam  divinara  naturam  decet, 
impartiendam :  ita  ut  istis,  sicuti  figurae  preciosae  ac  vivifies  crucis  et  Sanctis  evan- 
geliis  et  reliquis  sacris  monumentis,  incensorum  et  luminum  oblatio  ad  harum 
honorem  efficiendum  exhibeatur,  quemadmodum  et  antiquis  piae  consuetudinis  erat. 
Imaginis  enim  honor  ad  primitivum  transit :  et  qui  adorat  imaginem,  adorat  in 
ea  depicti  subsistentiam.' 

And  in  the  same  council  we  have  the  following  adoration  of  the  cross — see  Act 
VII.  p.  583.  '  Crucem  tuam  adoramus  domine,  et  adoramus  lauceam  quae  aperuit 
vivificum  latus  tuae  bonitatis.' — [Ed.] 

*  Aquin.  2.  p.  q.  25.  art.  3.    See  to  the  same  purpose,  Alex.  Hales,  Bonaven 
ture,  Ricardus  de  Media  villa  palud.  Almans.  Biel  Summa  Angelica,  and  many 
more  cited  by  bishop  Stillingfleet's  Defence  of  the  Charge  of  Idolatry,  part  II. 
chap.  2. 

f  The  following  is  the  decree  of  the  council  of  Trent  concerning  the  worship  of 
relics  and  images  : 

'  Sanctorum  quoque  martyrum,  et  aliorum  cum  Christo  viventium  sancta  corpora, 
quae  viva  membra  fuerunt  Christi,  et  templum  Spiritus  sancti,  ab  ipso  ad  aeternam 
vitam  suscitanda  et  glorificanda,  a  fidelibus  venerande  esse  :  per  quae  multa  bene- 
ficia  a  Deo  hominibus  praestantur :  ita  ut  affirmantes,  sanctorum  reliquiis  veneratio- 
nem  atque  honorem  non  deberi ;  vel  eas  aliaque  sacra  monumenta  a  fidelibus 
inutiliter  honorari ;  atque  eorum  opis  impetrandae  causa  sanctorum  memorias  frustra 
frequentari ;  omnino  damnandos  esse,  prout  jampridem  eos  damnavit,  et  nunc 
etiam  damnat  ecclesia.  Imagines  proro  Christi,  deiparae  Virginis,  et  aliorum 
sanctorum,  in  templis  praesertim  habendas  et  retinendas,  iisque  debitum  honorem  et 
venerationem  impertiendam  ;  non  quod  credatur  inesse  aliqua  in  iis  divinitas,  vel 
virtus,  propter  quam  sint  colendae  ;  vel  quod  ab  eis  sit  aliquid  petendum  ;  vel  quod 
fiducia  in  imaginibus  sit  figonda,  veluti  olim  fiebat  a  gentilibus,  quae  in  idolis  spera 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  313 

worship  was.   And  though  it  appears  by  the  decree,  that  there  ART. 
were  abuses  committed  among  them  in  that  matter,  yet  they  XXI1- 
only  appoint  some  regulations,  concerning  such  images  as 
were  to  be  suffered,  and  that  others  were  to  be  removed ;  but 
they  left  the  divines  to  fight  out  the  matter  concerning  the 
due  ivorship  that  ought  to  be  given  to  images.    They  were  See  bishop 
then  in  haste,  and  intended  to  offend  no  party ;  and  as  they  j^1,'"^  . 
would  not  justify  all  that  had  been  said  or  done  concerning  pra/ 
the  worship  of  images,  so  they  would  condemn  no  part  of  it : 
yet  they  confirmed  the  Nicene  council,  and  in  particular  made 
use  of  that  maxim  of  theirs,  that  the  honour  of  the  type  goes  to  Pont. 
the  prototype ;  and  thus  they  left  it  as  they  found  it.    So  that  R°m.Ordo 
the  dispute  goes  on  still  as  hot  as  ever.    The  practice  of  the  jmp\e"p' 
Roman  church  is  express  for  the  latria  to  be  given  to  images:  Rubri. 
and  therefore  all  that  write  for  it  do  frequently  cite  that  hymn, 
Crux  Ave  spes  unica,  auge  piis  justitiam,  reisque  dona  veniam. 
It  is  expressly  said  in  the  Pontifical,  Cruci  debetur  latria,  and 
the  prayers  used  in  the  consecration  of  a  cross  ;  it  is  prayed,* 
that  the  blessing  of  that  cross,  on  which  Christ  hung,  may  be  in 
it,  that  it  may  be  a  healthful  remedy  to  mankind,  a  strength- 
ener  of  faith,  an  increaser  of  good  works,  the  redemption  of 
souls,  and  a  comfort,  protection,  and  defence,  against  the  cruelty 
of  our  enemies.    These  with  all  the  other  acts  of  adoration 
used  among  them,  seem  to  favour  those  who  are  for  a  latria  to 
be  given  to  all  those  images,  to  the  originals  of  which  it  is  due; 
and  in  the  like  proportion  for  dulia  and  hyperdulia  to  other 
images.    It  is  needless  to  prosecute  this  matter  further. 

It  seemed  necessary  to  say  so  much,  to  justify  our  church, 
which  has  in  her  Homilies  laid  this  charge  of  idolatry  very 
severely  on  the  church  of  Rome ;  and  this  is  so  high  an  im- 
putation, that  those  who  think  it  false,  as  they  cannot,  with 
a  good  conscience,  subscribe,  or  require  others  to  subscribe 
the  Article  concerning  the  Homilies,  so  they  ought  to  retract 
their  own  subscriptions,  and  to  make  solemn  reparations  in 
justice  and  honour,  for  laying  so  heavy  an  imputation  unjustly 
upon  that  whole  communion. 

There  is  nothing  that  can  be  brought  from  scripture,  that 


suam  collocabant ;  sed  quoniam  honos,  qui  eis  exhibetur,  refertur  ad  prototypa,  quae 
illae  repraesentant :  ita  ut  per  imagines,  quas  osculamur,  et  coram  quibus  caput 
aperimus  et  procumbimus,  Christum  adoremus,  et  sanctos,  quorum  illae  similitu- 
dinem  gerunt  veneremur ;  id  quod  conciliorum,  praesertim  vero  secundae  Nicaenae  sy- 
nodi,  decretis  contra  imaginum  oppugnatores  est  sancitum.'  Sesiio  xxv.  In  this 
Sessio  the  council  of  Trent,  it  will  be  observed,  appeals  to  the  authority  of  the 
second  Nicene  council  on  the  subject  of  image-worship. — [Ed.] 
*  In  benedictione  novae  Crucis. 

Rogamus  te  Domine,  sancte  Pater,  omnipotens  sempiterne  Deus,  ut  digneris 
benedicere  hoc  lignum  Crucis  tuae,  ut  sit  remediuin  salutare  generi  humano,  sit 
soliditas  fidei,  profectus  bonorum  operum,  redemptio  animarum,  sit  solamen  et  pro- 
tectio  ac  tutela  contra  saevajacula  inimicorum.   Per  Dom. 

Sanctificetur  lignum  istud  in  nomine  Patris  et  Filii  et  Spiritus  Sancti,  et  bene- 
dictio  iHius  ligni  in  quo  membra  saneta  Salvatoris  suspensa  sunt  sit  in  isto  ligno,  ut 
orantes  inclinantesque  se  propter  Deum  ante  istam  crucam  inveniant  corporis  et 
animae  eanitatem  per  eundem. 


314 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  has  a  show  of  an  argument  for  supporting  image-worship,  un- 
XXI1"  less  it  be  that  of  the  cherubim s  that  were  in  the  '  holiest  of 
Heb.  ix.  3,  all and  they,  as  is  supposed,  were  worshipped,  at  least  by 
5i  7.  the  high-priest  when  he  -went  thither,  once  a  year,  if  not  by 
the  whole  people.  But  first  there  is  a  great  difference  to  be 
made  between  a  form  of  worship  immediately  prescribed  by 
God,  and  another  form  that  not  only  has  no  warrant  for  it, 
but  seems  to  be  very  expressly  forbidden.  It  is  plain,  the 
cherubims  were  not  seen  by  the  people,  and  so  they  could  be 
no  visible  object  of  worship  to  them.  They  were  scarce  seen 
by  the  high-priest  himself,  for  the  holiest  of  all  was  quite 
dark;  no  light  coming  into  it,  but  what  came  through  the  veil 
from  the  holy  place  ;  and  even  that  had  very  little  light.  Nor 
is  there  a  word  concerning  the  high-priest's  worshipping  either 
the  ark  or  the  cherubim.  It  is  true,  there  is  a  place  in  the 
Psalms  that  seems  to  favour  this;  as  it  is  rendered  by  the 
Psal.  xcix.  Vulgar,  '  worship  his  footstool,  for  it  is  holy ;'  but  both  the 
Hebrew  and  the  Septuagint  have  it,  as  it  is  in  our  translation, 
'  worship  at  his  footstool,  for  he  is  holy  f  and  all  the  Greek 
fathers  cite  these  words  so.  Many  of  the  Latin  fathers  do 
also  cite  them  according  to  the  Greek ;  and  the  last  words  of 
the  Psalm,  in  which  the  same  words  are  repeated,  make  the 
sense  of  it  evident :  for  there  it  is  thus  varied,  c  Exalt  ye  the 
Lord  our  God,  and  worship  at  his  holy  hill,  for  the  Lord  our 
God  is  holy-'  These  words  coming  so  soon  after  the  former, 
are  a  paraphrase  to  them,  and  determine  their  sense.  No 
doubt  the  high-priest  worshipped  God,  who  dwelt  between 
the  cherubims,  in  that  cloud  of  glory  in  which  he  shewed  him- 
self visibly  present  in  his  temple ;  but  there  is  no  sort  of 
reason  to  think,  that  in  so  majestic  a  presence,  adoration 
could  be  offered  to  any  thing  else ;  or  that  after  the  high- 
priest  had  adored  the  divine  essence  so  manifested,  he  would 
have  fallen  to  worship  the  ark  and  the  cherubims.  This 
agrees  ill  with  the  figure  that  is  so  much  used  in  this  matter 
of  a  king  and  his  chair  of  state  ;  for  in  the  presence  of  the 
king,  all  respects  terminate  in  his  person,  whatsoever  may  be 
done  in  his  absence. 

And  thus,  this  being  not  so  much  as  a  precedent,  much  less 
an  argument,  for  the  use  of  images ;  and  there  being  nothing 
else  brought  from  scripture,  that  with  any  sort  of  wresting 
can  be  urged  for  it,  and  the  sense  and  practice  of  the  whole 
church  being  so  express  against  it,  the  progress  of  it  having 
been  so  long  and  so  much  disputed,  the  tendency  of  it  to 
superstition  and  abuse  being  by  their  own  confession  so 
visible;  the  scandal  that  it  gives  to  Jews  and  Mahometans 
being  so  apparent,  and  it  carrying  in  its  outward  appearances 
such  a  conformity  (to  say  at  present  no  more)  to  heathenish 
idolatry,  we  think  we  have  all  possible  advantages  in  this 
argument.  We  adhere  to  that  purity  of  worship  which  is  in 
both  Testaments  so  much  insisted  on ;  we  avoid  all  scandal, 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


315 


and  make  no  approaches  to  heathenism,  and  follow  the  pat-  A  R  T. 
tern  set  us  hy  the  primitive  church.  And  as  our  simplicity  of  XXI1- 
worship  needs  not  be  defended,  since  it  proves  itself;  so  no 
proofs  are  brought  for  the  other  side,  but  only  a  pretended 
usefulness  in  outward  figures,  to  raise  the  mind  by  the  senses 
to  just  apprehensions  of  spiritual  objects ;  which,  allowing  it 
true,  will  only  conclude  for  the  historical  use  of  images,  but 
not  for  the  directing  our  worship  towards  them.  But  the 
effect  is  quite  contrary  to  the  pretence ;  for,  instead  of  raising 
the  mind  by  the  senses,  the  mind  is  rather  sunk  by  them  into 
gross  ideas. 

The  bias  of  human  nature  lies  to  sense,  and  to  form  gross 
imaginations  of  incorporeal  objects  ;  and  therefore,  instead  of 
gratifying  these,  we  ought  to  wean  our  minds  from  them,  and 
to  raise  them  above  them  all  we  can.  Even  men  of  specula- 
tion and  abstraction  feel  nature  in  this  grows  too  hard  for 
them ;  but  the  vulgar  is  apt  to  fall  so  headlong  into  these  con- 
ceits, that  it  looks  like  the  laying  of  snares  for  them,  to  fur- 
nish them  with  such  methods  and  helps  for  their  having  gross 
thoughts  of  spiritual  objects.  The  fondness  that  the  people 
have  for  images,  their  readiness  to  believe  the  most  incredible 
stories  concerning  them,  the  expense  they  are  at  to  enrich  and 
adorn  them,  their  prostrations  before  them,  their  confidence 
in  them,  their  humble  and  tender  embracing  and  kissing 
of  them,  their  pompous  and  heathenish  processions  to  do  them 
honour,  the  fraternities  erected  for  particular  images,  not  to 
mention  the  more  universal  and  established  practices  of  direct- 
ing their  prayers  to  them,  of  setting  lights  before  them,  and 
of  incensing  them ;  these,  I  say,  are  things  too  well  known,  to 
such  as  have  seen  the  way  of  that  religion,  that  they  should 
need  to  be  much  enlarged  on ;  and  yet  they  are  not  only 
allowed  of,  but  encouraged.  Those  among  them  who  have 
too  much  good  sense  that  they  should  sink  into  those  foolish 
apprehensions  themselves,  yet  must  not  only  bear  with  them, 
but  often  comply  with  them  to  avoid  the  giving  of  scandal,  as 
they  call  it;  not  considering  the  much  greater  scandal  that 
they  give,  when  they  encourage  others  by  their  practice  to  go 
on  in  these  follies.  The  enlarging  into  all  the  corruptions 
occasioned  by  this  way  of  worship  would  carry  me  far ;  but  it 
seems  not  necessary,  the  thing  is  so  plain  in  itself. 

The  next  head  in  this  Article  is  a  full  instance  of  it,  which 
is,  the  worship  of  relics.  It  is  no  wonder  that  great  care  was 
taken  in  the  beginnings  of  Christianity,  to  shew  all  possible 
respect  and  tenderness  even  to  the  bodies  of  the  martyrs. 
There  is  something  of  this  planted  so  deep  in  human  nature, 
that  though  the  philosophy  of  it  cannot  be  so  well  made  out, 
yet  it  seems  to  be  somewhat  more  than  an  universal  custom ; 
humanity  is  of  its  side,  and  is  apt  to  carry  men  to  the  pro- 
fusions of  pomp  and  cost:  all  religions  do  agree  in  this,  so 
that  we  need  not  wonder  if  Christians,  in  the  first  fervour  of 


316 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  their  religion,  believing  the  resurrection  so  firmly  as  they  did, 
XXII.  antj  hayjng  a  high  sense  of  the  honour  done  to  Christ  and  his 
religion  by  the.  sufferings  of  the  martyrs ;  if,  I  say,  they  studied 
to  gather  their  bones  and  ashes  together,  and  bury  them  de- 
Ep.  Ecc.   cently.   They  thought  it  a  sign  of  their  being  joined  with  them 
f mJd¥     m  one  body,  to  hold  their  assemblies  at  the  places  where  they 
seb.  1.4.    were  buried:  this  might  be  also  considered  as  a  motive  to  en- 
c.  15.  Jul.  courage  others  to  follow  the  example  that  they  had  given  them, 
tb  vi  lib  even  t0  martyrdom :  and  therefore  all  the  marks  of  honour 
x.  Ennap.  were  put  even  upon  their  bodies  that  could  be  thought  on, 
in  vita      except  worship.    After  the  ages  of  persecution  were  over, 
.Edess.     a  fondness  of  having  and  keeping  their  relics  began  to  spread 
itself  in  many  places.    Monks  fed  that  humour  by  carrying 
Aug.  de    them  about.    We  find  in  St.  Austin's  works,  that  superstition 
nac^c"^  was  ma^m§  a  gi"eat  progress  in  Afric  upon  these  heads,  of 
'  which  he  complains  frequently.    Vigilantius  had  done  it  to 
more  purpose  in  Spain ;  and  did  not  only  complain  of  the 
Hieron.     excesses,  but  of  the  thing  in  itself.    St.  Jerome  fell  unmer- 
knt        c^u^y  uPon  nmi  f°r  it?  and  sets  a  high  value  upon  relics,  yet 
he  does  not  speak  one  word  of  worshipping  them ;  he  denies 
and  disclaims  it,  and  seems  only  to  allow  of  a  great  fondness 
for  them ;  and,  with  most  of  that  age,  he  was  very  apt  to 
believe,  that  miracles  were  oft  wrought  by  them.  When 
superstition  is  once  suffered  to  mix  with  religion,  it  will  be 
still  gaining  ground,  and  it  admits  of  no  bounds :  so  this 
matter  went  on,  and  new  legends  were  invented;  but  when 
the  controversy  of  image-worship  began,  it  followed  that  as  an 
accessary.    The  enshrining  of  relics  occasioned  the  most  ex- 
cellent sort  of  images ;  and  they  were  thought  the  best  pre- 
servatives possible  both  for  soul  and  body ;  no  presents  grew 
to  be  more  valued  than  relics ;  and  it  was  an  easy  thing  for 
the  popes  to  furnish  the  world  plentifully  that  way,  but  chiefly 
since  the  discovery  of  the  catacombs,  which  has  furnished 
them  with  stores  not  to  be  exhausted.    The  council  of  Trent 
did  in  this,  as  in  the  point  of  images  ;  it  appointed  relics  to  be 
venerated,  but  did  not  determine  the  degree  ;*  so  it  left  the 
world  in  possession  of  a  most  excessive  dotage  upon  them 
They  are  used  every  where  by  them  as  sacred  charms,  kissed, 
and  worshipped,  they  are  served  with  lights  and  incense. 

In  opposition  to  all  this,  we  think,  that  all  decent  honours 
are  indeed  due  to  the  bodies  of  the  saints,  which  were  once 
l^Cor.  vi.  the  'temples  of  the  Holy  Ghost:'  but  since  it  is  said,  that  God 
Deut.      took  that  care  of  the  body  of  Moses,  so  as  to  bury  it  in  such 
xxxiv.  6.   a  manner  that  no  man  knew  of  his  sepulchre,  there  seems  to 
have  been  in  this  a  peculiar  caution  guarding  against  that  su- 
perstition, which  the  Jews  might  very  probably  have  fallen 
into  with  relation  to  his  body.    And  this  seems  so  clear  an 
indication  of  the  will  of  God  in  this  matter,  that  we  reckon  we 

•  For  the  decree  concerning  relic-worship,  see  note,  p.  313. — [E».] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


317 


are  very  safe  when  we  do  no  further  honour  to  the  body  of  a  ART. 
saint,  than  to  bury  it.  And  though  that  saint  had  been  ever  XXII. 
so  eminent,  not  only  for  his  holiness,  but  even  for  miracles 
wrought  by  him,  by  his  shadow,  or  even  by  looking  upon 
him ;  yet  the  history  of  the  brazen  serpent  shews  us,  that 
a  fondness  even  on  the  instruments,  that  God  made  use  of  to 
work  miracles  by,  degenerates  easily  to  the  superstition  of 
burning  incense  to  them  ;  but  when  that  appears,  it  is  to 
be  checked,  even  by  breaking  that  which  was  so  abused. 
Hezekiah  is  commended  for  breaking  in  pieces  that  noble2K.|n?9 
remain  of  Moses's  time  till  then  preserved ;  neither  its  anti-  XVI"'  4' 
quity,  nor  the  signal  miracles  once  wrought  by  it,  could  balance 
the  ill  use  that  was  then  made  of  it :  that  good  king  broke  it, 
for  which  he  might  have  had  a  worse  name  than  an  iconoclast, 
if  he  had  lived  in  some  ages.  It  is  true,  miracles  were  of  old 
wrought  by  Aaron's  rod,  by  Elisha's  bones  after  his  death,  and  2  Kings 
the  one  was  preserved,  but  not  worshipped;  nor  was  there  any  XI1U  21* 
superstition  that  followed  on  the  other.  Not  a  word  of  this 
fondness  appears  in  the  beginnings  of  Christianity ;  though  it 
had  been  an  easy  thing  at  that  time  to  have  furnished  the 
world  with  pieces  of  our  Saviour's  garments,  hair,  or  nails ; 
and  great  store  might  have  been  had  of  the  Virgin's  and  the 
apostles'  relics :  St.  Stephen's  and  St.  James's  bones  might 
have  been  then  parcelled  about :  and  if  that  spirit  had  then 
reigned  in  the  church,  which  has  been  in  the  Roman  church 
now  above  a  thousand  years,  we  should  have  heard  of  the  relics 
that  were  sent  about  from  Jerusalem  to  all  the  churches.  But 
when  such  things  might  have  been  had  in  great  abundance, 
and  have  been  known  not  to  be  counterfeits,  we  hear  not 
a  word  of  them.  If  a  fondness  for  relics  had  been  in  the 
church  upon  Christ's  ascension,  what  care  would  have  been 
taken  to  have  made  great  collections  of  them  ! 

Then  we  see  no  other  care  about  the  body  of  St.  Stephen 
but  to  bury  it ;  and  not  long  after  that  time  upon  St.  Poly- 
carp's  martyrdom,  when  the  Jews,  who  had  set  on  the  pro- 
secution against  him,  suggested,  that,  if  the  Christians  could 
gain  his  body,  they  would  perhaps  forsake  Christ  and  worship 
him  ;  they  rejected  the  accusation  with  horror ;  for  in  the 
epistle  which  the  church  of  Smyrna  writ  upon  his  martyrdom, 
after  they  mention  this  insinuation,  they  have  those  remark- 
able words,  which  belong  both  to  this  head,  and  to  that  which 
follows  it  of  the  invocation  and  worship  of  saints.  These  men  Ep.Euseh. 
know  not  that  we  can  neither  forsake  Christ,  who  suffered  for  '•  iv-  c- 15- 
the  salvation  of  all  that  are  saved,  the  innocent  for  the  guilty, 
nor  worship  any  other ;  Him  truly  being  the  Son  of  God  we 
adore :  but  the  martyrs,  and  disciples,  and  followers  of  the 
Lord,  we  justly  love,  for  that  extraordinary  good  mind,  which 
they  have  expressed  toward  their  King  and  Master,  of  whose 
happiness  God  grant  tfiat  we  may  partake,  and  that  we  may 
learn  by  their  examples.    The  Jews  had  so  persuaded  the 


318 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART    Gentiles  of  Smyrna  of  this  matter,  that  they  burnt  St.  Poly- 
XXI1,   carp's  body ;  but  the  Christians  gathered  up  his  bones  with 
much  respect,  so  that  it  appeared  how  they  honoured  them, 
though  they  could  not  worship  them ;  and  they  buried  them 
in  a  convenient  place,*  which  they  intended  to  make  the  place 
where  they  should  hold,  by  the  blessing  of  God,  the  yearly 
commemoration  of  that  birth-day  of  his  martyrdom,  with  much 
joy  and  gladness,  both  to  honour  the  memory  of  those  who  had 
overcome  in  that  glorious  engagement,  and  to  instruct  and  con- 
firm all  others  by  their  example.    This  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  pieces  of  true  and  genuine  antiquity ;  and  it  shews 
us  very  fully  the  sense  of  that  age  both  concerning  the  relics, 
and  the  worship  of  the  saints.    In  the  following  ages,  we  find 
no  characters  of  any  other  regard  to  the  bones  or  bodies  of 
the  saints,  but  that  they  buried  them  very  decently,  and  did 
annually  commemorate  their  death,  calling  it  their  birth-day. 
And  it  may  incline  men  strongly  to  suspect  the  many  miracles 
that  were  published  in  the  fourth  century,  as  wrought  at  the 
tombs,  or  memories  of  the  martyrs,  or  by  their  relics,  that  we 
hear  of  none  of  those  in  the  former  three  centuries ;  for  it 
seems  there  was  more  occasion  for  them  during  the  persecu- 
tion, than  after  it  was  over ;  it  being  much  more  necessary 
then  to  furnish  Christians  with  so  strong  a  motive  as  this 
must  have  been,  to  '  resist  even  to  blood,'  when  God  was 
pleased  to  glorify  himself  so  signally  in  his  saints.    This,  I 
say,  forces  us  to  fear,  that  credulity  and  imagination,  or  some- 
what worse  than  both  these,  might  have  had  a  large  share  in 
those  extraordinary  things  that  are  related  to  us  by  great  men 
in  the  fourth  century.    He  must  have  a  great  disposition  to 
believe  wonderful  things,  that  can  digest  the  extraordinary 
Bas,l.       relations  that  are  even  in  St.  Basil,  St.  Ambrose,  and  St. 
Hom.  six.  Austin ;  and  most  signally  in  St.  Jerome  :  for  instance,  that 
"uadra^*'  a^ter  one  ^ad  stolen  Hilarion's  body  out  of  Cyprus,  and 
gmt.        brought  it  to  Palestine,  upon  which  Constantia,  that  went 
Martyr,  in  constantly  to  his  tomb,  was  ready  to  have  broke  her  heart; 

irI°Sanct '"'  took  SUC^  °n  ^eT>  ^at  &S  ^6  ^rUe  ^ody  WTOUght 

Mart. 

]\Jnman.  *  In  reference  to  this  subject,  Dr.  Milner,  in  his  '  End  of  Religious  Controversy,' 
Paul,  in     thus  writes: — 

vita  '  The  whole  history  of  the  martyrs,  from  St.  Ignatius  and  St.  Polycarp,  the  dis- 

Ambros.  ciples  of  the  apostles,  whose  relics,  after  their  execution,  were  carried  away  by  the 
Aim-,  de  Christians,  as  "  more  valuable  than  gold  and  precious  stones,"  down  to  the  latest 
Civit.  Dei  martvr,  incontcstibly  proves  the  veneration  which  the  church  has  ever  entertained 
1  b.  xxii.  for  these  sacred  objects.'  We  might  fairly  conclude  from  these  words  that  the 
c.  8.  early  Christians  held  the  popish  doctrine  of  the  worship  of  relics  ;  and  indeed  Dr. 

Milner  refers  with  such  confidence  to  Eusebius,  that  one  not  acquainted  with  the 
sophistry  and  dishonesty  of  the  advocates  of  popery  would  unhesitatingly  conclude 
that  the'  historian  of  the  early  church  had  clearly  established  this  position.  But 
what  is  the  fact  ?  Let  Eusebius  himself  speak :  '  So  we  gathered  his  (  Polycarp's) 
bones,  more  precious  than  pearls,  and  better  tried  than  gold,  and  buried  them  in  the 
flare  that  was  fit for  that  purpose ,'  he.  This  is  the  passage  to  which  Dr.  M.  refers; 
and  those  marked  are  the  words  which  immediately  follow  the  Doctor's  quotation 
from  Eusebius,  but  which,  in  his  defence  of  relic-worship,  have  been  so  carefully 
suppressed. — [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


319 


great  miracles  in  Palestine,  so  likewise  very  great  miracles  ART. 
continued  still  to  be  wrought  at  the  tomb,  where  it  was  at  XXII. 
first  laid.    One,  in  respect  to  those  great  men,  is  tempted  to 
suspect  that  many  things  might  have  been  foisted  into  their 
writings  in  the  following  ages.    A  great  many  practices  of 
this  kind  have  been  made  manifest  beyond  contradiction.* 
Whole  books  have  been  made  to  pass  for  the  writings  of 
fathers,  that  do  evidently  bear  the  marks  of  a  much  later  date, 
where  the  fraud  was  carried  too  far  not  to  be  discovered.  At 
other  times  parcels  have  been  laid  in  among  their  genuine 
productions,  which  cannot  be  so  easily  distinguished ;  they 
not  being  liable  to  so  many  critical  inquiries,  as  may  be  made 
on  a  larger  work.    It  is  a  little  unaccountable  how  so  many 
marvellous  things  should  be  published  in  that  age ;  and  yet 
that  St.  Chrysostom,  who  spent  his  whole  life  between  two  of  Chrysost. 
the  publickest  scenes  of  the  world,  Antioch  and  Constanti-  j aacor & 
nople,  and  was  an  active  and  inquisitive  man,  should  not  so 
much  as  have  heard  of  any  such  wonderful  stories  ;  but  should 
have  taken  pains  to  remove  a  prejudice  out  of  the  minds  of 
his  hearers,  that  might  arise  from  this,  that  whereas  they 
heard  of  many  miracles  that  were  wrought  in  the  times  of  the 
apostles,  none  were  wrought  at  that  time  ;  upon  which,  he 
gives  very  good  reason  why  it  was  so.    His  saying  so  posi- 
tively, Ttiat  none  were  wrought  at  that  time,  without  so  much 
as  a  salvo  for  what  he  might  have  heard  from  other  parts, 
shews  plainly,  that  he  had  not  heard  of  any  at  all.    For  he 
was  orator  enough  to  have  made  even  looser  reports  look 
probable.    This  does  very  much  shake  the  credit  of  those 
amazing  relations  that  we  find  in  St.  Jerome,  St.  Ambrose,  and 
St.  Austin.    It  is  true,  there  seems  to  have  been  an  opinion 
very  generally  received  both  in  the  east  and  the  west,  at  that 
time,  which  must  have  very  much  heightened  the  growing 
superstition  for  relics.    It  was  a  remnant  both  of  Judaism  and 
Gentilism,  that  the  souls  of  the  martyrs  hovered  about  their 
tombs,  called  their  memories ;  and  that  therefore  they  might 
be  called  upon,  and  spoke  to  there.    This  appears  even  in  the 
council  of  Elliberis,  where  the  superstition  of  lighting  can- 
dles about  their  tombs  in  daylight  is  forbidden :  the  reason 
given  is,  because  the  spirits  were  not  to  be  disquieted.  St. 
Basil,  and  the  other  fathers,  that  do  so  often  mention  the  Basil, 
going  to  their  memories,  do  very  plainly  insinuate  their  being  P0^1' 
present  at  them,  and  hearing  themselves  called  upon.    This  quadra- ' 
may  be  the  reason  why,  among  all  the  saints  that  are  so  much  gfat. 
magnified  in  that  age,  we  never  find  the  blessed  Virgin  so  Mar,yr- 
much  as  once  mentioned.    They  knew  not  where  her  body 
was  laid,  they  had  no  tomb  for  her,  no  nor  any  of  her  relics 

*  The  reader  will  find  valuable  information  on  this  subject  in  Dr.  James's  '  Trea- 
tise of  the  Corruptions  of  Scripture,  Councils,  and  Fathers,  by  the  Prelates,  Pas- 
tors, and  Pillars  of  the  church  of  Rome,  for  maintenance  of  Popery,'  in  which  the 
bastardy  of  the  false  Fathers  and  the  corruption  of  the  true  Fathers  are  demon- 
strated beyond  the  possibility  of  contradiction  [Ed.] 


320 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  or  utensils.  But  upon  the  occasion  of  Nestorius's  denying 
XX11-  her  to  be  the  mother  of  God,  and  by  carrying  the  opposition 
to  that  too  far,  a  superstition  for  her  was  set  on  foot ;  it  made 
a  progress  sufficient  to  balance  the  slowness  of  its  beginning ; 
the  whole  world  was  then  filled  with  very  extravagant  devo- 
tions for  her. 

The  great  noise  we  find  concerning  relics  in  the  end  of  the 
fourth  century,  has  all  the  characters  of  novelty  possible  in  it ; 
for  those  who  speak  of  it,  do  not  derive  it  from  former  times. 
One  circumstance  in  this  is  very  remarkable,  that  neither 
Trypho,  Celsus,  Lucian,  nor  Cecilius,  do  object  to  the  Chris- 
tians of  their  time  their  fondness  for  dead  bodies,  or  praying 
about  their  tombs,  which  they  might  well  have  alleged  in  op- 
position to  what  the  Christians  charged  them  with,  if  there 
had  been  any  occasion  for  it.    Whereas  this  custom  was  no 
sooner  began,  than  both  Julian  and  Eunapius  reproach  the 
A  p.  Cyr.   Christians  for  it.    Julian,  it  is  true,  speaks  only  of  their  call- 
con  Julian  *n§  on        over  sepulchres  :  Eunapius  writ  after  him ;  and  it 
Kunap.  m  seems,  in  his  time,  that  which  Juhan  sets  forth  as  a  calling 
v,,a         upon  God,  was  advanced  to  an  invocation  of  them.  He 
"*"dess      says,  they  heaped  together  the  bones  and  skulls  of  men  that  had 
been  punished  for  many  dimes  (it  was  natural  enough  for  a 
spiteful  heathen  to  give  this  representation  of  their  martyr- 
dom), holding  them  for  gods :  and  after  some  scurrilous  invec- 
tives against  them,  he  adds,  they  are  called  martyrs,  and  made 
the  ministers  and  messengers  of  prayer  to  the  gods.  This  seems 
to  be  a  very  evident  proof  of  the  novelty  of  this  matter.  As 
for  the  adoring  them,  when  Vigilantius  asked,   Why  dost 
thou  kiss  and  adore  a  little  dust  put  up  in  fine  linen  ?  St. 
Jerome,  though  excessively  fond  of  them,  denies  this  very 
positively,  and  that  in  very  injurious  terms,  being  offended  at 
the  injustice  of  the  reproach.    Yet  as  long  as  the  bodies  of 
the  martyrs  were  let  he  quietly  in  their  memories,  the  fond 
opinion  of  their  being  present,  and  hearing  what  was  said  to 
them,  made  the  invocating  thern  look  like  one  man's  desiring 
the  assistance  of  another  good  man's  prayers ;  so  that  this 
step  seemed  to  have  a  fair  colour.    But  when  their  bodies 
were  pulled  asunder,  and  carried  up  and  down,  so  that  it  was 
believed  miracles  abounded  every  where  about  them ;  and 
when  their  bones  and  relics  grew  to  increase  and  multiply,  so 
that  thev  had  more  bones  and  limbs  than  God  and  nature  had 
given  them ;  then  new  hypotheses  were  to  be  found  out  to 
justify  the  calling  upon  them  every  where,  as  their  relics  were 
H'.eron.     spread.    St.  Jerome,  in  his  careless  way,  says,  they  followed 
adv.  Vigi-  ffte  Lamb  whithersoever  he  went,  and  seems  to  make  no  doubt 
cnra  oto  °'  °^  tneu"  being,  if  not  every  where,  yet  in  several  places  at 
uortuis,    once.    But  St.  Austin,  who  could  follow  a  consequence  much 
c  16.      further  in  his  thoughts,  though  he  doubted  not  but  that  men 
v.ere  much  the  better  for  the  prayers  of  the  martyrs,  yet  he 
confesses  that  it  passed  the  strength  of  his  understanding  to 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


321 


determine,  whether  they  heard  those  who  called  upon  them  at  A  it  T. 
their  memories,  or  wheresoever  else  they  were  believed  to  XXII. 
have  appeared,  or  not.    But  the  devotions  that  are  spoken  of  ~ 
by  all  of  that  age,  are  related  as  having  been  offered  at  their 
memories  ;  so  that  this  seems  to  have  been  the  general  opinion, 
as  well  as  it  was  the  common  practice  of  that  age,  though  it  is 
no  wonder  if  this  conceit  once  giving  some  colour  and  credit 
to  the  invocating  them,  that  did  quickly  increase  itself  to  a 
general  invocation  of  them  every  where.    And  thus  a  fond- 
ness for  their  relics,  joined  with  the  opinion  of  their  relation 
and  nearness  to  them,  did  in  a  short  time  grow  up  to  a  direct 
worshipping  of  them  ;  and,  by  the  fruitfulness  that  always 
follows  superstition,  did  spread  itself  further,  to  their  clothes, 
utensils,  and  every  thing  else  that  had  any  relation  to  them. 

There  was  cause  given  in  St.  Austin's  time  to  suspect  that  Aug.  de 
many  of  the  bones  which  were  carried  about  by  monks,  were  °^rhe 
none  of  their  bones,  but  impostures,  which  very  much  shakes  '  ' 
the  credit  of  the  miracles  wrought  by  them,  since  we  have  no 
reason  to  think  that  God  would  support  such  impostures  with 
miracles ;  as,  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  reason  to  think 
that  false  relics  would  have  passed  upon  the  world,  if  miracles 
had  been  believed  to  accompany  true  ones,  unless  they  had 
their  miracles  likewise  to  attest  their  value :  so  let  this  matter 
be  turned  which  way  it  may,  the  credit  both  of  relies,  and  of 
the  miracles  wrought  by  them,  is  not  a  little  shaken  by  it.  But 
in  the  following  ages  we  have  more  than  presumptions,  that 
there  was  much  of  this  false  coin  that  went  abroad  in  the 
world.  It  was  not  possible  to  distinguish  the  false  from  the 
true.  The  freshness  of  colour  and  smell,  so  often  boasted, 
might  have  been  easily  managed  by  art;  the  varieties  of  those 
relics,  the  different  methods  of  discovering  them,  the  shillings 
that  were  said  to  be  about  their  tombs,  with  the  smells  that 
broke  out  of  them,  the  many  apparitions  that  accompanied 
them,  and  the  signal  cures  that  were  wrought  by  them,  as  they 
grew  to  fill  the  world  with  many  volumes  of  legends,  many 
more  lying  yet  in  the  manuscripts  in  many  churches,  than 
have  been  published :  all  these,  I  say,  carry  in  them  such 
characters  of  fraud  and  imposture  on  the  one  hand,  and  of 
cruelty  and  superstition  on  the  other;  so  much  craft,  and  so 
much  folly,  that  they  had  their  full  effect  upon  the  world, 
even  in  contradiction  to  the  clearest  evidence  possible ;  the 
same  saints  having  more  bodies  and  heads  than  one,  in  dif- 
ferent places,  and  yet  all  equally  celebrated  with  miracles.  A 
great  profusion  of  wealth  and  pomp  was  laid  out  in  honouring 
them,  new  devotions  were  still  invented  for  them  :  and  though 
these  things  are  too  palpably  false  to  be  put  upon  us  now,  in 
ages  of  more  light,  where  every  thing  will  not  go  down  be- 
cause it  is  confidently  affirmed  ;  yet  as  we  know  how  great  a 
part  of  the  devotion  of  the  Latin  church  this  continued  to  be 
for  many  ages  before  the  Reformation,  so  the  same  trade  is  still 

Y 


322 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.    carried  on,  where  the  same  ignorance,  and  the  same  supersti- 
tion,  does  still  continue. 

I  come  now  to  consider  the  last  head  of  this  Article,  which 
is  the  invocation  of  saints,*  of  which  much  has  been  already 
said  by  an  anticipation  :  for  there  is  that  connection  between 
the  worship  of  relics  and  the  invocation  of  saints,  that  the 
treating  of  the  one  does  very  naturally  carry  one  to  say  some- 
what of  the  other.  It  is  very  evident  that  saints  were  not  in- 
vocated  in  the  Old  Testament.  God  being  called  so  oft  the 
God  of  Abraham,  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  seems  to  give  a  much 
better  warrant  for  it,  than  any  thing  that  can  be  alleged  from 
the  New  Testament.  Moses  was  their  lawgiver,  and  their 
mediator  and  intercessor  with  God ;  and  his  intercession,  as  it 
had  been  very  effectual  for  them,  so  it  had  shewed  itself  in  a  very 
extraordinary  instance  of  his  desiring  that  his  name  might  be 

Exod.  t  blotted  out  of  the  book  which  he  had  written,'  rather  than 
the  people  should  perish ;  when  God  had  offered  to  him,  that 
he  would  raise  up  a  new  nation  to  himself,  out  of  his  posterity 
God  had  also  made  promises  to  that  nation  by  him  :  so  that 
it  might  be  natural  enough,  considering  the  genius  of  super- 
stition, for  the  Jews  to  have  called  to  him  in  their  miseries,  to 
obtain  the  performance  of  those  promises  made  by  him  to 
them.  We  may  upon  this  refer  the  matter  to  every  man's 
judgment,  whether  Abraham  and  Moses  might  not  have  been 
much  more  reasonably  invocated  by  the  Jews  according  to 
what  we  find  in  the  Old  Testament,  than  any  saint  can  be 
xinder  the  New :  yet  we  are  sure  they  were  not  prayed  to. 
Elijah's  going  up  to  heaven  in  so  miraculous  a  manner,  might 
also  have  been  thought  a  good  reason  for  any  to  have  prayed 
to  him  :  but  nothing  of  that  kind  was  then  practised.  They 
understood  prayer  to  be  a  part  of  that  worship  which  they 
owed  to  God  only  :  so  that  the  praying  to  any  other,  had  been 
to  a  certain  degree  the  having  another  God  before,  or  be- 
sides the  true  Jehovah.  They  never  prayed  to  any  other, 
they  called  upon  him,  and  made  mention  of  no  other :  the 

Psal.  1. 15.  rule  was  without  exception,  '  Call  upon  me  in  the  time  of 
trouble ;  I  will  hear  thee,  and  thou  shalt  glorify  me.'  Upon 
this  point  there  is  no  dispute. 

*  The  council  of  Trent  thus  decreed  in  the  matter  of  saint- worship  : — '  Mandat 
sancta  synodus  omnibus  episcopis,  et  caeteris  docendi  munus  curamque  sustinenti- 
bus,  ut,  juxta  catholicae  et  apostolicae  ecclesiae  usum,  a  primaevis  Christianas  religi- 
onis  temporibus  receptum,  sanctorurnque  patrum  consensionem,  et  sacrorum  con- 
ciliorum  decreta,  in  primis  de  sanctorum  intercessione,  invocatione,  reliquiarum 
honore,  et  legitimo  imaginum  usu,  fideles  diligenter  instruant,  docentes  eos,  sanctos, 
una  cum  Christo  regnantes,  orationes  suas  pro  bominibus  Deo  offerre,  bonum  atque 
utile  esse  suppliciter  eos  invocare  ;  et  ob  beneficia  impetranda  a  Deo  per  Fihum 
ejus  Jesum  Christum,  Dominum  nostrum  qui  solus  noster  redemptoret  salvator  est, 
ad  eorum  orationes,  opem,  auxilium  cont'ugere  :  illos  vero  qui  negant  sanctos 
aetcrna  felicitate  in  coelo  fruentes,  invocandos  esse  ;  aut  qui  asserunt,  vel  illos  pro 
hominibus  non  orare,  vel  eorum,  ut  pro  nobis  etiam  singulis  orent,  invocationem 
esse  idololatriam ;  vel  pugnare  cum  verbo  Dei,  adversarique  honori  unius  mediatoris 
Dei  et  hominum  Jesu  Christi ;  vel  stultum  esse,  in  ccelo  regnantibus  voce  vol 
mente  supplicare ;  impie  sentire.'    Stssio  xxv  [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


323 


In  the  New  Testament  we  see  the  same  method  followed,  ART. 
with  this  only  exception,  that  Jesus  Christ  is  proposed  as  our  XJtll. 
Mediator ;  and  that  not  only  in  the  point  of  redemption,  _ 
which  is  not  denied  by  those  of  the  church  of  Rome,  but  even 
in  the  point  of  intercession  ;  for  when  St.  Paul  is  treating  con- 
cerning the  prayers  and  supplications  that  are  to  be  offered 
'  for  all  men,'  he  concludes  that  direction  in  these  words : 
'  For  there  is  one  God  and  one  Mediator  between  God  and  lTim.ii.5. 
man,  the  man  Christ  Jesus.'  We  think  the  silence  of  the  New 
Testament  might  be  a  sufficient  argument  for  this  :  but  these 
words  go  further,  and  imply  a  prohibition  to  address  oui 
pravers  to  God  by  any  other  mediator.    All  the  directions 
that  are  given  us  of  trusting  in  God,  and  praying  to  him,  are 
upon  the  matter  prohibitions  of  trusting  to  any  other,  or  of 
calling  on  any  other.    Invocation  and  faith  are  joined  to- 
gether: '  How  shall  they  call  on  him  in  whom  they  have  not  Rom.x.14. 
believed  ?'    So  that  we  ought  only  to  pray  to  God,  and  to 
Christ,  according  to  those  words,  '  Ye  believe  in  God,  believe  Johnxiv.l. 
also  in  me.'  We  do  also  know  that  it  was  a  part  of  heathenish 
idolatry  to  invocate  either  demons  or  departed  men,  whom 
they  considered  as  good  beings  subordinate  to  the  Divine 
Essence,  and  employed  by  God  in  the  government  of  the 
world ;  and  they  had  almost  the  same  speculations  about 
them,  that  have  been  since  introduced  into  the  church,  con- 
cerning angels  and  saints.    In  the  condemning  all  idolatry, 
no  reserve  is  made  in  scripture  for  this,  as  being  faulty,  only 
because  it  was  applied  wrong ;  or  that  it  might  be  set  right 
when  directed  better.    On  the  contrary,  when  some  men, 
under  the  pretence  of  '  humility  and  of  will-worship,'  did,  Col.  ii.  18. 
according  to  the  Platonic  notions,  offer  to  bring  in  the  'wor- 
ship of  angels'  into  the  church  of  Colosse,  pretending,  as  is 
probable,  that  those  spirits  who  were  employed  by  God  in 
the  ministry  of  the  gospel,  ought,  in  gratitude  for  that  service, 
and  out  of  respect  to  their  dignity,  to  be  worshipped :  St. 
Paul  condemns  ad  this,  without  any  reserves  made  for  lower 
degrees  of  worship ;  he  charges  the  Christians  to  '  beware  of  Ver.  8,  9, 
that  vain  philosophy,'  and  not  to  be  deceived  by  those  shows 
of  humility,  or  the  speculations  of  men,  who  pretended  to 
explain  that  which  they  did  not  know,  as  £  intruding  into 
things  which  they  had  not  seen,  vainly  puffed  up  by  their 
fleshly  mind.'    If  any  degrees  of  invocating  saints  or  angels 
had  been  consistent  with  the  Christian  religion,  this  was  the 
proper  place  of  declaring  them  :  but  the  condemning  that 
matter  so  absolutely,  looks  as  a  very  express  prohibition  of  all 
sort  of  worship  to  angels.    And  when  St.  John  fell  down  to 
worship  the  angel,  that  had  made  him  such  glorious  disco- 
veries upon  two  several  occasions,  the  answer  he  had  wa3, 
'  See  thou  do  it  not :  worship  God :  I  am  thy  fellow-servant.'  Rev- 
It  is  probable  enough  that  St.  John  might  imagine,  that  the  ^e"v<  xxii 
angel,  who  had  made  such  discoveries  to  him,  was  Jesus  9. 

Y  2 


324 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.    Christ :  but  the  answer  plainly  shews,  that  no  sort  of  worship 
XX11-    ought  to  be  offered  to  angels,  nor  to  any  but  God.  The 
reason  given  excludes  all  sorts  of  worship,  for  that  cannot  be 
among  fellow-servants. 

As  angels  are  thus  forbid  to  be  worshipped,  so  no  mention 
is  made  of  worshipping  or  invocating  any  saints  that  had  died 
for  the  faith,  such  as  St.  Stephen  and  St.  James.    In  the 
Heb.xin.7.  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews,  they  are  required  to  'remember  them 
which  had  the  rule  over  them,  and  to  follow  their  faith ;'  but 
not  a  word  of  praying  to  them.    So  that  if  either  the  silence 
of  the  scriptures  on  this  head,  or  if  plain  declarations  to  the 
contrary,  could  decide  this  matter,  the  controversy  would  soon 
be  at  an  end.    Christ  is  always  proposed  to  us  as  the  only 
person  by  whom  we  come  unto  God :  and  when  St.  Paul 
speaks  against  the  worshipping  of  angels,  he  sets  Christ  out 
Col.  ii.  9,  in  his  glory  in  opposition  to  it.    '  For  in  him  dwelleth  all  the 
10.         fulness  of  the  Godhead  bodily ;  and  ye  are  complete  in  him, 
which  is  the  head  of  all  principality  and  power;'  pursuing 
that  reason  in  a  great  many  particulars. 

From  the  scriptures,  if  we  go  to  the  first  ages  of  Christianity, 
we  find  nothing  that  favours  this,  but  a  great  deal  to  the  con- 
trary. Ireneeus  disclaims  the  invocation  of  angels.  The  me- 
morable passage  of  the  church  of  Smyrna,  formerly  cited,  is 
Clem.  a  full  proof  of  their  sense  in  this  matter.  Clemens  Alexan- 
Protrep.  drinus  and  Tertullian  do  often  mention  the  worship  that  was 
Tertul  given  to  God  only  by  prayer :  and  so  far  were  they  at  that 
Apol.c.i7.  time  from  praying  to  saints,  that  they  prayed  for  them,  as  was 
formerly  explained :  they  thought  they  were  not  yet  in  the 
presence  of  God,  so  they  could  not  pray  to  them  as  long  as 
that  opinion  continued.  That  form  of  praying  for  them  is  in 
the  Apostolical  Constitutions.  In  all  that  collection,  which 
seems  to  be  a  work  of  the  fourth  or  fifth  century,  there  is  not 
a  word  that  intimates  their  praying  to  saints.  In  the  council 
of  Laodicea,*  there  is  an  express  condemnation  of  those  who 
invocated  angels  ;f  this  is  called  a  secret  idolatry,  and  a  for- 
saking of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  The  first  apologists  for 
Christianity  do  arraign  the  worship  of  demons,  and  of  such  as 
had  once  lived  on  earth,  in  a  style  that  shewed  they  did  not 
apprehend  that  the  argument  could  be  turned  against  them, 
for  their  worshipping  either  angels  or  departed  saints.  When 
the  Arian  controversy  arose,  the  invocation  of  Christ  is  urged 
by  Athanasius,  Basil,  Cyril,  and  other  fathers,  as  an  evident 

*  Con.  Laod.  c.  35.  Just.  Mart.  Apol.  2.  Iren.  1.  2.  c.  35.  Orig.  con.  Cels.  1.  8. 
Tert.de  Orat.  c.  1.  Athanas.  ad  adelph.  frat.  et  confess,  cont.  Arian.  epist.  Greg. 
Nazianz.  in  sanct.  Lumin.  Orat.  orat.  30.  Greg.  Niss.  in  Basil,  cont.  Eunap. 
Basil.  Horn,  in  sanct.  Christ,  generat.  cont.  Eunom.  1.  4.  Epiph.  Haeres.  64.  69, 
78,  79.    Theod.  de  Har.  Fabul.  1.  5.  c.  3.   Chrysost.  de  Trinit. 

f  Council  of  Laodicea,  c.  25.  s.  24.  decreed,  '  That  we  ought  not  to  forsake 
the  church  of  God,  and  depart  aside,  and  invocate  angels  (  Ayytk/iu;  ovoflavin),  and 
make  meetings,  which  are  things  forbidden  :  if  any  man  therefore  be  found  to  give 
himself  to  this  privy  idolatry,  let  him  be  accursed,  because  he  hath  forsaken  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  the  Son  of  God,  and  betaken  himself  to  idolatry  ' — r  Ed.T 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


325 


argument  that  he  was  neither  made  nor  created  ;  since  they  art. 
did  not  pray  to  angels,  or  any  other  creatures;  from  whence  XXII. 
they  concluded  that  Christ  was  God.    These  are  convincing 
proofs  of  the  doctrine  of  the  three  first,  and  of  a  good  part  of 
the  fourth  century. 

It  is  true,  as  was  confessed  upon  the  former  head,  they  be- 
gan with  martyrs  in  the  end  of  the  fourth  century.  They 
fancied  they  heard  those  that  called  to  them ;  and  upon  that 
it  was  no  wonder  if  they  invocated  them,  and  so  private 
prayers  to  them  began.    But,  as  appears  both  by  the  Consti- 
tutions, and  several  of  the  writers  of  that  time,  the  public 
offices  were  yet  preserved  pure.    St.  Austin  says  plainly,  The  Aug-  con- 
Gentiles  built  temples,  raised  altars,  ordained  priests,  and  c^g  "eo£ 
offered  sacrifices  to  their  gods:  but  we  do  not  erect  temples  to  Max.  1.13. 
our  martyrs,  as  if  they  were  gods;  but  memories  as  to  dead  ^  4- 
men,  tvhose  spirits  live  with  God ;  nor  do  we  erect  altars,  upon  ci"°  Dei 
ivhich  we  sacrifice  to  martyrs;  but  to  one  God  only  do  we  offer,  1.22. c.  lb. 
to  the  God  of  martyrs,  and  our  God;  at  ivhich  sacrifice  they  1-8. c 27. 
are  named  in  their  place  and  order,  as  men  of  God,  who  in  con- 
fessing him  have  overcome  the  world;  but  they  are  not  invo- 
cated by  the  priest  that  sacrifices.    It  seems  the  form  of  pray- 
ing for  the  saints  mentioned  in  the  Constitutions,  was  not 
used  in  the  churches  of  Afric  in  St.  Austin's  time :  he  says 
very  positively,  that  they  did  not  pray  for  them,  but  did 
praise  God  for  them :  and  he  says  in  express  words,  Let  not  Ae"j['{^j 
the  worship  of  dead  men  be  any  part  of  our  religion ;  they  c.  55. 
ought  so  to  be  honoured,  that  we  may  imitate  them,  but  not  wor- 
shipped.   God  was  indeed  prayed  to,  in  the  fifth  century,  to 
hear  the  intercession  of  the  saints  and  martyrs  ;  but  there  is 
a  great  difference  between  praying  to  God  to  favour  us  on 
their  account,  and  praying  immediately  to  them  to  hear  us. 

The  praying  to  them  imports  either  their  being  every 
where,  or  their  knowing  all  things;  and  as  it  is  a  blasphe- 
mous piece  of  idolatry  to  ascribe  that  to  them  without  a 
divine  communication ;  so  it  is  a  great  presumption  in  any 
man  to  fancy  that  they  may  be  prayed  to,  and  to  build  so 
many  parts  of  worship  upon  it,  barely  upon  some  probabili- 
ties and  inferences,  without  an  express  revelation  about  it. 
For  the  saints  may  be  perfectly  happy  in  the  enjoyment  of 
God  without  seeing  all  things  in  him ;  nor  have  we  any  rea- 
son to  carry  that  further  than  the  scripture  has  done.  But  as 
the  invocating  of  martyrs  grew  from  a  calling  to  them  at 
their  memories,  to  a  general  calling  to  them  in  all  places ; 
so  from  the  invocating  martyrs,  they  went  on  to  pray  to 
other  saints;  yet  that  was  at  first  ventured  on  doubtfully, 
and  only  in  funeral  orations ;  where  an  address  to  the  dead 
person  to  pray  for  those  that  were  then  honouring  his  me- 
mory, might,  perhaps,  come  in  as  a  figure  of  pompous  elo- 
quence ;  in  which  Nazianzen,  one  of  the  first  that  uses  it,  did 
often  give  himself  a  very  great  compass;  yet  he  and  others 


326 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


R  T.  soften  such  figures  with  this,  If  there  is  any  sense  or  know- 
ledge  of  what  we  do  below. 

From  prayers  to  God  to  receive  the  intercessions  of  mar- 
tyrs and  saints,  it  came  in  later  ages  to  be  usual  to  have 
litanies  to  them,  and  to  pray  immediately  to  them;  but  at 
first  this  was  only  a  desire  to  them  to  pray  for  those  who  did 
thus  invocate  them,  Ora  pro  nobis.  But  so  impossible  is  it 
to  restrain  superstition,  when  it  has  once  got  head,  and  has 
prevailed,  that  in  conclusion  all  things  that  were  asked  either 
of  God  or  Christ,  came  to  be  asked  from  the  saints  in  the 
same  humility  both  of  gesture  and  expression ;  in  which  if 
there  was  any  difference  made,  it  seemed  to  be  rather  on  the 
side  of  the  blessed  Virgin  and  the  saints,  as  appears  by  the 
ten  Ave*s  for  one  Pater,  and  that  humble  prostration  in  which 
all  fall  down  every  day  to  worship  her :  the  prayer  used  con- 
stantly to  her,  Maria,  Mater  gratia,  Mater  misericordice,  tu 
nos  ab  hoste  protege,  et  hora  mortis  suscipe,  is  an  immediate 
acknowledgment  of  her  as  the  giver  of  these  things ;  such  are, 
Solve  vincla  reis,  profer  lumen  cacis;  with  many  others  of  that 
nature.  The  collection  of  these  swells  to  a  huge  bulk,  Jure 
Matris  impera  Redemptori,  is  an  allowed  address  to  her ;  not 
to  mention  an  infinity  of  most  scandalous  ones,  that  are  not 
only  tolerated,  but  encouraged,  in  that  church.*  Altars  are 
consecrated  to  her  honour,  and  to  the  honour  of  other  saints ; 
but  which  is  more,  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  is  offered  up  to 
her  honour,  and  to  the  honour  of  the  saints  :  and  in  the  form 
of  absolution,  the  pardon  of  sins,  the  increase  of  grace,  and 
eternal  life,  are  prayed  for  to  the  penitent  by  the  virtue  of 
the  passion  of  Christ,  and  the  merits  of  the  blessed  Virgin,  and 
of  all  the  saints.  The  pardon  of  sins  and  eternal  life  are  also 
prayed  for  from  angels,  Angelorum  concio  sacra,  archangelorum 
turma  inclyta,  nostra  diluant  jam  peccata,  prcestando  supernam 

*  We  pass  over  the  many  proofs  of  this  idolatry  to  be  found  in  the  writings  of 
papal  divines  ;  and  extract  two  from  works  in  which  we  are  sure  to  find  the  most 
moderate  statement  of  their  views  on  this  subject.  The  first,  from  the  catechism 
of  the  council  of  Trent,  is  as  follows : — 

'  Jure  autem  sancta  Dei  ecclesia  huic  gratiarum  actioni  preces  etiam  et  implora- 
tionem  sanctissimae  Dei  Matris  adjunxit,  qua  pie  atque  suppliciter  ad  earn  confugere- 
mus,  ut  nobis  peccatoribus  sua  intercessione  conciliaret  Deum,  bonaque  turn  ad 
hanc,  turn  ad  aeternam  vitam  necessaria  impetraret.    Ergo  nos  exules,  filii  Evae, 
qui  hanc  lacrymarum  vallem  incolimus,  assidue  misericordiae  matrem,  ac  fidelis 
populi  advocatam  invocare  debemus,  ut  oret  pro  nobis  peccatoribus,  ab  eaque  hac 
prece  opem  et  auxilium  implorare,  cujus  et  praestantissima  merita  apud  Deum 
esse,  et  summam  voluntatem  juvandi  humanum  genus,  nemo,  nisi  impie  et  nefarie, 
dubitare  potest.'    Cat.  ad  Paroch.   De  oratione,    Pro  qwbus  orandum  sit.  The 
other  is  given  according  to  the  translation  in  the  Laity's  Directory  (a  popish  pub- 
lication) for  the  year  1833.    '  We  select  for  the  date  of  our  letter  this  most  joyful 
day  on  which  we  celebrate  the  solemn  festival  of  the  most  blessed  Virgin's  triumph- 
ant assumption  into  heaven,  that  she  who  has  been  through  every  great  calamity 
our  patroness  and  protectress,  may  watch  over  us  writing  to  you,  and  lead  our 
mind  by  her  heavenly  influence  to  those  counsels  which  may  prove  most  salutary  to 
Christ's  flock.       .        ......         But  that  all  may  have  a 

successful  and  happv  is«ue,  let  us  raise  our  eyes  to  the  most  blessed  Virgin  Mary, 
who  alone  destroys  heresies,  who  is  our  greatest  hope,  yea,  the  entire  ground  of 
oji  U:>pe.'      Encyclical  Letter  of  pope  Gregory  A'l  I.  (l/i?  present  pontiff.)— [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


327 


cmli  gloriam.  Many  strains  of  this  kind  are  to  be  found  in  ART. 
the  hymns  and  other  public  offices  of  that  church:  and  x x  1 1  • 
though  in  the  late  corrections  of  their  offices,  some  of  the 
more  scandalous  are  left  out,  yet  those  here  cited,  with  a 
great  many  more  to  the  same  purpose,  are  still  preserved. 
And  the  council  of  Trent  did  plainly  intend  to  connive  at  all 
these  things,  for  they  did  not  restrain  the  invocation  of  saints, 
only  to  be  an  address  to  them  to  pray  for  us,  which  is  the 
common  disguise  with  which  they  study  to  cover  this  matter: 
but  by  the  decree  of  the  council,  the  flying  to  their  help  and 
assistance,  as  well  as  to  their  intercession,  is  encouraged ; 
which  shews  that  the  council  would  not  limit  this  part  of 
their  devotion  to  a  bare  Ora  pro  nobis;  that  might  have 
seemed  flat  and  low,  and  so  it  might  have  discouraged  it; 
therefore  they  made  use  of  words  that  will  go  as  far  as  super- 
stition can  carry  them.  So  that  if  the  invocating  them,  if  the 
making  vows  to  them,  the  dedicating  themselves  to  them ;  if 
the  flying  to  them  in  all  distresses,  in  the  same  acts,  and  in 
the  same  words,  that  the  scriptures  teach  us  to  fly  to  God 
with ;  and  if  all  the  studied  honours  of  processions  and  other 
pompous  rites  towards  their  images,  that  are  invented  to  do 
them  honour;  if,  I  say,  all  this  does  amount  to  idolatry,  then 
we  are  sure  they  are  guilty  of  it;  since  they  honour  the  crea-  R0m.i.25. 
ture  not  only  besides,  but  (in  the  full  extent  of  that  phrase) 
more  than  the  Creator. 

And  now  let  us  see  what  is  the  foundation  of  all  these  de- 
votions, against  which  we  bring  arguments,  that,  to  speak 
modestly  of  them,  are  certainly  such  that  there  should  be 
matters  of  great  weight  in  the  other  scale  to  balance  them. 
Nothing  is  pretended  from  scripture,  nor  from  any  thing  that 
is  genuine,  for  above  three  hundred  and  fifty  years  after  Christ. 
In  a  word,  the  practice  of  the  church,  since  the  end  of  the 
fourth  century,  and  the  authority  of  tradition,  of  popes  and 
councils,  must  bear  this  burden.  These  are  consequences  that 
do  not  much  affect  us ;  for  though  we  pay  great  respect  to 
many  great  men  that  flourished  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  cen- 
turies, yet  we  cannot  compare  that  age  with  the  three  that 
went  before  it.  Those  great  men  give  us  a  sad  account  of  the 
corruptions  of  that  time,  not  only  among  the  laity,  but  the 
clergy ;  and  their  being  so  flexible  in  matters  of  faith,  as 
they  appeared  to  be  in  the  whole  course  of  the  Arian  contro- 
versy, gives  us  very  just  reason  to  suspect  the  practices  of  that 
age,  in  which  the  protection  and  encouragements  that  the 
church  received  from  the  first  Christian  emperors,  were  not 
improved  to  the  best  advantage. 

The  justest  abatement  that  we  can  offer  for  this  corruption, 
which  is  too  manifest  to  be  either  denied  or  justified,  is  this, 
they  were  then  engaged  with  the  heathens,  and  were  much 
set  on  bringing  them  over  to  the  Christian  religion.  In  order 
to  that  it  was  very  natural  for  them  to  think  of  all  methods 


328 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  possible  to  accommodate  Christianity  to  their  taste.  It  was, 
perhaps,  observed  how  far  the  apostles  complied  with  the 
Jews,  that  they  might  gain  them.    St.  Paul  had  said,  that  to 

20C2i  22  'tne  Jews  he  became  a  Jew  ;'  and  'to  them  that  were  without 
'  law,'  that  is,  the  Gentiles,  '  as  one  without  law  ;  that  by  all 
means  he  might  gain  some.'  They  might  think  that  if  the 
Jews,  who  had  abused  the  light  of  a  revealed  religion,  who  had 
rejected  and  crucified  the  Messias,  and  persecuted  his  followers, 
and  had  in  all  respects  corrupted  both  their  doctrine  and  their 
morals,  were  waited  on  and  complied  with,  in  the  observance 
of  that  very  law  which  was  abrogated  by  the  death  of  Christ, 
but  was  still  insisted  on  by  them  as  of  perpetual  obligation ; 
and  yet  that  after  the  apostles  had  made  a  solemn  decision  in 
the  matter,  they  continued  to  conform  themselves  to  that  law; 
all  this  might  be  applied  with  some  advantages  to  this  matter. 
The  Gentiles  had  nothing  but  the  light  of  nature  to  govern 
them  ;  they  might  seem  willing  to  become  Christians,  but  they 
still  despised  the  nakedness  and  simplicity  of  that  religion. 
And  it  is  reasonable  enough  to  think  that  the  emperors  and 
other  great  men  might  in  a  political  view,  considering  the 
vast  strength  of  heathenism,  press  the  bishops  of  those  times 
to  use  all  imaginable  ways  to  adorn  Christianity  with  such  an 
exterior  form  of  worship,  as  might  be  most  acceptable  to  them, 
and  might  most  probably  bring  them  over  to  it. 

The  Christians  had  long  felt  the  weight  of  persecution  from 
them,  and  were,  no  doubt,  much  frightened  with  the  danger  of 
a  relapse  in  Julian's  time.  It  is  natural  to  all  men  to  desire 
to  be  safe,  and  to  weaken  the  numbers  of  their  implacable 
enemies.  In  that  state  of  things  we  do  plainly  see  they  began 
to  comply  in  lesser  matters  :  for  whereas  in  the  first  ages  the 
Christians  were  often  reproached  with  this,  that  they  had  no 
temples,  altars,  sacrifices,  nor  priests,  they  changed  their  dialect 
in  all  those  points  :  so  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  this  was 
carried  further.  The  vulgar  are  more  easily  wrought  upon  in 
greater  points  of  speculation,  than  in  some  small  ritual  matters; 
because  they  do  not  understand  the  one,  and  so  are  not  much 
concerned  about  it :  but  the  other  is  more  sensible,  and  lies 
within  their  compass.  We  find  some  in  Palestine  kept  images 
in  their  houses,  as  Eusebius  tells  us ;  others  began  in  Spain 
to  light  candles  by  daylight,  and  to  paint  the  walls  of  their 
churches :  and  though  these  things  were  condemned  by  the 
council  of  Elliberis ;  yet  we  see  by  what  St.  Jerome  has  cited 
out  of  Vigilantius,  that  the  spirit  of  superstition  did  work 
strongly  among  them  :  we  hear  of  none  that  writ  against  those 
abuses  besides  Vigilantius;  yet  Jerome  tells  us,  that  many 
bishops  were  of  the  same  mind  with  him,  with  whom  he  is  so 
angry  as  to  doubt,  whether  they  deserved  to  be  called  bishops. 
Most  of  these  abuses  had  also  specious  beginnings,  and  went 
on  insensibly :  where  they  made  greater  steps,  we  find  an  op- 

Kpiph.     position  to  them.    Epiphanius  is  very  severe  upon  the  Colly- 

Ufcree  79. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  329 


ridians,  for  their  worshipping  the  blessed  Virgin.   And  though  ART. 
they  did  it  by  offering  up  a  cake  to  her,  yet  if  any  will  read  XXI1- 
all  that  he  says  against  that  superstition,  they  will  clearly  see, 
that  no  prayers  were  then  offered  up  to  her  by  the  orthodox ; 
and  that  he  rejects  the  thought  of  it  with  indignation.  But 
the  respect  paid  the  martyrs,  and  the  opinion  that  they  were 
still  hovering  about  their  tombs,  might  make  the  calling  to 
them  for  their  prayers,  seem  to  be  like  one  man's  desiring 
the  prayers  of  other  good  men  ;  and  when  a  thing  of  this  kind 
is  once  begun,  it  naturally  goes  on.    Of  all  this  we  see  a  par- 
ticular account  in  a  discourse  writ  on  purpose  on  this  argument, 
of  curing  the  affections  and  inclinations  of  the  Greeks,  by 
Theodoret,  who  may  be  justly  reckoned  among  the  greatest  Theod.  de 
men  of  antiquity,  and  in  it  he  insists  upon  this  particular  of  !jfl-/cG['  g 
proposing  to  them  the  saints  and  martyrs,  instead  of  their  gods,  de  Martyr, 
And  there  is  no  doubt  to  be  made,  but  that  they  found  the 
effects  of  this  compliance ;  many  heathens  were  every  day 
coming  over  to  the  Christian  religion.    And  it  might  then 
perhaps  be  intended  to  lay  those  aside,  when  the  heathens 
were  once  brought  over. 

To  all  which  this  must  be  added,  that  the  good  men  of  that 
time  had  not  the  spirit  of  prophecy,  and  could  not  foresee 
what  progress  this  might  make,  and  to  what  an  excess  it 
might  grow  ;  they  had  nothing  of  that  kind  in  their  view :  so 
that  between  charity  and  policy,  between  a  desire  to  bring 
over  multitudes  to  their  faith,  and  an  inclination  to  secure 
themselves,  it  is  not  at  all  to  be  wondered  at,  by  any  who 
considers  all  the  circumstances  of  those  ages,  that  these  cor- 
ruptions should  have  got  into  the  church,  and  much  less, 
having  once  got  in,  they  should  have  gone  on  so  fast,  and  be 
carried  so  far. 

Thus  I  have  offered  all  the  considerations  that  arise  from 
the  state  of  things  at  that  time,  to  shew  how  far  we  do  still 
preserve  the  respect  due  to  the  fathers  of  those  ages,  even 
when  we  confess  that  they  were  men,  and  that  something  of 
human  nature  appeared  in  this  piece  of  their  conduct.  This 
can  be  made  no  argument  for  later  ages,  who  having  no  hea- 
thens among  them,  are  under  no  temptations  to  comply  with 
any  of  the  parts  of  heathenism,  to  gain  them.  And  now  that 
the  abuse  of  these  matters  is  become  so  scandalous,  and  has 
spread  itself  so  far,  how  much  soever  we  may  excuse  those 
ages,  in  which  we  discern  the  first  beginnings,  and  as  it  were 
the  small  heads,  of  that  which  has  since  overflowed  Christen- 
dom ;  yet  we  can  by  no  means  bear  even  with  those  begin- 
nings, which  have  had  such  dismal  effects ;  and  therefore  we 
have  reduced  the  worship  of  God  to  the  simplicity  of  the 
scripture  times,  and  of  the  first  three  centuries :  and  for  the 
fourth,  we  reverence  it  so  much  on  other  accounts,  that  for 
the  sake  of  these  we  are  unwilling  to  reflect  too  much  on 
this. 


330 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  Another  consideration  urged  for  the  invocation  of  saints  is, 
XXIt-  that,  they  seeing  God,  we  have  reason  to  helieve  that  they 
see  in  him,  if  not  all  things,  yet  at  least  all  the  concerns  of 
the  church,  of  which  they  are  still  parts ;  and  they  being  in 
a  most  perfect  state  of  charity,  they  must  certainly  love  the 
souls  of  their  brethren  here  below :  so  that  if  saints  on  earth, 
whose  charity  is  not  yet  perfect,  do  pray  for  one  another  here 
on  earth,  they  in  that  state  of  perfection  do  certainly  pray 
most  fervently  for  them.  And  as  we  here  on  earth  do  desire 
the  prayers  of  others,  it  may  be  as  reasonable  and  much  more 
useful  to  have  recourse  to  their  prayers,  who  are  both  in  a 
higher  state  of  favour  with  God,  and  have  a  more  exalted  cha- 
rity :  by  which  their  intercessions  will  be  both  more  earnest, 
and  more  prevalent.  They  think  also  that  this  honour  paid 
the  saints,  is  an  honour  done  to  God,  who  is  glorified  in 
them :  and  since  he  is  the  acknowledged  fountain  of  all, 
they  think  that  all  the  worship  offered  to  them  ends  and  ter- 
minates in  God.  They  think,  as  princes  are  come  at  by  the 
means  of  those  that  are  in  favour  with  them  ;  so  we  ought  to 
come  to  God  by  the  intercession  of  the  saints  :  that  all  our 
prayers  to  them  are  to  be  understood  to  amount  to  no  more 
than  a  desire  to  them,  to  intercede  for  us  ;  and  finally,  that 
the  offering  of  sacrifice  is  an  act  of  worship,  that  can  indeed 
be  made  only  to  God,  but  that  all  other  acts  of  devotion  and 
respect  may  be  given  to  the  saints  :  and  the  sublimest  degrees 
of  them  may  be  offered  to  the  blessed  Virgin,  as  the  mother 
of  Christ,  in  a  peculiar  rank  by  herself.  For  they  range  the 
order  of  worship  into  latria,  that  is  due  only  to  God ;  hyper- 
dulia,  that  belongs  to  the  blessed  Virgin ;  and  dulia,  that  be- 
longs to  the  other  saints. 

It  were  easy  to  retort  all  this,  by  putting  it  into  the  mouth 
of  a  heathen ;  and  shewing  how  well  it  would  fit  all  those 
parts  of  worship,  that  they  offered  to  demons  or  intelligent 
spirits,  and  to  deified  men  among  them.  This  is  obvious 
enough,  to  such  as  have  read  what  the  first  apologists  for 
Christianity  have  writ  upon  those  heads.  But  to  take  this  to 
pieces ;  we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  saints  see  all 
the  concerns  of  the  church.  God  can  make  them  perfectly 
happy  without  this ;  and  if  we  think  the  seeing  them  is  a  ne- 
cessary ingredient  of  perfect  happiness,  we  must  from  thence 
conclude,  that  they  do  also  see  the  whole  chain  of  Provi- 
dence :  otherwise  they  may  seem  to  be  in  some  suspense, 
which,  according  to  our  notions,  is  not  consistent  with  perfect 
happiness.  For  if  they  see  the  persecutions  of  the  church, 
and  the  miseries  of  Christians,  without  seeing  on  to  the  end, 
in  what  all  that  will  issue,  this  seems  to  be  a  stop  to  their 
entire  joy.  And  if  they  see  the  final  issue,  and  know  what 
God  is  to  do,  then  we  cannot  imagine  that  they  can  intercede 
against  it,  or  indeed  for  it.  To  us,  who  know  not  the  hidden 
counsels  of  God,  prayer  is  necessary  and  commanded :  but  it 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  331 


seems  inconsistent  with  a  state  in  which  all  these  events  are  ART. 
known.    This  which  they  lay  for  the  foundation  of  prayers  to  XXII. 
saints,  is  a  thing  concerning  which  God  has  revealed  nothing 
to  us,  and  in  which  we  can  have  no  certainty.    God  has  com- 
manded as  to  pray  for  one  another,  to  join  our  prayers  to- 
gether, and  we  have  clear  warrants  for  desiring  the  interces- 
sion of  others.  It  is  a  high  act  of  charity,  and  a  great  instance 
of  the  mutual  love  that  ought  to  be  among  Christians :  it  is  a 
part  of  the  communion  of  the  saints  :  and  as  they  do  cer- 
tainly know,  that  those,  whose  assistance  they  desire,  under- 
stand their  wants  when  they  signify  them  to  them  ;  so  they 
are  sure  that  God  has  commanded  this  mutual  praying  one 
for  another.    It  is  a  strange  thing  therefore  to  argue  from 
what  God  has  commanded,  and  which  may  have  many  good 
effects,  and  can  have  no  bad  one,  to  that  which  he  has 
not  commanded  ;   on   the   contrary,   against  which  there 
are  many  plain  intimations  in   scripture,  and  which  raav 
have  many  bad  effects,  and  we  are  not  sure  that  it  can  have 
any  one  that  is  good.    Beside,  that  the  solemnity  of  devotion 
and  prayer  is  a  thing  very  different  from  our  desiring  the 
prayers  of  such  as  are  alive ;  the  one  is  as  visibly  an  act  of 
religious  worship,  as  the  other  is  not.    God  has  called  himself 
'  a  jealous  God,  that  will  not  give  his  glory  to  another.'    And  Isa.  xlii.  8. 
through  the  whole  scripture,  prayer  is  represented  as  a  main 
part  of  the  service  due  to  him ;  and  as  that  in  which  he  takes  Ps.  cxli.2. 
the  most  pleasure.    It  is  a  sacrifice,  and  is  so  called:  and  p°s'|*'vv'2* 
every  other  sacrifice  can  only  be  accepted  of  God,  as  it  is  ac- 
companied with  the  internal  acts  of  prayers  and  praises  ;  which 
are  the  spiritual  sacrifices  with  which  God  is  well  pleased. 
The  only  thing,  which  the  church  of  Rome  reserves  to  God, 
proves  to  be  the  sacrifice  of  the  mass  :  which,  as  shall  appear 
upon  another  Article,  is  a  sacrifice  that  they  have  invented, 
but  which  is  no  where  commanded  by  God ;  so  that  if  this 
is  well  made  out,  there  will  be  nothing  reserved  to  God  to  be 
the  act  of  their  latria :  though  it  is  not  to  be  forgotten,  that 
even  the  Virgin  and  the  saints  have  a  share  in  that  sacrifice. 

The  excusing  this,  from  the  addresses  made  to  princes  by 
those  that  are  in  favour  with  them,  is  as  bad  as  the  thing 
itself ;  it  gives  us  a  low  idea  of  God,  and  of  Christ,  and  of  that 
goodness  and  mercy,  that  is  so  often  declared  to  be  infinite,  as 
if  he  were  to  be  addressed  to  by  those  about  him,  and  might 
not  be  come  to  without  an  interposition  :  whereas  the  scrip- 
tures speak  always  of  God,  as  a  hearer  of  prayer,  and  as  ready 
to  accept  of  and  answer  the  prayers  of  his  people :  to  seek  to 
other  assistances,  looks  as  if  the  mercies  of  God  were  not 
infinite,  or  the  intercessions  of  Christ  were  not  of  infinite 
efficacy.  This  is  a  corrupting  of  the  main  design  of  the  gos- 
pel, which  is  to  draw  our  affections  wholly  to  God,  to  free  us 
from  all  low  notions  of  him,  and  from  every  thing  that  may 
incline  us  to  idolatry  and  superstition. 


332 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  Thus  I  have  gone  through  all  the  heads  contained  in  this 
XXI1-  Article.  It  seemed  necessary  to  explain  these  with  a  due 
copiousness ;  they  heing  not  only  points  of  speculation,  in 
which  errors  are  not  always  so  dangerous,  but  practical  things, 
which  enter  into  the  worship  of  God,  and  that  run  through  it. 
And  certainly  it  is  the  will  of  God,  that  we  should  preserve  it 
pure,  from  being  corrupted  with  heathenish  or  idolatrous 
practices.  It  seems  to  be  the  chief  end  of  revealed  religion 
to  deliver  the  world  from  idolatry ;  a  great  part  of  the  Mo- 
saical  law  did  consist  of  rites  of  which  we  can  give  no  other 
account,  that  is  so  like  to  be  true,  as,  that  they  were  fences 
and  hedges,  that  were  intended  to  keep  that  nation  in  the 
greatest  opposition,  and  at  the  utmost  distance  possible  from 
idolatry :  we  cannot  therefore  think  that  in  the  Christian  re- 
ligion, in  which  we  are  carried  to  higher  notions  of  God,  and 
to  a  more  spiritual  way  of  worshipping  him,  there  should 
be  such  an  approach  to  some  of  the  worst  pieces  of  Gentilism, 
that  it  seems  to  be  outdone  by  Christians  in  some  of  its  most 
scandalous  parts ;  such  as  the  worship  of  subordinate  gods, 
and  of  images.  These  are  the  chief  grounds  upon  which  we 
separate  from  the  Roman  communion  ;  since  we  cannot  have 
fellowship  with  them,  unless  we  will  join  in  those  acts,  which 
we  look  on  as  direct  violations  of  the  First  and  Second  Com- 
mandments. God  is  a  jealous  God,  and  therefore  we  must 
rather  venture  on  their  wrath,  how  burning  soever  it  may  be, 
than  on  his,  who  is  a  consuming  fire. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


333 


ART. 
XXIII. 


ARTICLE  XXIII. 

Of  Ministering  in  the  Congregation. 

it  ii  not  lafoful  for  ann  JiHan  to  take  upon  i)tm  the  ©ffice  of  public 
■preaching  or  fHimsstertng  the  J^acramentg  in  the  Congregation, 
before  l)e  be  latufulto  callctl  antl  Sent  to  evecute  tlje  Same.  Hntl 
those  be  ougi)t  to  jutlgc  lalofullp  talletl  antf  Sent,  bjhtrh  be  cfyoim 
mxh  talletl  to  this  2Hork  bi>  fiflcn,U)ho  habe  public  Sutboritw  gtbeu 
unto  them,  in  the  Congregation,  to  tall  antJ  SentJ  fHmtsitera:  into 
the£orVaT7tnei>art).* 

We  have  two  particulars  fixed  in  this  Article :  the  first  is 
against  any  that  shall  assume  to  themselves,  without  a  lawful 
vocation,  the  authority  of  dispensing  the  things  of  God :  the 
second  is,  the  defining,  in  very  general  words,  what  it  is  that 
makes  a  lawful  call.  As  to  the  first,  it  will  hear  no  great  diffi- 
culty: we  see  in  the  old  dispensation,  that  the  family,  the  age, 
and  the  qualifications,  of  those  that  might  serve  in  the  priest- 
hood, are  very  particularly  set  forth.    In  the  New  Testament 
our  Lord  called  the  twelve  apostles,  and  sent  them  out :  he 
also  sent  out  upon  another  occasion  seventy  disciples :  and 
before  he  left  his  apostles,  he  told  them,  that  '  as  his  Father  j0hn  xx. 
had  sent  him,  so  he  sent  them  :'  which  seems  to  import,  that  21. 
as  he  was  sent  into  the  world  with  this,  among  other  powers, 
that  he  might  send  others  in  his  name;  so  he  likewise  empow- 
ered them  to  do  the  same :  and  when  they  went  planting 
churches,  as  they  took  some  to  be  companions  of  labour  with 
themselves,  so  they  appointed  others  over  the  particular 
churches  in  which  they  fixed  them  :  such  were  Epaphras,  or 
Epaphroditus  at  Colosse,  Timothy  at  Ephesus,  and  Titus  in 
Crete.   To  them  the  apostles  gave  authority  :  otherwise  it  was 
a  needless  thing  to  write  so  many  directions  to  them,  in  order 
to  their  conduct.    They  had  the  deposition  of  the  faith,  with  2  Tim.  i. 
which  they  were  chiefly  intrusted :  concerning  the  succession  13« 
in  which  that  was  to  be  continued,  we  have  these  words  of  St. 
Paul :  'The  things  which  thou  hast  heard  of  me,  among  many  2Tim  ii  2 
witnesses,  the  same  commit  thou  to  faithful  men,  who  shall  he 
able  to  teach  others  also.'  To  them  directions  are  given,  con- 
cerning all  the  different  parts  of  their  worship;  '  supplications,  iTim.H.1, 
prayers,  intercessions,  and  giving  of  thanks:'  and  also  the  keep-  2,3. ii.  12. 

•  On  the  question  of  Holy  Orders,  the  reader  should  examine  Mason's  celebrated 
work  in  Defence  of  the  Orders  of  the  Church  of  England.  He  will  also  find  this 
point  ably  discussed  in  a  work  undertaken  by  the  command  of  archbishop  Sancroft, 
and  entitled,  '  A  Legacy  to  the  Church  of  England,  vindicating  her  orders  from  the 
objections  of  Papists  and  Dissenters,'  by  the  Rev.  Luke  Milbourn.  This  subject  is 
also  handled  by  bishop  Taylor  innis  'Episcopacy  Asserted.' — [Ed.] 


334 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.   ing  up  the  decency  of  the  worship,  and  the  not  suffering  of 
xxl11-  women  to  teach  ;  like  the  women  priests  among  the  heathens, 
who  were  believed  to  be  filled  with  a  Bacchic  fury.    To  them 
are  directed  all  the  qualifications  of  such  as  might  be  made 
l  Tim.  iii.  either  bishops  or  deacons :  they  were  to  examine  them  accord- 
ing to  these,  and  either  to  receive  or  reject  them.    All  this 
1  Tim  iii   was  directed  to  Timothy,  that  he  might  know  how  he  ought  to 
15.         '  behave  himself  in  the  house  of  God.5  He  had  authority  given 
l  Tim.v.i,  h;m  to  rebuke  and  intreat,  to  honour  and  to  censure.    He  was 

31719  ii         ■  • 

22_  '  '  to  order  what  widows  might  be  received  into  the  number,  and 
who  should  be  refused.  He  was  to  receive  accusations  against 
elders,  or  presbyters,  according  to  directed  methods,  and  was 
either  to  censure  some,  or  to  lay  hands  on  others,  as  should 
agree  with  the  rules  that  were  set  him ;  and  in  conclusion,  he 

1  Tim.  vi.  is  very  solemnly  charged,  to  'keep  that  which  was  committed  to 
20-..  ..  his  trust.'  He  is  required  rightly  to  '  divide  the  word  of  truth,' 
15i'm* to  'preach  the  word,'  to  'be  instant  in  season  and  out  of  season,' 

2  Tim.  iv.  to  'reprove,  rebuke,  and  exhort,  and  to  do  the  work  of  an  evan- 
2;  5*.  gelist,  and  to  make  full  proof  of  his  ministry.'  Some  of  the 
^  a.  i.  5, 9.  same  things  are  charged  upon  Titus,  whom  St.  Paul  had  left  in 

Crete,  to  '  set  in  order  the  things  that  were  wanting,  and  to  or- 
dain elders  in  every  city :'  several  of  the  characters  by  which 
he  was  to  try  them  are  also  set  down  :  he  is  charged  to  rebuke 
the  people  sharply,  and  to  speak  the  things  that  became  sound 
doctrine:  he  is  instructed  concerning  the  doctrines  which  he 
was  to  teach,  and  those  which  he  was  to  avoid ;  and  also  how  to 
Tit.  iii.  10.  censure  an  heretic :  he  was  to  admonish  him  twice ;  and  if 
that  did  not  prevail,  he  was  to  reject  him,  by  some  public 
censure. 

These  rules  given  to  Timothy  and  Titus  do  plainly  import, 
that  there  was  to  be  an  authority  in  the  church,  and  that  no 
man  was  to  assume  this  authority  to  himself;  according  to  that 
maxim,  that  seems  to  be  founded  on  the  light  of  nature,  as 
well  as  it  is  set  down  in  scripture,  as  a  standing  rule  agreed  to 
Heb.  v.  4.  in  all  times  and  places  :  '  no  man  taketh  this  honour  to  him- 
self, but  he  that  is  called  of  God,  as  was  Aaron.' 
Rom.  xii.      St_  Paul,  in  his  Epistles  to  the  Romans  and  Corinthians,  did 
l'cor  xii  reckon  up  the  several  orders  and  functions  that  God  had  set 
28.         in  his  church,  and  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians  he  shews, 
Eph.iv.n,         these  were  not  transient  but  lasting  constitutions;  for 

10  JQ    If]  ,  °  . 

'  '  '  there,  as  he  reckons  the  apostles,  prophets,  evangelists,  pastors, 
and  teachers,  as  the  gifts  which  Christ  at  his  ascension  had 
given  to  men ;  so  he  tells  the  ends  for  which  they  were  given ; 
'for  the  perfecting  the  saints,'  (by  perfecting  seems  to  be  meant 
the  initiating  them  by  holy  mysteries,  rather  than  the  com- 
pacting or  putting  them  in  joint;  for  as  that  is  the  proper 
signification  of  the  word,  so  it  being  set  first,  the  other  things 
that  come  after  it  make  that  the  strict  sense  of  perfecting ; 
that  is,  completing  does  not  so  well  agree  with  the  period,) 
'for  the  work  of  the  ministry,'  (the  whole  ecclesiastical  or 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


335 


sacred  services,)  '  for  the  edifying  the  body  of  Christ,'  (to   A  R  T. 
which  instructing,  exhorting,  comforting,  and  all  the  other  XXI1^ 
parts  of  preaching  may  well  be  reduced  ;)  and  then  the  duration 
of  these  gifts  is  defined,  '  Till  we  all  come  in  the  unity  of  the 
faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  perfect 
man.'    This  seems  to  import  the  whole  state  of  this  life. 

We  cannot  think  that  all  this  belonged  only  to  the  infancy 
of  the  church,  and  that  it  was  to  be  laid  aside  by  her  when  she 
was  further  advanced  ;  for  when  we  consider  that  in  the  begin- 
nings of  Christianity  there  was  so  liberal  an  effusion  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  poured  out  upon  such  great  numbers,  who  had 
very  extraordinary  credentials, miracles,  and  the  gift  of  tongues, 
to  prove  their  mission  ;  it  does  not  seem  so  necessary  in  such 
a  time,  or  rather  for  the  sake  of  such  a  time  only,  to  have 
settled  those  functions  in  the  church,  and  that  the  apostles 
should  have  'ordained  elders  in  every  church.'  Those  extra-  Artsxiv 
ordinary  gifts  that  were  then,  without  any  authoritative 23" 
settlement,  might  have  served  in  that  time  to  have  procured 
to  men  so  qualified  all  due  regards.  We  have  therefore  much 
better  reason  to  conclude,  that  this  was  settled  at  that  time, 
chiefly  with  respect  to  the  following  ages,  which  as  they  were 
to  fall  off  from  that  zeal  and  purity  that  did  then  reign  among 
them,  so  they  would  need  rule  and  government  to  maintain 
the  unity  of  the  church,  and  the  order  of  sacred  things.  And 
for  that  reason  chiefly  we  may  conclude,  that  the  apostles 
settled  order  and  government  in  the  church,  not  so  much  for 
the  age  in  which  they  themselves  lived,  as  once  to  establish 
and  give  credit  to  constitutions,  that  they  foresaw  would  be 
yet  more  necessary  to  the  succeeding  ages. 

This  is  confirmed  by  that  which  is  in  the  Epistle  to  the  He- 
brews, both  concerning  those  '  who  had  ruled  over  them,'  and  Heb.  xiii. 
those  who  were  then  their  guides.    St.  Peter  gives  directions  7-  17- 
to  the  elders  of  the  churches  to  whom  he  writ,  how  they  ought  2  ^et" v* 
both  to  '  feed  and  govern  the  flock :'  and  his  charging  them 
not  to  do  it  out  of  covetousness,  or  with  ambition,  insinuates 
that  either  some  were  beginning  to  do  so,  or  that,  in  a  spirit 
of  prophecy,  he  foresaw  that  some  might  fall  under  such  cor- 
ruptions.   This  is  hint  enough  to  teach  us,  that,  though  such 
things  should  happen,  they  could  furnish  no  argument  against 
the  function.    Abuses  ought  to  be  corrected,  but  upon  that 
pretence  the  function  ought  not  to  be  taken  away. 

If  from  the  scriptures  we  go  to  the  first  writings  of 
Christians,  we  find  that  the  main  subject  of  St.  Clemens'  and 
St.  Ignatius'  Epistles  is  to  keep  the  churches  in  order  and 
union,  in  subjection  to  their  pastors,  and  in  the  due  subordi- 
nation of  all  the  members  of  the  body  one  to  another.  After 
the  first  age  the  thing  grows  too  clear  to  need  any  further  proof. 
The  argument  for  this  from  the  standing  rules  of  order,  of  de- 
cency, of  the  authority  in  which  the  holy  things  ought  to  be 
maintained,  and  the  care  that  must  be  taken  to  repress  vanity 


336 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  and  insolence,  and  all  the  extravagancies  of  light  and  ungo- 
XXHI.  verned  fancies,  is  very  clear.  For  if  every  man  may  assume 
authority  to  preach  and  perform  holy  functions,  it  is  certain 
religion  must  fall  into  disorder,  and  under  contempt.  Hot- 
headed men  of  warm  fancies  and  voluble  tongues,  with  very 
little  knowledge  and  discretion,  would  be  apt  to  thrust  them- 
selves on  to  the  teaching  and  governing  others,  if  they  them- 
selves were  under  no  government.  This  would  soon  make 
the  public  service  of  God  to  be  loathed,  and  break  and  dissolve 
the  wliole  body. 

A  few  men  of  livelier  thoughts,  that  begin  to  set  on  foot  such 
ways,  might  for  some  time  maintain  a  little  credit ;  yet  so  many 
others  would  follow  in  at  that  breach  which  they  had  once 
made  on  public  order,  that  it  could  not  be  possible  to  keep  the 
society  of  Christians  under  any  method,  if  this  were  once  al- 
lowed. And  therefore  those  who  in  their  heart  hate  the  Christian 
religion,  and  desire  to  see  it  fall  under  a  more  general  contempt, 
know  well  what  they  do,  when  they  encourage  all  those  en- 
thusiasts that  destroy  order ;  hoping,  by  the  credit  which  their 
outward  appearances  may  give  them,  to  compass  that  which 
the  others  know  themselves  to  be  too  obnoxious  to  hope  that 
they  can  ever  have  credit  enough  to  persuade  the  world  to. 
Whereas  those  poor  deluded  men  do  not  see  what  properties 
the  others  make  of  them.  The  morals  of  infidels  shew  that 
they  hate  all  religions  equally,  or  with  this  difference,  that  the 
stricter  any  are,  they  must  hate  them  the  more ;  the  root  of 
their  quarrel  being  at  all  religion  and  virtue.  And  it  is  certain, 
as  it  is  that  which  those  who  drive  it  on  see  well,  and  therefore 
they  drive  it  on,  that  if  once  the  public  order  and  national 
constitution  of  a  church  is  dissolved,  the  strength  and  power, 
as  well  as  the  order  and  beauty,  of  all  religion  will  soon  go 
after  it :  for,  humanly  speaking,  it  cannot  subsist  without  it. 

I  come  in  the  next  place  to  consider  the  second  part  of  this 
Article,  which  is  the  definition  here  given  of  those  that  are 
lawfully  called  and  sent :  this  is  put  in  very  general  words,  far 
from  that  magisterial  stiffness  in  which  some  have  taken  upon 
them  to  dictate  in  this  matter.  The  Article  does  not  resolve 
this  into  any  particular  constitution,  but  leaves  the  matter 
open  and  at  large  for  such  accidents  as  had  happened,  and 
such  as  might  still  happen.  They  who  drew  it  had  the  state 
of  the  several  churches  before  their  eyes,  that  had  been  dif- 
ferently reformed ;  and  although  their  own  had  been  less 
forced  to  go  out  of  the  beaten  path  than  any  other,  yet  they 
knew  that  all  things  among  themselves  had  not  gone  accord- 
ing to  those  rules  that  ought  to  be  sacred  in  regular  times : 
necessity  has  no  law,  and  is  a  law  to  itself. 

This  is  the  difference  between  those  things  that  are  the 
means  of  salvation,  and  the  precepts  that  are  only  necessary, 
because  they  are  commanded.  Those  things  which  are  the 
means,  such  as  faith,  repentance,  and  new  obedience,  are  in- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


337 


dispensable;  they  oblige  all  men,  and  at  all  times  alike;  be-  ART. 
cause  they  have  a  natural  influence  on  us,  to  make  us  fit  and  XXI"- 
capable  subjects  of  the  mercy  of  God :  but  such  things  as  are 
necessary  only  by  virtue  of  a  command  of  God,  and  not  by 
virtue  of  any  real  efficiency  which  they  have  to  reform  our 
natures,  do  indeed  oblige  us  to  seek  for  them,  and  to  use  all 
our  endeavours  to  have  them.  But  as  they  of  themselves  are 
not  necessary  in  the  same  order  with  the  first,  so  much  less 
are  all  those  methods  necessary  in  which  we  may  come  at  the 
regular  use  of  them.  This  distinction  shall  be  more  fully  en- 
larged on  when  the  sacraments  are  treated  of.  But  to  the 
matter  in  hand.  That  which  is  simply  necessary  as  a  mean 
to  preserve  the  order  and  union  of  the  body  of  Christians,  and 
to  maintain  the  reverence  due  to  holy  things,  is,  that  no  man 
enter  upon  any  part  of  the  holy  ministry,  without  he  be 
chosen  and  called  to  it  by  such  as  have  an  authority  so  to 
do ;  that,  I  say,  is  fixed  by  the  Article :  but  men  are  left 
more  at  liberty  as  to  their  thoughts  concerning  the  subject  of 
this  lawful  authority. 

That  which  we  believe  to  be  lawful  authority,  is  that  rule 
which  the  body  of  the  pastors,  or  bishops  and  clergy  of  a 
church,  shall  settle,  being  met  in  a  body  under  the  due  respect 
to  the  powers  that  God  shall  set  over  them:  rules  thus  made, 
being  in  nothing  contrary  to  the  word  of  God,  and  duly  exe- 
cuted by  the  particular  persons  to  whom  that  care  belongs, 
are  certainly  the  lawful  authority.  Those  are  the  pastors  of 
the  church,  to  whom  the  care  and  watching  over  the  souls  of 
the  people  is  committed ;  and  the  prince,  or  supreme  power, 
comprehends  virtually  the  whole  body  of  the  people  in  him  : 
since,  according  to  the  constitution  of  the  civil  government, 
the  wills  of  the  people  are  understood  to  be  concluded  by  the 
supreme,  and  such  as  are  the  subject  of  the  legislative  autho- 
rity. When  a  church  is  in  a  state  of  persecution  under  those 
who  have  the  civil  authority  over  her,  then  the  people,  who 
receive  the  faith,  and  give  both  protection  and  encouragement 
to  those  that  labour  over  them,  are  to  be  considered  as  the 
body  that  is  governed  by  them.  The  natural  effect  of  such  a 
state  of  things,  is  to  satisfy  the  people  in  all  that  is  done,  to 
carry  along  their  consent  with  it,  and  to  consult  much  with 
them  in  it.  This  does  not  only  arise  out  of  a  necessary  re- 
gard to  their  present  circumstances,  but  from  the  rules  given 
in  the  gospel,  of  not  ruling  as  the  kings  of  the  several  nations 
did ;  nor  lording  it,  or  carrying  it  with  a  high  authority  over 
God's  heritage  (which  may  be  also  rendered  over  their  several 
lots  or  portions).  But  when  the  church  is  under  the  protec- 
tion of  a  Christian  magistrate,  then  he  comes  to  be  in  the  stead 
of  the  whole  people ;  for  they  are  concluded  in  and  by  him ; 
he  gives  the  protection  and  encouragement,  and  therefore 
great  regard  is  due  to  him,  in  the  exercise  of  his  lawful  autho- 
rity, in  which  he  has  a  great  share,  as  shall  be  explained  in  its 

Z 


3.38 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  H  t.  proper  place.    Here,  then,  we  think  this  authority  is  rightly 

XM11-  lodged,  and  set  on  its  proper  basis. 

And  in  this  we  are  confirmed,  because,  by  the  decrees  of 
the  first  general  councils,  the  concerns  of  every  province  were 
to  be  settled  in  the  province  itself;  and  it  so  continued  till 
the  usurpations  of  the  papacy  broke  in  every  where,  and  dis- 
ordered this  constitution.  Through  the  whole  Roman  com- 
munion the  chief  jurisdiction  is  now  in  the  pope;  only  princes 
have  laid  checks  upon  the  extent  of  it;  and  by  appeals  the 
secular  court  takes  cognizance  of  all  that  is  done  either  by  the 
pope  or  the  clergy.  This  we  are  sure  is  the  effect  of  usur- 
pation and  tyranny :  yet  since  this  authority  is  in  fact  so 
settled,  we  do  not  pretend  to  annul  the  acts  of  that  power,  nor 
the  missions  or  orders  given  in  that  church ;  because  there  is 
among  them  an  order  in  fact,  though  not  as  it  ought  to  be, 
in  right.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  body  of  the  clergy 
comes  to  be  so  corrupted  that  nothing  can  be  trusted  to  the 
regular  decisions  of  any  synod  or  meeting,  called  according  to 
their  constitution,  then  if  the  prince  shall  select  a  peculiar 
number,  and  commit  to  their  care  the  examining  and  reform- 
ing both  of  doctrine  and  worship,  and  shall  give  the  legal 
sanction  to  what  they  shall  offer  to  him ;  we  must  confess 
that  such  a  method  as  this  runs  contrary  to  the  established 
rules,  and  that  therefore  it  ought  to  be  very  seldom  put  in 
practice ;  and  never,  except  when  the  greatness  of  the  occa- 
sion will  balance  this  irregularity  that  is  in  it.  But  still  here 
is  an  authority  both  in  fact  and  right ;  for  if  the  magistrate 
has  a  power  to  make  laws  in  sacred  matters,  he  may  order 
those  to  be  prepared,  by  whom,  and  as  he  pleases. 

Finally,  if  a  company  of  Christians  find  the  public  worship 
where  they  live  to  be  so  defiled  that  they  cannot  with  a  good 
conscience  join  in  it,  and  if  they  do  not  know  of  any  place 
to  which  they  can  conveniently  go,  where  they  may  worship 
God  purely,  and  in  a  regular  way ;  if,  I  say,  such  a  body  find- 
ing some  that  have  been  ordained,  though  to  the  lower  func- 
tions, should  submit  itself  entirely  to  their  conduct,  or  finding 
none  of  those,  should  by  a  common  consent  desire  some  of 
their  own  number  to  minister  to  them  in  holy  things,  and 
should  upon  that  beginning  grow  up  to  a  regulated  constitu- 
tion, though  we  are  very  sure  that  this  is  quite  out  of  all 
rule,  and  could  not  be  done  without  a  very  great  sin,  unless 
the  necessity  were  great  and  apparent ;  yet  if  the  necessity  is 
real  and  not  feigned,  this  is  not  condemned  or  annulled  by 
the  Article  ;  for  when  this  grows  to  a  constitution,  and  when 
it  was  begun  by  the  consent  of  a  body,  who  are  supposed  to 
have  an  authority  in  such  an  extraordinary  case,  whatever 
some  hotter  spirits  have  thought  of  this  since  that  time  ;  yet 
we  are  very  sure,  that  not  only  those  who  penned  the  Arti- 
cles, but  the  body  of  this  church  for  above  half  an  age  after, 
did,  notwithstanding  those  irregularities,  acknowledge  the 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


339 


foreign  churches  so  constituted,  to  be  true  churches  as  to  all  ART. 
the  essentials  of  a  church,  though  they  had  been  at  first 
irregularly  formed,  and  continued  still  to  be  in  an  imperfect 
state.  And  therefore  the  general  words  in  which  this  part  of 
the  Article  is  framed,  seem  to  have  been  designed  on  purpose 
not  to  exclude  them. 

Here  it  is  to  be  considered,  that  the  high-priest  among  the 
Jews  was  the  chief  person  in  that  dispensation ;  not  only  the 
chief  in  rule,  but  he  that  was  by  the  divine  appointment  to 
officiate  in  the  chief  act  of  their  religion,  the  yearly  expiation 
for  the  sins  of  the  whole  nation ;  which  was  a  solemn  renew- 
ing their  covenant  with  God,  and  by  which  atonement  was 
made  for  the  sins  of  that  people.  Here  it  may  be  very  rea- 
sonably suggested,  that  since  none  besides  the  high-priest 
might  make  this  atonement,  then  no  atonement  was  made, 
if  any  other  besides  the  high-priest  should  so  officiate.  To 
this  it  is  to  be  added,  that  God  had  by  an  express  law  fixed 
the  high-priesthood  in  the  eldest  of  Aaron's  family ;  and  that 
therefore,  though  that  being  a  theocracy,  any  prophets  em- 
powered of  God  might  have  transferred  this  office  from  one 
person  or  branch  of  that  family  to  another ;  yet  without  such 
an  authority  no  other  person  might  make  any  such  change. 
But  after  all  this,  not  to  mention  the  Maccabees,  and  all  their 
successors  of  the  Asmonean  family,  as  Herod  had  begun  to 
change  the  high-priesthood  at  pleasure  ;  so  the  Romans  not 
only  continued  to  do  this,  but  in  a  most  mercenary  manner 
they  set  this  sacred  function  to  sale.  Here  were  as  great 
nullities  in  the  high-priests  that  were  in  our  Saviour's  time, 
as  can  be  well  imagined  to  be ;  for,  the  Jews  keeping  their 
genealogies  so  exactly  as  they  did,  it  could  not  but  be  well 
known  in  whom  the  right  of  this  office  rested ;  and  thev  all 
knew  that  he  who  had  it,  purchased  it,  yet  these  were  in  fact 
high-priests :  and  since  the  people  could  have  no  other,  the 
atonement  was  still  performed  by  their  ministry.  Our  Sa-  John  xi. 
viour  owned  Caiaphas,  the  sacrilegious  and  usurping  high-  *Jm« 
priest,  and  as  such  he  prophesied.  This  shews  that  where  the  1 
necessity  was  real  and  unavoidable,  the  Jews  were  bound  to 
think  that  God  did,  in  consideration  of  that,  dispense  with  his 
own  precept.  This  may  be  a  just  inducement  for  us  to  be- 
lieve, that  whensoever  God  by  his  providence  brings  Chris- 
tians under  a  visible  necessity  of  being  either  without  all 
order  and  joint  worship,  or  of  joining  in  an  unlawful  and 
defiled  worship,  or  finally,  of  breaking  through  rules  and 
methods  in  order  to  the  being  united  in  worship  and  govern- 
ment ;  that  of  these  three,  of  which  one  must  be  chosen,  the 
last  is  the  least  evil,  and  has  the  fewest  inconveniences  hang- 
ing upon  it,  and  that  therefore  it  may  be  chosen. 

Our  reformers  had  also  in  view  two  famous  instances  in 
church-history  of  laymen  that  had  preached  and  converted 
nations  to  the  faith.    It  is  true,  they  came,  as  they  ought  to 

z  2 


340 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  have  done,  to  be  regularly  ordained,  and  were  sent  to  such  as 
XXIll.  had  authority  so  to  do.  So  Frumentius  preached  to  the 
Indians,  and  was  afterwards  made  a  priest  and  a  bishop  by 
Athanasius.  The  king  of  the  Iberians,  before  he  was  bap- 
tized himself,  did  convert  his  subjects ;  and,  as  says  the  his- 
torian, he  became  the  apostle  of  his  country  before  he  him- 
self was  initiated.  It  is  indeed  added,  that  he  sent  an 
embassy  to  Constantine  the  emperor,  desiring  him  that  he 
would  send  priests  for  the  further  establishment  of  the  faith 
there. 

These  were  regular  practices ;  but  if  it  should  happen  that 
princes  or  states  should  take  up  such  a  jealousy  of  their  own 
authority,  and  should  apprehend  that  the  suffering  their  sub- 
jects to  go  elsewhere  for  regular  ordinations,  might  bring 
them  under  some  dependance  on  those  that  had  ordained 
them,  and  give  them  such  influence  over  them,  that  the 
prince  of  such  a  neighbouring  and  regular  church  should  by 
such  ordinations  have  so  many  creatures  spies,  or  instruments 
in  their  own  dominions ;  and  if  upon  other  political  reasons 
they  had  just  cause  of  being  jealous  of  that,  and  should  there- 
upon hinder  any  such  thing  in  that  case,  neither  our  reform- 
ers, nor  their  successors  for  near  eighty  years  after  those 
Articles  were  published,  did  ever  question  the  constitution  of 
such  churches. 

We  have  reason  to  believe  that  none  ought  to  baptize  but 
persons  lawfully  ordained;  yet  since  there  has  been  a  prac- 
tice so  universally  spread  over  the  Christian  church,  of  allow- 
ing the  baptism,  not  only  of  laics,  but  of  women,  to  be  lawful, 
though  we  think  that  this  is  directly  contrary  to  the  rules 
given  by  the  apostles;  yet  since  this  has  been  in  fact  so 
generally  received  and  practised,  we  do  not  annul  such  bap- 
tisms, nor  rebaptize  persons  so  baptized ;  though  we  know 
that  the  original  of  this  bad  practice  was  from  an  opinion  of 
the  indispensable  necessity  of  baptism  to  salvation.  Yet 
since  it  has  been  so  generally  received,  we  have  that  regard  to 
such  a  common  practice,  as  not  to  annul  it,  though  we  con- 
demn it.  And  thus  what  thought  soever  private  men,  as  they 
are  divines,  may  have  of  those  irregular  steps,  the  Article  of 
the  church  is  conceived  in  such  large  and  general  words,  that 
no  man,  by  subscribing  it,  is  bound  up  from  freer  and  more 
comprehensive  thoughts. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


341 


ART. 
XXIV. 

ARTICLE  XXIV. 

Of  speaking  in  the  Congregation  in  such  a  Tongue  as  the 
People  understandeth. 

ft  is  a  thing  platnlp  repugnant  to  the  WLovlt  of  {§ott,  anH  the 
Custom  of  t$e  $Jrtnuttbe  Church,  to  habe  public  draper  in  the 
Church,  or  to  minister  the  Sacraments,  tn  a  Conguc  not  uniJeiv 
Stanttctl  of  the  People. 

This  Article,  though  upon  the  matter  very  near  the  same,  yet 
was  worded  much  less  positively  in  those  at  first  set  forth 
by  king  Edward. 

Jft  is  most  fit,  ani  most  agreeable  to  the  WLovti  of  &oti,  that  no* 
thing  be  reati  or  rehearsed  tn  trje  Congregation  tn  a  Conguc  not 
kiioum  unto  the  people;  fohtch  St.  Paul  hath  forbttJtJeu  to  be 
tjouc,  unless  Some  be  present  to  interpret. 

In  king  Edward's  Articles  they  took  in  preaching  with  prayer, 
but  in  the  present  Article  this  is  restrained  to  prayer.  The 
former  only  affirms  the  use  of  a  known  tongue  to  be  most 
fit  and  agreeable  to  the  word  of  God ;  the  latter  denies  the 
worship  in  an  unknown  tongue  to  be  lawful,  and  affirms  it 
to  be  repugnant  to  the  word  of  God;  to  which  it  adds,  and 
the  custom  of  the  primitive  church. 

This  Article  seems  to  be  founded  on  the  law  of  nature. 
The  worship  of  God  is  a  chain  of  acts  by  which  we  acknow- 
ledge God's  attributes,  rejoice  in  his  goodness,  and  lay  claim 
to  his  mercies.  In  all  which  the  more  we  raise  our  thoughts, 
the  more  seriousness,  earnestness,  and  affection  that  animates 
our  mind,  so  much  the  more  acceptably  do  we  serve  God, 
who  is  a  spirit,  and  will  be  worshipped  in  'spirit  and  in  truth.'  John  iv. 
All  the  words  used  in  devotion  are  intended  to  raise  in  us  23» 24- 
the  thoughts  that  naturally  belong  to  such  words.  And  the 
various  acts,  which  are  as  it  were  the  breaks  in  the  service, 
are  intended  as  rests  to  our  minds,  to  keep  us  the  longer 
without  weariness  and  wandering  in  those  exercises.  One 
great  end  of  continuance  in  worship  is,  that,  by  the  frequent 
repeating  and  often  going  over  of  the  same  things,  they  may 
come  to  be  deeply  rooted  in  our  thoughts.  The  chief  effect 
that  the  worship  of  God  has  by  its  own  efficiency,  is  the  in- 
fixing those  things,  about  which  the  branches  of  it  are  em- 
ployed, the  deeper  on  our  minds ;  upon  which  God  gives  his 
blessing  as  we  grow  to  be  prepared  for  it,  or  capable  of  it. 
Now  all  this  is  lost,  if  the  worship  of  God  is  a  thread  of  such 


342 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  sounds,  as  makes  the  person  who  officiates  a  barbarian  to  the 
XXIV.  restt  They  have  nothing  but  noise  and  show  to  amuse  them, 
which  how  much  soever  they  may  strike  upon  and  entertain 
the  senses,  yet  they  cannot  affect  the  heart,  nor  excite  the 
mind  :  so  that  the  natural  effect  of  such  a  way  of  worship  is 
to  make  religion  a  pageantry,  and  the  public  .service  of  God 
an  opera. 

If  from  plain  sense,  and  the  natural  consequences  of  things, 
we  carry  on  this  argument  to  the  scriptures,  we  find  the 
whole  practice  of  the  Old  Testament  was  to  worship  God,  not 
only  in  a  tongue  that  was  understood,  for  it  may  be  said  there 
was  no  occasion  then  to  use  any  other ;  but  that  the  expres- 
sions used  in  the  prayers  and  psalms  that  we  find  in  the  Old 
Testament,  shew  they  were  intended  to  affect  those  who  were 
to  use  them  ;  and  if  that  is  acknowledged,  then  it  will  clearly 
follow  that  all  ought  to  understand  them ;  for  who  can  be  af- 
fected with  that  which  he  does  not  understand?  So  this  shews 
that  the  end  of  public  devotion  is  the  exciting  and  inflaming 
those  who  bear  a  share  in  it.  When  Ezra  and  Nehemiah 
were  instructing  the  people  out  of  the  law,  they  took  care  to 

Neh.  viii.  have  it  read  '  distinctly,  one  giving  the  sense  of  it.'  After 
they  were  long  in  captivity,  though  it  had  not  worn  out  quite 
the  knowledge  of  the  Hebrew,  yet  the  Chaldee  was  more 
familiar  to  them,  so  a  paraphrase  was  made  of  the  Hebrew 
into  that  language,  though  it  was  rather  a  different  dialect  than 
another  language ;  and  by  the  forms  of  their  prayers,  we  see 

Neh.  ix.5.  that  one  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  '  Stand  up,  and  bless  the 
Lord  your  God  for  ever  and  ever which  shews  that  all  did 
understand  the  service.  When  the  Syriac  tongue  became 
more  familiar  to  them,  the  Jews  had  their  prayers  in  Syriac; 
and  they  did  read  the  law  in  their  synagogues  in  Greek,  when 
that  language  was  more  familiar  to  them;  when  they  read  the 
law  in  Greek,  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  they  prayed  like- 
wise in  it.  In  the  New  Testament,  we  see  the  gift  of  tongues 
was  granted  to  enable  the  apostles,  and  others,  to  go  every 
where  preaching  the  gospel,  and  performing  holy  functions  in 
such  a  language  as  might  be  understood :  the  world  was 
amazed  when  every  man  heard  them  speak  in  his  own  lan- 
guage. 

One  of  the  general  rules  given  by  St.  Paul,  with  relation  to 
the  worship  of  God,  is,  '  Let  every  thing  be  done  to  edifica- 
tion.' Since  then  the  speaking  either  to  God  in  the  name  of 
the  people,  or  to  the  people  in  the  name  of  God,  in  an  un- 
known tongue,  can  edify  no  person ;  then  by  this  rule  it  is  to 
be  understood  to  be  forbidden.  When  some  who  had  the 
gift  of  tongues  did  indiscreetly  shew  it  in  the  church  of 
Corinth,  St.  Paul  was  so  offended  at  that,  and  thought  it 
would  appear  to  the  world  so  undecent,  as  well  as  unfruitful, 
that  he  bestows  a  whole  chapter  upon  it;  and  though  a  great 
part  of  the  discourse  is  against  the  pretending  to  teach  the 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


343 


people  in  an  unknown  tongue,  which  yet  is  not  near  so  bad  ART. 
as  the  reading  the  word  of  God  to  them  in  a  tongue  not  un-  XXIV- 
derstood  by  them,  it  being  much  more  important  that  the 
people  should  understand  the  words  of  the  living  God  than 
the  expositions  of  men ;  yet  there  are  many  passages  in  that 
chapter  that  belong  to  prayer :  the  reason  of  the  thing  is 
common  to  both,  since,  unless  the  words  were  understood, 
they  who  uttered  them  spoke  only  to  the  air;  and  how  should 
it  be  known  what  was  spoken  ?    For  if  the  meaning  of  the 
voice  was  not  known,  they  would  be  barbarians  to  one  another. 
As  to  prayer,  he  says,  '  If  I  pray  in  an  unknown  tongue,  my  1  Cor.  xiv. 
spirit  (that  is,  the  inspiration  or  gift  that  is  in  me)  prayeth ;  14- 
but  my  understanding  (that  is,  my  rational  powers)  is  un- 
fruitful ;'  and  therefore  he  concludes  that  he  will  both  pray  Ver.  15. 
and  give  thanks  with  the  spirit,  and  with  the  understanding 
also ;  he  will  do  it  in  such  a  manner,  that  the  inspiration  with 
which  he  was  acted  and  his  rational  powers  should  join  to- 
gether.   The  reason  given  for  this  seems  evident  enough  to 
determine  the  whole  matter :  '  Else  when  thou  shalt  bless  Ver- 16, 
with  the  spirit,  how  shall  he  that  occupieth  the  room  of  the  l7- 
unlearned  say  Amen  at  thy  giving  of  thanks,  seeing  he  under- 
standeth  not  what  thou  sayest  ?  For  thou  verily  givest  thanks 
well,  but  the  other  is  not  edified.'    In  which  words  it  is  plain 
that  the  people,  even  the  most  unlearned  among  them,  were 
to  join  in  the  prayers  and  praises,  and  to  testify  that  by  say- 
ing Amen  at  the  conclusion  of  them;  and  in  order  to  their 
doing  this  as  became  reasonable  creatures,  it  was  necessary 
that  they  should  understand  what  that  was  which  they  were 
to  confirm  by  their  Amen.    It  is  also  evident  that  St.  Paul 
judged,  that  the  people  ought  to  be  edified  by  all  that  was 
said  in  the  church  ;  and  so  he  says  a  little  after  this,  '  Let  all  Ver.  26. 
things  be  done  to  edifying.'    After  such  plain  authorities 
from  scripture,  supporting  that  which  seems  to  be  founded  on 
the  light  of  nature,  we  need  go  no  further  to  prove  that  which 
is  mainly  designed  by  this  Article. 

The  custom  of  the  primitive  church  is  no  less  clear  in  this 
point.  As  the  Christian  religion  was  spread  to  different  na- 
tions, so  they  all  worshipped  God  in  their  own  tongue.  The 
Syriac,  the  Greek,  and  the  Latin,  were  indeed  of  that  extent, 
that  we  have  no  particular  history  of  any  churches  that  lay  be- 
yond the  compass  of  those  languages;  but  there  was  the  same 
reason  for  putting  the  worship  of  God  in  other  languages,  that 
there  was  for  these:  that  which  is  drawn  from  the  three  lan- 
guages, in  which  the  title  on  our  Saviour's  cross  was  written, 
is  too  trifling  a  thing  to  deserve  an  answer ;  as  if  a  humour 
of  Pilate's  were  to  be  considered  as  a  prophetical  warrant, 
what  he  did  being  only  designed  to  make  that  title  to  be  un- 
derstood by  all  who  were  then  at  Jerusalem.  There  are  very  Cont.  Cel 
large  passages  both  in  Origen  and  St.  Basil,  which  mention  sum>  8- 
every  tongue's  praising  of  God;  and  that  the  gospel  beii.j^^ 


344 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


torn.  9. 


ART.   spread  to  many  nations,  he  was  in  every  nation  praised  in  the 
•  language  of  that  nation.    This  continued  so  long  to  be  the 

epist.  ad 

practice  even  of  the  Latin  church,*  that  in  the  ninth  century, 
ciericos  when  the  Slavons  were  converted,  it  was  considered  at  Rome 
Naeocesa-  j^y  p0pe  j0hn  VIII.  in  what  language  they  should  be  allowed 
Johan  8  *°  worsnip  God.  And,  as  it  is  pretended,  a  voice  was  heard, 
Ep.  247.  Let  every  tongue  confess  to  God;  upon  which  that  pope 
wrote  both  to  the  prince  and  to  the  bishop  of  the  Slavons, 
allowing  them  to  have  their  public  service  in  their  own 
tongue.  But  in  the  other  parts  of  the  western  church,  the 
Latin  tongue  continued  to  be  so  universally  understood  by 
almost  all  sorts  of  people,  till  the  tenth  or  eleventh  century, 
that  there  was  no  occasion  for  changing  it ;  and  by  that  time 
the  clergy  were  affecting  to  keep  the  people  in  ignorance,  and 
in  a  blind  dependance  upon  themselves ;  and  so  were  willing 
to  make  them  think  that  the  whole  business  of  reconciling 
the  people  to  God  lay  upon  them,  and  that  they  were  to  do 
it  for  them.  A  great  part  of  the  service  of  the  mass  was  said 
so  low,  that  even  thev  who  understood  some  Latin  could  not 
be  the  better  for  it,  in  an  age  in  which  there  was  no  printing, 
and  so  few  copies  were  to  be  had  of  the  public  offices.  The 
scriptures  were  likewise  kept  from  the  people,  and  the  service 
of  God  was  filled  with  many  rites,  in  all  which  the  clergy 
seemed  to  design  to  make  the  people  believe  that  these  were 
sacred  charms,  of  which,  they  only  had  the  secret.  So  that 
all  the  edification  which  was  to  be  had  in  the  public  worship 
was  turned  to  pomp  and  show,  for  the  diversion  and  enter- 
tainment of  the  spectators. 
Con.  Trid.  In  defence  of  this  worship  in  an  unknown  tongue,  the  main 
Sess  22  argument  tliat  is  brought  is  the  authority  and  infallibility  of 
the  church,  which  has  appointed  it ;  and  since  she  ought  to 
be  supposed  not  to  have  erred,  therefore  this  must  be  believed 
to  be  lawful.  We  are  not  much  moved  with  this,  especially 
with  the  authority  of  the  later  ages ;  so  the  other  arguments 
must  be  considered,  which  indeed  can  scarce  be  called  argu- 
ments. The  modern  tongues  change  so  fast,  that  they  say,  if 
the  worship  were  in  them,  it  must  either  be  often  changed,  or 

*  That  such  was  the  practice  of  the  Latin  church  even  in  the  thirteenth  century 
appears  from  the  following  decree  of  the  fourth  Lateran  council,  held  under  pope 
Innocent  III.,  a.d.  1215. 

'4t/i  Lateran,  Innocent  III.,  1215.   Can.  ix.  p.  161,  Labb.  vol.  xi. 

'  Quoniam  in  plerisque  partihus  intra  eandem  civitatem  atque  dicecesim  permixti 
sunt  populi  diversarum  linguarum,  habentes  sub  una  fide  varios  ritus  et  mores : 
districte  praecipimus,  ut  pontifices  hujusmodi  civitatum  sive  dicecesim  provideant 
viros  idoneos,  qui  secundum  diversi'tates  rituum  et  linguarum  Divina  officia  illis 
celebrent,  et  ecclesiastica  sacramenta  ministrent,  instruendo  eis  verbo  pariter  et 
cxemplo.' — De  diversh  ritibus  in  eademjide. 

With  this  the  following  canon  of  the  council  of  Trent  affords  a  curious  contrast : 
'  Si  quis  dixerit  ecclesiae  Romanae  ritum,  quo  summissa  voce  pars  canonis  et  verba 
consecrationis  proferuntur,  damnandum  esse ;  aut  lingua  tantum  vulga  i  missam 
celebrari  debere :  aut  aquam  non  miscendam  esse  vino  in  calice  offerend  .,  eo  quod 
sit  contra  Christi  institutionem  :  anathema  sit.' — [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


345 


the  phrases  would  grow  old,  and  sound  harshly.  A  few  alter-  ART. 
ations  once  in  an  age  will  set  this  matter  right;  besides,  that  XX IV. 
the  use  of  such  forms  does  fix  a  language,  at  least  as  to  those  — 
phrases  that  are  used  in  it,  which  grow  to  be  so  familiar  to 
our  ears  by  constant  use,  that  they  do  not  so  easily  wear  out. 
It  is  above  eighty  years  since  the  present  translation  of  the 
Bible  was  made,  and  above  one  hundred  and  forty  since  our 
Liturgy  was  compiled,  and  yet  we  perceive  no  uncouthness 
in  the  phrases.  The  simplicity,  in  which  such  forms  must  be 
drawn,  makes  them  not  so  subject  to  alteration  as  other  com- 
posures, of  rhetoric  or  poetry ;  but  can  it  be  thought  any  in- 
conveniency  now  and  then  to  alter  a  little  the  words  or  phrases 
of  our  service  ?  Much  less  can  that  be  thought  of  weight 
enough  to  balance  the  vaster  prejudice  of  keeping  whole 
nations  in  ignorance,  and  of  extinguishing  devotion  by  enter- 
taining it  with  a  form  of  worship  that  is  not  understood. 

Nor  can  this  be  avoided  by  saying,  that  the  people  are 
furnished  with  forms  in  their  own  language,  into  which  the 
greatest  part  of  the  public  offices  are  translated  :  for  as  this  is 
not  done  but  since  the  Reformation  began,  and  in  those  na- 
tions only  where  the  scandal  that  is  given  by  an  unknown 
language  might  have,  as  they  apprehend,  ill  effects ;  so  it  is 
only  an  artifice  to  keep  those  still  in  their  communion,  whom 
such  a  gross  practice,  if  not  thus  disguised,  might  otherwise 
drive  from  them.  But  still  the  public  worship  has  no  edifi- 
cation in  it ;  nor  can  those  who  do  not  understand  it  say 
Amen,  according  to  St.  Paul.  Finally,  they  urge  the  commu- 
nion of  saints,  in  order  to  which  they  think  it  is  necessary 
that  priests,  wheresoever  they  go,  may  be  able  to  officiate, 
which  they  cannot  do  if  every  nation  worships  God  in  its  own 
language.  And  this  was  indeed  very  necessary  in  those  ages 
in  which  the  see  of  Rome  did  by  provisions,  and  the  other 
inventions  of  the  canonists,  dispose  of  the  best  benefices  to 
their  own  creatures  and  servants.  That  trade  would  have 
been  spoiled,  if  strangers  might  not  have  been  admitted  till 
they  had  learned  the  language  of  the  country ;  and  thus,  in- 
stead of  taking  care  of  the  people  that  ought"  to  be  edified  by 
the  public  worship,  provision  was  made  at  their  cost  for  such 
vagrant  priests  as  have  been  in  all  ages  the  scandals  of  the 
church,  and  the  reproaches  of  religion. 


346 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  RT. 
XXV. 

ARTICLE  XXV. 

Of  the  Sacraments. 

Sacraments  ortiainecl  of  Chiist  be  not  only  33aUgeS  or  CofeenS  of 
Christian  Uleix'S  profession,  but  ratrjer  tljcp  be  certain  Sure 
MitueSSeS,  ant>  effectual  Signs  of  ©race,  an*  ©oU'S  Mill  to* 
toartlS  us,  bi)  tlje  tobici)  be  tiott)  loorfe  inbisibln  in  us,  anrj  Hotft 
not  onlp  quicken,  but  alsSo  Strengthen  ancj  con&'rm,  our  dfaith  in 
bim. 

Chere  are  Ctoo  Sacraments  orKatneH  of  Christ  our  Eortt  in  tf)e 
©oSpel :  t^at  is  to  Sap,  JJapttSm,  anO  the  Supper  of  the  %dvO. 

©hose  fibe  commonly  callcti  Sacraments-,  that  is  to  Saw,  Conftrma* 
tion,  penance,  ©rflcrS,  fitlatrimoni),  antJ  crtrcme  Unction,  are  not 
to  be  rouutctj  for  Sacraments  of  tfje  (SoSpcl;  being  Sue!)  as  babe 
groum  partly  of  the  corrupt  following  cf  the  SpoStleS,  partly 
are  States  of  itife  alloiucU  in  the  Scriptures,  but  get  babe  not 
like  Mature  of  Sacraments  forth  JJaptiSm,  ant)  tbe  Eorto'S  Sup* 
per;  for  that  they  habe  not  anj  bisible  Sign  or  Ceremony  orKaiueU 
of  <§ofc. 

®hc  Sacraments  mere  not  orHatnccj  of  Christ  to  be  ga^cto  upon,  or 
to  be  rarrtctJ  about,  but  that  foe  ShouitJ  tJuly  use  them.  9ncj  in 
Such  only  as  foorthily  xtctibe  the  Same  then  habe  a  fofyoleSome 
3£ffcct  or  ©pcrattou;  but  tljey  tijat  recetbe  tl)em  unfoorthily,  pur* 
chase  to  thcmSelbcS  Samnattoii,  as  St.  Paul  Sattlj. 

There  is  a  great  diversity  between  (lie  form  of  this  Article, 
as  it  is  now  settled,  and  that  published  by  king  Edward, 
which  begun  in  these  words :  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  gathered 
his  people  into  a  society  by  sacraments,  very  few  in  number, 
most  easily  to  be  kept,  and  of  most  excellent  signification ;  that 
is  to  say,  Baptism,  and  the  Supper  of  the  Lord.  There  is  no- 
thing in  that  edition  instead  of  the  paragraph  concerning  the 
other  five  pretended  sacraments.  Next  comes  the  paragraph 
which  is  here  the  last,  only  with  the  addition  of  these  words 
after  operation :  Not  as  some  say,  ex  opere  operato,  which 
terms,  as  they  are  strange  and  utterly  unknown  to  the  holy 
scripture,  so  do  they  yield  a  sense  which  savoureth  of  little 
piety,  but  of  much  superstition :  and,  in  conclusion,  the  para- 
graph comes,  with  which  the  Article  does  now  begin ;  so  that 
in  all  this  diversity  there  is  no  real  difference  :  for  the  virtue 
of  the  sacraments  being  put  in  the  worthy  receiving,  excludes 
the  doctrine  of  opus  operatum,*  as  formally  as  if  it  had  ex- 
pressly been  condemned ;  and  the  naming  the  two  sacraments 

*  For  the  canons  of  the  Council  of  Trent  respecting  the  sacraments,  and  doc- 
trine of  opus  operatum,  see  note,  page  164. — [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


317 


instituted  by  Christ,  is  upon  the  matter  the  rejecting  of  all  the  A  R 
rest.  xx 

It  was  most  natural  to  begin  this  article  with  a  description 
of  sacraments  in  general.  This  difference  is  to  be  put  between 
sacraments  and  other  ritual  actions ;  that  whereas  other  rites 
are  badges  and  distinctions  by  which  the  Christians  are  known, 
a  sacrament  is  more  than  a  bare  matter  of  form ;  and  as,  in  the 
Old  Testament,  circumcision  and  propitiatory  sacrifices  were 
things  of  a  different  nature  and  order  from  all  the  other  ritual 
precepts  concerning  the  cleansings,  the  distinctions  of  days, 
places,  and  meats.  These  were  indeed  precepts  given  them  of 
God,  but  they  were  not  federal  acts  of  renewing  the  covenant, 
or  reconciling  themselves  to  God.  By  circumcision  they 
received  the  seal  of  the  covenant,  and  were  brought  under 
the  obligation  of  the  whole  law :  they  were  by  it  made  debtors 
to  it ;  and  when  by  their  sins  they  had  provoked  God's  wrath, 
they  were  reconciled  to  him  by  their  sacrifices,  with  which 
atonement  was  made,  and  so  their  sins  were  forgiven  them. 
The  nature  and  end  of  those  was  to  be  federal  acts,  in  the 
offering  of  which  the  Jews  kept  to  their  part  of  the  covenant, 
and  in  the  accepting  of  which  God  maintained  it  on  his  part ; 
so  we  see  a  plain  difference  between  these  and  a  mere  rite, 
which,  though  commanded,  yet  must  pass  only  for  the  badge 
of  a  profession,  as  the  doing  of  it  is  an  act  of  obedience  to 
a  divine  law.  Now,  in  the  new  dispensation,  though  our 
Saviour  has  eased  us  of  that  law  of  ordinances,  that  grievous 
yoke,  and  those  beggarly  elements  which  were  laid  upon  the 
Jews ;  yet,  since  we  are  still  in  the  body,  subject  to  our  senses, 
and  to  sensible  things,  he  has  appointed  some  federal  actions, 
to  be  both  the  visible  stipulations  and  professions  of  our 
Christianity,  and  the  conveyances  to  us  of  the  blessings  of 
the  gospel. 

There  are  two  extremes  to  be  avoided  in  this  matter.  The 
one  is  of  the  church  of  Rome,  that  teaches,  that  as  some 
sacraments  imprint  a  character  upon  the  soul,  which  they 
define  to  be  a  physical  quality,  that  is,  supernatural  and  spi- 
ritual, so  they  do  all  carry  along  with  them  such  a  divine 
virtue,  that  by  the  very  receiving  them  (the  opus  operatum)  it 
is  conveyed  to  the  souls  of  those  to  whom  they  are  applied, 
unless  they  themselves  put  a  bar  in  the  way  of  it  by  some 
mortal  sin.  In  consequence  of  this,  they  reckon,  that  by  the 
sacraments  given  to  a  man  in  his  agonies,  though  he  is  very 
near  past  all  sense,  and  so  cannot  join  any  lively  acts  of  his 
mind  with  the  sacraments,  yet  he  is  justified ;  not  to  mention 
the  common  practice  of  giving  extreme  unction  in  the  last 
agony,  when  no  appearance  of  any  sense  is  left.  This  we 
reckon  a  doctrine  that  is  not  only  without  all  foundation  in  , 
scripture,  but  that  tends  to  destroy  all  religion,  and  to  make 
men  five  on  securely  in  sin,  trusting  to  this,  that  the  sacra- 
ments may  be  given  them  when  they  die.    The  conditions  of 


348 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  the  new  covenant  are,  repentance,  faith,  and  ohedience ;  and 
XXV.    we  look  on  this  as  the  corrupting  the  vitals  of  this  religion, 
"  when  any  such  means  are  proposed,  by  which  the  main  design 

of  the  gospel  is  quite  overthrown.  The  business  of  a  character 
is  an  unintelligible  notion.  We  acknowledge  baptism  is  not 
to  be  repeated ;  but  that  is  not  by  virtue  of  a  character  im- 
printed in  it,  but  because  it  being  a  dedication  of  the  person 
to  God  in  the  Christian  religion,  what  is  once  so  done  is  to  be 
understood  to  continue  still  in  that  state,  till  such  a  person 
falls  into  an  open  apostacy.  In  case  of  the  repentance  of  such 
a  person,  we  finding  that  the  primitive  church  did  reconcile, 
but  not  rebaptize  apostates,  do  imitate  that  their  practice ; 
but  not  because  of  this  late  and  unexplicable  notion  of  a  cha- 
racter. We  look  on  all  sacramental  actions  as  acceptable  to 
God  only  with  regard  to  the  temper,  and  the  inward  acts  of 
the  person  to  whom  they  are  applied,  and  cannot  consider 
them  as  medicines  or  charms,  which  work  by  a  virtue  of  their 
own,  whether  the  person  to  whom  they  are  applied  co-operates 
l  Pet.  iii.  -with  them,  or  not.  Baptism  is  said  by  St.  Peter  '  to  save  us/ 
*  ■  not  as  it  is  an  action  that  washes  us ;  '  not  the  putting  away 
the  filth  of  the  flesh,  but  the  answer  of  a  good  conscience  to- 
wards God/  And  therefore  baptism  without  this  profession 
is  no  baptism,  but  seems  to  be  used  as  a  charm ;  unless  it  is 
said,  that  this  answer  or  profession  is  implied,  whensoever 
baptism  is  desired.  When  a  person  of  age  desires  baptism,  he 
must  make  those  answers  and  sponsions,  otherwise  he  is  not 
truly  baptized;  and  though  his  outward  making  of  them  being 
all  that  can  fall  under  human  cognizance,  he  who  does  that 
must  be  held  to  be  truly  baptized,  and  all  the  outward  privi- 
leges of  a  baptized  person  must  belong  to  him  ;  yet  as  to  the 
effect  of  baptism  on  the  soul  of  him  that  is  baptized,  without 
doubt  that  depends  upon  the  sincerity  of  the  professions  and 
vows  made  by  him.  The  wills  of  infants  are  by  the  law  of 
nature  and  nations  in  their  parents,  and  are  transferred  by 
them  to  their  sureties ;  the  sponsions  that  are  made  on  their 
behalf  are  considered  as  made  by  themselves ;  but  there  the 
outward  act  is  sufficient ;  for  the  inward  acts  of  one  person 
cannot  be  supposed  necessary  to  give  the  sacrament  its  virtue 
in  another. 

lCor.x.16.  In  the  eucharist,  by  our  '  shewing  forth  our  Lord's  death 
till  he  comes,'  we  are  admitted  to  the  '  communion  of  his  body 
and  blood  ;'  to  a  share  in  partnership  with  other  Christians 
in  the  effects  and  merits  of  his  death.  But  the  unworthy 
receiver  is  guilty  of  his  body  and  blood,  and  brings  thereby 
down  judgments  upon  himself;  so  that  to  fancy  a  virtue  in 
sacraments  that  works  on  the  person  to  whom  they  are  ap- 
plied, without  any  inward  acts  accompanying  it,  and  upon  his 
being  only  passive,  is  a  doctrine  of  which  we  find  nothing  in 
the  scriptures ;  which  teach  us  that  every  thing  we  do  is  only 
accepted  of  God,  with  regard  to  the  disposition  of  mind  that 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  349 


he  knows  us  to  be  in  when  we  go  about  it.  Our  prayers  and  ART 
sacrifices  are  so  far  from  being  accepted  of  God,  that  they  are  xxv* 
abomination  to  him,  if  they  come  from  wicked  and  defiled 
hearts.  The  making  men  believe  that  sacraments  may  be 
effectual  to  them  when  they  are  next  to  a  state  of  passivity, 
not  capable  of  any  sensible  thoughts  of  their  own,  is  a  sure 
way  to  raise  the  credit  of  the  clergy,  and  of  the  sacrament ; 
but  at  the  same  time  it  will  most  certainly  dispose  men  to  live 
in  sin,  hoping  that  a  few  rites,  which  may  be  easily  procured 
at  their  death,  will  clear  all  at  last.  And  thus  we  reject,  not 
without  great  zeal  against  the  fatal  effects  of  this  error,  all  that 
is  said  of  the  opus  operatum;  the  very  doing  of  the  sacrament: 
we  think  it  looks  more  like  the  incantations  of  heathenism, 
than  the  purity  and  simplicity  of  the  Christian  religion. 

But  the  other  extreme,  that  we  likewise  avoid,  is  that  of 
sinking  the  sacraments  so  low,  as  to  be  mere  rites  and  cere- 
monies. St.  Peter  says,  '  Baptism  saves  us/  St.  Paul  calls 
it,  the  '  laver  of  regeneration  ;'  to  which  he  joins  '  the  renewing  Tit.  Hi.  5. 
of  the  Holy  Ghost.'  Our  Saviour  saith,  '  He  that  believeth,  ^ark  xvi« 
and  is  baptized,  shall  be  saved ;'  and,  '  Except  ye  are  born  j0f,n  ^ 
again  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit,  ye  cannot  enter  into  the  king-  3,  5. 
dom  of  God.5  These  words  have  a  sense  and  signification  that 
rises  far  above  a  mere  ceremony  done  to  keep  up  order,  and  to 
maintain  a  settled  form.  The  phrase  '  communion  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ/  is  above  the  nature  of  an  anniversary,  or 
memorial  feast.  This  opinion  we  think  is  very  unsuitable  to 
those  high  expressions;  and  we  do  not  doubt  but  that  Christ, 
who  instituted  those  sacraments,  does  still  accompany  them 
with  a  particular  presence  in  them,  and  a  blessing  upon  them; 
so  that  we  coming  to  them  with  minds  well  prepared,  with 
pure  affections  and  holy  resolutions,  do  certainly  receive  in 
and  with  them  particular  largesses  of  the  favour  and  bounty 
of  God.  They  are  not  bare  and  naked  remembrances  and 
tokens ;  but  are  actuated  and  animated  by  a  divine  blessing 
that  attends  upon  them.  This  is  what  we  believe  on  this 
head,  and  these  are  the  grounds  upon  which  we  found  it. 

A  sacrament  is  an  institution  of  Christ,  in  which  some  ma- 
terial thing  is  sanctified  by  the  use  of  some  form  or  words,  in 
and  by  which  federal  acts  of  this  religion  do  pass  on  both 
sides ;  on  ours,  by  stipulations,  professions,  or  vows  ;  and  on 
God's  by  his  secret  assistances :  by  these  we  are  also  united 
to  the  body  of  Christ,  which  is  the  church.  It  must  be  in- 
stituted by  Christ :  for  though  ritual  matters,  that  are  only 
the  expressions  of  our  duty,  may  be  appointed  by  the  church; 
yet  federal  acts,  to  which  a  conveyance  of  divine  grace  is  tied, 
can  only  be  instituted  by  him  who  is  the  Author  and  Mediator 
of  this  new  covenant,  and  who  lays  down  the  rules  or  conditions 
of  it,  and  derives  the  blessings  of  it  by  what  methods  and  in 
what  channels  he  thinks  fit.  Whatsoever  his  apostles  settled, 
was  by  authority  and  commission  from  him ;  therefore  it  is 


350 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  not  to  be  denied,  but  that  if  they  bad  appointed  any  sacra- 
xxv-    mental  action,  that  must  be  reckoned  to  be  of  the  same  autho- 
rity, and  is  to  be  esteemed  Christ's  institution,  as  much  as  if 
he  himself,  when  on  earth,  had  appointed  it. 

Matter  is  of  the  essence  of  a  sacrament;  for  words  without 
some  material  thing,  to  which  they  belong,  may  be  of  the 
njiture  of  prayers  or  vows,  but  they  cannot  be  sacraments : 
receiving  a  sacrament  is  on  our  part  our  faith  plighted  to  God 
in  the  use  of  some  material  substance  or  other ;  for  in  this 
consists  the  difference  between  sacraments  and  other  acts  of 
worship.  The  latter  are  only  acts  of  the  mind  declared  by 
words  or  gesture,  whereas  sacraments  are  the  application  of  a 
material  sign,  joined  with  acts  of  the  mind,  words,  and  ges- 
tures. With  the  matter  there  must  be  a  form,  that  is,  such 
words  joined  with  it  as  do  appropriate  the  matter  to  such  an 
use,  and  separate  it  from  all  other  uses,  at  least  in  the  act  of 
the  sacrament.  For  in  any  piece  of  matter  alone,  there  can- 
not be  a  proper  suitableness  to  such  an  end,  as  seems  to  be 
designed  by  sacraments,  and  therefore  a  form  must  determine 
and  apply  it ;  and  it  is  highly  suitable  to  the  nature  of  things, 
to  believe  that  our  Saviour,  who  has  instituted  the  sacrament, 
has  also  either  instituted  the  form  of  it,  or  given  us  such  hints 
as  to  lead  us  very  near  it.  The  end  of  sacraments  is  double ; 
the  one  is  by  a  solemn  federal  action  both  to  unite  us  to 
Christ,  and  also  to  derive  a  secret  blessing  from  him  to  us : 
and  the  other  is  to  join  and  unite  us  by  this  public  profession, 
and  the  joint  partaking  of  it,  with  his  body,  which  is  the 
church.  This  is,  in  general,  an  account  of  a  sacrament.  This, 
it  is  true,  is  none  of  those  words  that  are  made  use  of  in 
scripture,  so  that  it  has  no  determined  signification  given  to  it 
I  lb.  it.  in  the  word  of  God ;  yet  it  was  very  early  applied  by  Pliny  to 
Ep»  97.  those  vows  by  which  the  Christians  tied  themselves  to  their 
religion,  taken  from  the  oaths  by  which  the  soldiery  among 
the  Romans  were  sworn  to  their  colours  or  officers ;  and  from 
that  time  this  term  has  been  used  in  a  sense  consecrated  to 
the  federal  rites  of  religion.  Yet  if  any  will  dispute  about 
words,  we  know  how  much  St.  Paul  condemns  all  those 
curious  and  vain  questions,  which  have  in  them  the  subtilties 
l  Tim.  vi.  and  '  oppositions  of  science  falsely  so  called.'  If  any  will  call 
20-  every  rite  used  in  holy  things,  a  sacrament,  we  enter  into  no 
such  contentions. 

The  rites,  therefore,  that  we  understand  when  we  speak  of 
sacraments,  are  the  constant  federal  rites  of  Christians,  which 
are  accompanied  by  a  divine  grace  and  benediction,  being 
instituted  by  Christ  to  unite  us  to  him,  and  to  his  church ; 
and  of  such  we  own  that  there  are  two,  Baptism,  and  the 
Supper  of  the  Lord.  In  Baptism,  there  is  matter,  water; 
Matt.  there  is  a  form,  the  person  dipped  or  washed,  with  words,  *  I 
xxviii.  19.  baptize  thee  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost there  is  an  institution,  '  Go  preach  and 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


351 


baptize  ;'  there  is  a  federal  sponsion,  '  The  answer  of  a  good  A  R  T. 
conscience ;'  there  is  a  blessing  conveyed  with  it,  '  Bajjtism  XXV. 
saves  us  ;'  there  is  '  one  baptism,  as  there  is  one  body  and  1  pet  ;;j 
one  spirit;  we  are  all  baptized  into  one  body.5    So  that  here  21. 
all  the  constituent  and  necessary  parts  of  a  sacrament  are 
found  in  baptism.    In  the  Lord's  Supper,  there  is  bread  and  ^a "'7"VI* 
wine  for  the  matter.    The  giving  it  to  be  eat  and  drunk,  with 
the  words  that  our  Saviour  used  in  the  first  supper,  are  the 
form :  '  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me,'  is  the  institution.  1  Cor.  xi. 
'  Ye  shew  forth  the  Lord's  death  till  he  come  again,'  is  the  23—27  ■ 
declaration  of  the  federal  act  of  our  part :  it  is  also  the  '  com-  1  Cor.  x. 
munion  of  the  body  and  of  the  blood  of  Christ,'  that  is,  the  16, 17" 
conveyance  of  the  blessings  of  our  partnership  in  the  effects 
of  the  death  of  Christ.    '  And  we  being  many,  are  one  bread 
and  one  body,  for  we  are  all  partakers  of  that  one  bread ;'  this 
shews  the  union  of  the  church  in  this  sacrament.    Here  then 
we  have  in  these  two  sacraments,  both  matter,  form,  institu- 
tion, federal  acts,  blessings  conveyed,  and  the  union  of  the 
body  in  them.    All  the  characters  which  belong  to  a  sacra- 
ment agree  fully  to  them. 

In  the  next  place  we  must,  by  these  characters,  examine 
the  other  pretended  sacraments.  It  is  no  wonder  if,  the  word 
sacrament  being  of  a  large  extent,  there  should  be  some  pas- 
sages in  ancient  writers,  that  call  other  actions  so  besides 
Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper ;  for  in  a  larger  sense  every 
holy  rite  may  be  so  called.  But  it  is  no  small  prejudice 
against  the  number  of  seven  sacraments,  that  Peter  Lombard, 
a  writer  in  the  twelfth  century,  is  the  first  that  reckons  seven 
of  them  :  from  that  mystical  expression  of  the  seven  spirits  of 
God,  there  came  a  conceit  of  the  sevenfold  operation  of  the 
Spirit ;  and  it  looked  like  a  good  illustration  of  that,  to  assert 
seven  sacraments.  This  pope  Eugenius  put  in  his  instruction  L'b.  3. 
to  the  Armenians,  which  is  published  with  the  Council  of dist' 2* 
Florence ;  and  all  was  finally  settled  at  Trent.*  Now  there 
might  have  been  so  many  fine  allusions  made  on  the  number 
seven,  and  some  of  the  ancients  were  so  much  set  on  such 
allusions,  that  since  we  hear  nothing  of  that  kind  from  any 
of  them,  we  may  well  conclude,  that  this  is  more  than  an 
ordinary  negative  argument  against  their  having  believed  that 
there  were  seven  sacraments.    To  go  on  in  order  with  them : 

The  first  that  we  reject,  which  is  reckoned  by  them  the 
second,  is  confirmation.    But  to  explain  this,  we  must  con- 

•  The  following  is  the  canon  of  the  council  of  Trent,  in  which  she  adds  her  five 
new  sacraments  to  those  appointed  by  our  Lord: — '  Si  quis  dixerit,  sacramenta 
novae  legis  non  fuisse  omnia  a  Jesu  Christo,  Domino  nostro,  instituta ;  aut  esse 
plur.i  vel  pauciora  quam  septem,  videlicet,  baptismum,  contirmationem,  eucharis- 
tiam,  poenitentiam,  extremam  unctionem,  ordinem,  et  matrimonium ;  aut  etiam 
aliquod  horum  septem  non  esse  vere  et  proprie  sacramentum  :  anathema  sit.* 
Sessio  vii.  can.  1. 

The  reader  will  find  the  same  doctrine  embodied  in  the  creed  of  pope  Pius  IV. 
See  Appendix. — [Ed.] 


352 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


AR,T.   sider  in  what  respect  our  church  receives  confirmation,  and 
'    upon  what  reasons  it  is  that  she  does  not  acknowledge  it  to  be 
Acts  viii.   a  sacrament.    We  find  that  after  Philip,  the  deacon  and  evan- 
12.  H,  is,  gelist,  had  converted  and  baptized  some  in  Samaria,  Peter  and 
16,  17'     John  were  sent  thither  by  the  apostles,  who  '  laid  their  hands' 
on  such  as  were  baptized,  and  £  prayed  that  they  might 
receive  the  Holy  Ghost;'  upon  which  it  is  said,  that  '  they 
received  the  Holy  Ghost.'    Now  though  ordinary  functions, 
when  performed  by  the  apostles,  such  as  their  laying  on  of 
hands  on  those  whom  they  ordained  or  confirmed,  had  extra- 
ordinary effects  accompanying  them ;  but  when  the  extraor- 
dinary effects  ceased,  the  end  for  which  these  were  at  first 
given  being  accomplished,  the  gospel  having  been  fully  attested 
to  the  world,  yet  the  functions  were  still  continued  of  con- 
Heb.  vi.  2.  firmation  as  well  as  ordination :  and  as  the  '  laying  on  of 
hands/  that  is  reckoned  among  the  principles  of  the  Christian 
doctrine,  after  repentance  and  faith,  and  subsequent  to  bap- 
tism, seems  very  probably  to  belong  to  this ;  so  from  these 
warrants  we  find  in  the  earliest  writings  of  Christianity 
mention  of  a  confirmation  after  baptism,  which  for  the  greater 
solemnity  and  awe  of  the  action,  and  from  the  precedent  of 
St.  Peter  and  St.  John,  was  reserved  to  the  bishop,  to  be 
done  only  by  him.  ' 

Upon  these  reasons  we  think  it  is  in  the  power  of  the 
church  to  require  all  such  as  have  been  baptized,  to  come 
before  the  bishop  and  renew  their  baptismal  vow,  and  pray 
for  God's  holy  Spirit  to  enable  them  to  keep  their  vow  ;  and, 
upon  their  doing  this,  the  bishop  may  solemnly  pray  over 
them,  with  that  ancient  and  almost  natural  ceremony  of  lay- 
ing his  hands  upon  them,  which  is  only  a  designation  of  the 
persons  so  prayed  over,  and  blessed,  that  God  may  seal  and 
defend  them  with  his  holy  Spirit ;  in  which,  according  to  the 
nature  of  the  new  covenant,  we  are  sure  that  such  as  do  thus 
vow  and  pray,  do  also  receive  the  Holy  Spirit,  according  to 
the  promise  that  our  Saviour  has  made  us.  In  this  action 
there  is  nothing  but  what  is  in  the  power  of  the  church  to  do, 
even  without  any  other  warrant  or  precedent.  The  doing  all 
things  to  order,  and  to  edifying,  will  authorize  a  church  to  all 
this ;  especially,  since  the  now  universal  practice  of  infant 
baptism  makes  this  more  necessary  than  it  was  in  the  first 
times,  when  chiefly  the  adult  were  baptized.  It  is  highly 
reasonable  that  they,  who  gave  no  actual  consent  of  their  own, 
should  come,  and  by  their  own  express  act  make  the  stipu- 
lations of  baptism.  It  may  give  greater  impressions  of  awe 
and  respect,  when  this  is  restrained  to  the  highest  order  in 
the  church.  Upon  the  sincere  vows  and  earnest  prayers  of 
persons  thus  confirmed,  we  have  reason  to  believe  that  a  pro- 
portioned degree  of  God's  grace  and  Spirit  will  be  poured  out 
upon  them.  And  in  all  this  we  are  much  confirmed,  when  we 
see  such  warrants  for  it  in  scripture.    A  thing  so  good  in 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


353 


itself,  that  has  at  least  a  probable  authority  for  it,  and  was  ART. 
certainly  a  practice  of  the  first  ages,  is  upon  very  just  grounds    xx  V\ 
continued  in  our  church.    Would  to  God  it  were  as  seriously 
gone  about,  as  it  is  lawfully  established ! 

But,  after  all  this,  here  is  no  sacrament,  no  express  institu- 
tion, neither  by  Christ  nor  his  apostles  ;  no  rule  given  to 
practise  it,  and,  which  is  the  most  essential,  there  is  no  matter 
here  ;  for  the  laying  on  of  hands  is  only  a  gesture  in  prayer ; 
nor  are  there  any  federal  rites  declared  to  belong  to  it ;  it 
being  indeed  rather  a  ratifying  and  confirming  the  baptism, 
than  any  new  stipulation.  To  supply  all  this,  the  church  of 
Rome  has  appointed  matter  for  it.  The  chrism,  which  is  a 
mixture  of  o?7-olive  and  balm  (opobalsamum) ,  the  oil  signifying 
the  clearness  of  a  good  conscience,  and  the  balm  the  savour 
of  a  good  reputation.  This  must  be  peculiarly  blessed  by  the 
bishop,  who  is  the  only  minister  of  that  function.  The  form 
of  this  sacrament  is  the  applying  the  chrism  to  the  forehead, 
with  these  words,  Signo  te  signo  crucis,  et  confirmo  te  chris- 
mate  salutis,  in  nomine  Patris,  Filii,  et  Sjnritus  Sancti:  '  I  sign 
thee  with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  confirm  thee  with  the 
chrism  of  salvation,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost.'  They  pretend  Christ  did  institute  this  ;  but 
they  say  the  Holy  Ghost  which  he  breathed  on  his  disciples, 
being  a  thing  that  transcended  all  sacraments,  he  settled  no 
determined  matter  nor  form  to  it ;  and  that  the  succeeding 
ages  appropriated  this  matter  to  it. 

We  do  not  deny,  but  that  the  Christians  began  very  early 
to  use  oil  in  holy  functions  ;  the  climates  they  lived  in  making 
it  necessary  to  use  oil  much,  for  stopping  the  perspiration, 
that  might  dispose  them  the  more  to  use  oil  in  their  sacred 
rites.    It  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  that  both  Theophilus  and  Theophil. 
Tertullian,  in  the  end  of  the  second,  and  the  beginning  of  the  '•  '• ad  Au- 
third  century,  do  mention  it.    The  frequent  mention  of  oil,  de^Bapt!  c! 
and  of  anointing,  in  the  scripture,  might  incline  them  to  this  :  7,8.deRe- 
it  was  prophesied  of  Christ,  that  he  was  to  be  '  anointed  with  sur-Car.c. 
the  oil  of  joy  and  gladness  above  his  fellows :'  and  the  names  j/p.  70^* 
of  Messias  and  Christ  do  also  import  this  ;  but  yet  we  hold  all 
that  to  be  mystical,  and  that  it  is  to  be  meant  of  that  fulness 
of  the  Spirit  which  he  received  without  measure.    Upon  the 
same  account  we  do  understand  those  words  of  St.  Paul  in  the 
same  mystical  sense  :  '  He  that  establisheth  us  with  you  in  2  Cor.  i. 
Christ,  and  hath  anointed  us,  is  God ;  who  hath  also  sealed  21> 22- 
us,  and  given  the  earnest  of  the  Spirit  in  our  hearts  :'  as  also 
those  words  of  St.  John  :  '  But  ye  have  an  unction  from  the  1  John 
Holy  One,  and  ye  know  all  things.    The  anointing  which  ye  20,  ' 
have  received  of  him  abideth  in  you ;  and  ye  need  not  that 
any  man  teach  you,  but  as  the  same  anointing  teacheth  you 
all  things.'    These  words  do  clearly  relate  to  somewhat  that 
the  Christians  received  immediately  from  God ;  and  so  munt 
be  understood  figuratively:  for  we  do  not  see  the  least  hint 


354 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  of  the  apostles  using  of  oil,  except  to  the  sick  ;  of  which  after- 
XXv-  wards.  So  that  if  this  use  of  oil  is  considered  only  as  a  cere- 
mony of  a  natural  signification,  that  was  brought  into  the 
rituals  of  the  church,  it  is  a  thing  of  another  nature :  but  if  a 
sacrament  is  made  of  it,  and  a  divine  virtue  is  joined  to  that, 
we  can  admit  of  no  such  thing,  without  an  express  institution 
and  declaration  in  scripture. 
Con.  invention  that  was  afterwards  found  out,  by  which  the 

can.  ],  2.  bishop  was  held  to  be  the  only  minister  of  confirmation,  even 
Cod.  Affr.  though  presbyters  were  suffered  to  confirm,  was  a  piece  of 
Co"  T  l  suPerstiti°n  without  any  colour  from  scripture.  It  was  settled, 
cap.  2i).  that  the  bishop  only  might  consecrate  the  chrism ;  and  though 
Labb.  et  he  was  the  ordinary  minister  of  confirmation,  yet  presbyters 
i?°SS  1261  were  a^so  suffere(I  to  do  it,  the  chrism  being  consecrated  by 
1474.  ' tne  bishop  :  presbyters  thus  confirming  was  thought  like  the 
deacons  giving  the  sacrament,  though  priests  only  might  con- 
Hieron.  ad  secrate  the  eucharist.  In  the  Latin  church  Jerome  tells  us, 
Lucifer,  in  his  time  the  bishop  only  confirmed ;  and  though  he 

makes  the  reason  of  this  to  be  rather  for  doing  an  honour  to 
them,  than  from  any  necessity  of  the  law,  yet  he  positively 
says,  the  bishops  went  round  praying  for  the  Holy  Ghost  on 
Hilar,  in  those  whom  they  confirmed.  It  is  said  by  Hilary,  that  in 
E  Phet  ut  ■^SyP*'  the  presbyters  did  confirm  in  the  bishop's  absence :  so 
supra.  that  custom,  joined  with  the  distinction  between  the  consecra- 
tion, and  the  applying  of  the  chrism,  grew  to  be  the  universal 
practice  of  the  Greek  church.  The  greatness  of  dioceses,  with 
the  increasing  numbers  of  the  Christians,  made  that  both  in 
France,  in  the  councils  of  Orange ;  and  in  Spain,  in  the 
council  of  Toledo,  the  same  rule  was  laid  down  that  the 
Greeks  had  begun.  In  Spain  some  priests  did  consecrate  the 
chrism,  but  that  was  severely  forbid  in  one  of  the  councils  of 
Toledo :  yet  at  Rome  the  ancient  custom  was  observed  of 
appropriating  the  whole  business  of  confirmation  to  the  bishop, 
Greg.  Ep.  even  in  Gregory  the  Great's  time :  therefore  he  reproved  the 
L  iii.Ep. 9.  clergy  of  Sardinia,  because  among  them  the  priest  did  con- 
firm, and  he  appointed  it  to  be  reserved  to  the  bishop.  But, 
when  he  understood  that  some  of  them  were  offended  at  this, 
he  writ  to  the  bishop  of  Carali,  that  though  his  former  order 
was  made  according  to  the  ancient  practice  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  yet  he  consented  that  for  the  future  the  priest  might 
confirm  in  the  bishop's  absence.  But  pope  Nicholas  in  the 
ninth  century  pressed  this  with  more  rigour :  for  the  Bulga- 
rians being  then  converted  to  the  Christian  religion,  and  their 
priests  having  both  baptized  and  confirmed  the  new  converts, 
pope  Nicholas  sent  bishops  among  them,  with  orders  to  con- 
firm even  those  who  had  already  been  confirmed  by  priests : 
upon  which,  the  contest  being  then  on  foot  between  Rome 
and  Constantinople,  Photius  got  it  to  be  decreed  in  a  synod 
at  Constantinople,  that  the  chrism  being  hallowed  by  a  bishop, 
it  might  be  administered  by  presbyters  :  and  Photius  affirmed, 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


355 


that  a  presbyter  might  do  this,  as  well  as  baptize  or  offer  at  ART. 
the  altar.    But  pope  Nicholas,  with  the  confidence  that  was  xxv< 
often  assumed  by  that  see  upon  as  bad  grounds,  did  affirm,  In  pecr- 
that  this  had  never  been  allowed  of.    And  upon  this  many  of  Con.  Flo- 
the  Latins  did,  in  the  progress  of  their  disputes  with  the rent- 
Greeks,  say,  that  they  had  no  confirmation.    This  has  been 
more  enlarged  on,  than  was  necessary  by  the  designed  short- 
ness of  this  work,  because  all  those  of  the  Roman  communion 
among  us  have  now  no  confirmation,  unless  a  bishop  happens 
to  come  amongst  them.    And  therefore  it  is  now  a  common 
doctrine  among  them,  that  though  confirmation  is  a  sacra- 
ment, yet  it  is  not  necessary. 

About  this  there  were  fierce  disputes  among  them  about 
sixty  years  ago,  whether  it  was  necessary  for  them  to  have  a 
bishop  here  to  confirm,  according  to  the  ancient  custom,  or 
not.  The  Jesuits,  who  had  no  mind  to  be  under  any  autho- 
rity but  their  own,  opposed  it;  for  the  bishop  being  by  pope 
Eugenius  declared  to  be  the  ordinary  minister  of  it,  from 
thence  it  was  inferred,  that  a  bishop  was  not  simply  necessary. 
This  was  much  censured  bv  some  of  the  Gallican  church.  If 
confirmation  were  considered  only  as  an  ecclesiastical  rite,  we 
could  not  dispute  the  power  of  the  church  about  it ;  but  we 
cannot  allow  that  a  sacrament  should  be  thus  within  the  power 
of  the  church ;  or  that  a  new  function  of  consecrating  oil, 
without  applying  it,  distinct  from  confirmation,  and  yet  ne- 
cessary to  the  very  essence  of  it,  could  have  been  set  up  by 
the  power  of  the  church  ;  for  if  sacraments  are  federal  convey- 
ances of  grace,  they  must  be  continued  according  to  their 
first  institution,  the  grace  of  God  being  only  tied  to  the 
actions  with  which  it  is  promised. 

We  go  next  to  the  second  of  the  sacraments  here  rejected, 
which  is  Penance,  that  is  reckoned  the  fourth  in  order  among 
them.    Penance,  or  penitence,  is  formed  from  the  Latin  trans 
lation  of  a  Greek  word  that  signifies  a  change  or  renovation  oj 
mind;  which  Christ  has  made  a  necessary  condition  of  the 
new  covenant.  It  consists  in  several  acts ;  by  all  which,  when 
joined  together,  and  producing  this  real  change,  we  become 
true  penitents,  and  have  a  right  to  the  remission  of  sins,  which 
is  in  the  New  Testament  often  joined  with  repentance,  and  is 
its  certain  consequent.    The  first  act  of  this  repentance  is, 
confession  to  God,  before  whom  we  must  humble  ourselves, 
and  confess  our  sins  to  him ;  upon  which  we  believe  that  'he  is  1  j0ha  i.9. 
faithful/  and  true  to  his  promises,  and  'just  to  forgive  us  our 
sins;'  and  if  we  have  wronged  others,  or  have  given  public 
offence  to  the  body,  or  church  to  which  we  belong,  we  ought 
to  confess  our  faults  to  them  likewise ;  and  as  a  mean  to  quiet  James  v. 
men's  consciences,  to  direct  them  to  complete  their  repent-  16, 
ance,  and  to  make  them  more  humble  and  ashamed  of  their 
sins,  we  advise  them  to  use  secret  confession  to  their  priest, 

2  a  2 


356 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  or  to  any  other  minister  of  God's  word ;  leaving  this  matter 

xxv    wholly  to  their  discretion.* 

When  these  acts  of  sorrow  have  had  their  due  effect,  in  re- 
forming the  natures  and  lives  of  sinners,  then  their  sins  are 
forgiven  them  :  in  order  to  which,  we  do  teach  them  to  pray 
much,  to  give  alms  according  to  their  capacity,  and  to  fast  as 
often  as  their  health  and  circumstances  will  admit  of ;  and 
most  indispensably  to  restore  or  repair,  as  they  find  they  have 
sinned  against  others.  And  as  we  teach  them  thus  to  look 
back  on  what  is  past,  with  a  deep  and  hearty  sorrow,  and  a 
profound  shame,  so  we  charge  them  to  look  chiefly  forward, 
not  thinking  that  any  acts  with  relation  to  what  is  past  can, 
as  it  were,  by  an  account  or  compensation,  free  us  from  the 
guilt  of  our  former  sins,  unless  we  amend  our  lives  and  change 
our  tempers  for  the  future ;  the  great  design  of  repentance 
being  to  make  us  like  God,  pure  and  holy  as  he  is.  Upon  such 
a  repentance  sincerely  begun  and  honestly  pursued,  we  do  in 
general,  as  the  heralds  of  God's  mercy,  and  the  ministers  of 
his  gospel,  pronounce  to  our  people  daily,  the  offers  that  are 
made  us  of  mercy  and  pardon  by  Christ  Jesus.  This  we  do 
in  our  daily  service,  and  in  a  more  peculiar  manner  before  we 

*  '  The  church  of  England  commands  confession  to  be  made  only  te  God.  She 
allows  or  recommends  to  the  sick  a  confession  of  those  things  that  afflict  their  minds, 

to  their  ministers,  in  order  to  obtain  advice  or  consolation  Is  this  the  doctrine  you 

are  s^orn  to  teach  ?  Far  from  it.  Must  I  then,  besides  exposing  your  sophistry, 
correct  your  ignorance  of  your  own  doctrines,  by  stating  them  from  your  (pre- 
tended) infallible  councils? 

'  The  Trent  Doctrine  is,  that  by  the  bare  receiving  of  the  sacraments  grace  is 
conferred.  (  See  council  of  Trent,  sessio  vii.  canon  viii.)  Confession  you  make 
part  of  one  of  your  new  sacraments,  viz.  of  the  sacrament  of  penance,  as  you  call 
it,  perverting  the  scripture  where  the  word  is  repentance,  and  not  penance,  although 
you  also  translate  the  word  repentance  as  we  do,  when  it  suits  your  purpose.  (  See 
Acts  v.  31,  Rhemish  Testament.)  '  You  make  confession,  which  onlv  consists  of 
words,  the  matter  of  your  new  sacrament  ! — "Sunt  atttem  quasi  materia  hnjus  sucia- 
tnenti  ipsiut  peenitentis  actus,  nempe  contritio,  confessio  ft  satisfactio."  ( Council  of 
Trent,  sessio  xiv.  cap.  3.)  Confession,  according  to  Trent,  is  part  of  the  sacra- 
ment of  penance,  by  which  grace  is  conferred  "ei  opere  operuln." 

'  You  have  then  not  only  recommended  confession  to  the  minister  or  priest, 
but  commanded,  under  pain  of  being  ucctirsed,  secret  or  auricular  confession  to 
be  made  at  stated  times — not  to  Gon,  as  we  say,  but  unto  the  priest — not  in 
order  to  obtain  advice,  as  we  say,  but  in  order  to  obtain  grace  and  abso- 
lution ! !  The  question  then  is,  not  whether  it  be  adviseable  to  make  confession 
to  the  minister  of  those  things  that  afflict  our  minds,  in  order  to  obtain  advice,  but 
whether  to  confess  all  our  greater  sins,  and  all  that  upon  strict  inquiry  we  remember, 
not  to  God,  as  we  admit,  but  to  a  priest,  be  necessary  to  salvation.  You  assert  that 
it  is  necessary  to  salvation ;  this  the  church  of  England  denies ;  and  protests  against 
your  unscriDtural  domination  over  the  consciences  and  souls  of  men.  The  council 
of  Trent  (sessio  xiv.  can.  6,  7,  8.)  decrees,  "that  to  confess  all  and  every  mortal  sin, 
which  after  diligent  inquiry  we  remember,  and  every  evil  thought  or  desire,  and  the 
circumstances  that  change  the  nature  of  the  sin,"  is  necessary  to  salvation,  and  of 
divine  institution,  and  whosoever  denies  this,  is  to  be  accursed  !  And  that  all  is  to 
be  done  according  to  the  constitution  of  the  great  council  of  Lateran.  The  order 
of  which  council  was,  that  all  persons  of  years  of  discretion  should  confess  their 
sins  once  at  least  every  year  to  their  own  priest,  or  with  his  leave  to  another 
priest;  otherwise,  when  living,  they  were  to  be  driven  from  entrance  into  the 
church,  and  when  dead,  they  were  to  have  no  Christian  burial.  Now  how  do  vou 
support  this  unscriptural  tyranny  over  the  consciences  and  souls  of  men  ?  When, 
and  where,  was  such  a  system  as  this  of  Trent  and  Lateran  instituted  bv  Christ,  or 
commanded,  or  practised,  by  the  Apostles?'  Page's  Letters  too  Romish  Priest. — [En-] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


357 


go  to  the  holy  communion.  We  do  also,  as  we  are  a  body  that  ART. 
may  be  offended  with  the  sins  of.  others,  forgive  the  scandals  XXV- 
committed  against  the  church ;  and  that  such  as  we  think  die 
in  a  state  of  repentance,  may  die  in  the  full  peace  of  the 
church,  we  join  both  absolutions  in  one  ;  in  the  last  office 
likewise  praying  to  our  Saviour  that  he  would  forgive 
them,  and  then  we,  as  the  officers  of  the  church,  authorized 
for  that  end,  do  forgive  all  the  offences  and  scandals  com- 
mitted by  them  against  the  whole  body.  This  is  our  doctrine 
concerning  repentance ;  in  all  which  we  find  no  characters  of 
a  sacrament,  no  more  than  there  is  in  prayer  or  devotion. 
Here  is  no  matter,  no  application  of  that  matter  by  a  peculiar 
form,  no  institution,  and  no  peculiar  federal  acts.  The  scene 
here  is  the  mind,  the  acts  are  internal,  the  effect  is  such  also; 
and  therefore  we  do  not  reckon  it  a  sacrament,  not  finding  in 
it  any  of  the  characters  of  a  sacrament. 

The  matter  that  is  assigned  in  the  church  of  Rome,  are  the 
acts  of  the  penitent;  his  confession  by  his  mouth  to  the  priest, 
the  contrition  of  his  heart,  and  the  satisfaction  of  his  work,  in 
doing  the  enjoined  penance.   The  aggregate  of  all  these  is  the 
matter ;  and  the  form,  are  the  words,  Ego  te  absolvo.  Now 
besides  what  we  have  to  say  from  every  one  of  these,  parti- 
culars, the  matter  of  a  sacrament  must  be  some  visible  sign 
applied  to  him  that  receives  it.    It  is  therefore  a  very  absurd 
thing  to  imagine  that  a  man's  own  thoughts,  words,  or  actions, 
can  be  the  matter  of  a  sacrament :  how  can  this  be  sanctified 
or  applied  to  him  ?  It  will  be  a  thing  no  less  absurd  to  make 
the  form  of  a  sacrament  to  be  a  practice  iw>t  much  elder  than  Innoc.3.in 
four  hundred  years  ;  since  no  ritual  can  be  produced,  nor  q^31^' 
author  cited,  for  this  form,  for  above  a  thousand  years  after  22. 
Christ;  all  the  ancient  forms  of  receiving  penitents  having  Con. Trid. 
been  by  a  blessing  in  the  form  of  a  prayer,  or  a  declaration ;  Se*s< 14, 
but  none  of  them  in  these  positive  words,  /  absolve  thee.  We 
think  this  want  of  matter,  and  this  new  invented  form,  being 
without  any  institution  in  scripture,  and  different  from  so  long 
a  practice  of  the  whole  church,  are  such  reasons,  that  we  are 
fully  justified  in  denying  penance  to  be  a  sacrament.  But  be- 
cause the  doctrine  of  repentance  is  a  point  of  the  highest 
importance,  there  arise  several  things  here  that  ougbt  to 
be  very  carefully  examined. 

As  to  confession,  we  find  in  the  scriptures,  that  such  as  de- 
sired St.  John's  baptism  came  c  confessing  their  sins ;'  but  Matt  ii;  6 
that  was  previous  to  baptism.    We  find  also  that  scandalous 
persons  were  to  be  '  openly  rebuked  before  all/  and  so  to  be  1  Tim.  v. 
put  to  shame ;  in  which,  no  doubt,  there  was  a  confession,  20- 
and  a  publication  of  the  sin  ;  but  that  was  a  matter  of  the  dis- 
cipline and  order  of  the  church :  which  made  it  necessary  to 
'note  such  persons  as  walked  disorderly,  and  to  have  no2Thess.iu. 
fellowship  with  them/  sometimes  not  so  much  as  to  eat  with  14- 
them,  who  being  Christians,  and  such  as  were  called  brothers,  11Cor-v- 


358 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  were  a  reproach  to  their  profession.    But  besides  the  power 
xxv-    given  to  the  apostles  of  binding  and  loosing,  which,  as  was  said 
on  another  head,  belonged  to  other  matters ;  we  find  that 
when  our  Saviour  breathed  on  his  apostles,  and  gave  them 
John  xx.   the  Holy  Ghost,  he  with  that  told  them,  that  '  whose  soever 
23.         sins  they  remitted,  they  were  remitted  ;  and  whose  soever  sins 
they  retained,  they  were  retained.'    Since  a  power  of  remit- 
ting or  retaining  sin  was  thus  given  to  them,  they  infer,  that 
it  seems  reasonable,  that,  in  order  to  their  dispensing  it  with 
a  due  caution,  the  knowledge  of  all  sins  ought  to  be  laid  open 
to  them. 

Some  have  thought  that  this  was  a  personal  thing  given  to 
the  apostles  with  that  miraculous  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost; 
with  which  such  a  discerning  of  spirits  was  communicated  to 
them,  that  they  could  discern  the  sincerity  or  hypocrisy  of 
Actsv.  those  that  came  before  them.  By  this  St.  Peter  discovered 
Act's  viii  s*n  °^  Ananias  an<l  Sapphira  ;  and  he  also  saw  that  Simon 
23.  of  Samaria  was  'in  the  gall  of  bitterness,  and  in  the  bond 
of  iniquity  so  they  conclude  that  this  was  a  part  of  that  ex- 
traordinary and  miraculous  authority  which  was  given  to  the 
apostles,  and  to  them  only.  But  others,  who  distinguish 
between  the  full  extent  of  this  power,  and  the  ministerial 
authority  that  is  still  to  be  continued  in  the  church,  do  believe 
that  these  words  may  in  a  lower  and  more  limited  sense  be- 
long to  the  successors  of  the  apostles ;  but  they  argue  very 
strongly,  that  if  these  words  are  to  be  understood  in  their 
full  extent  as  they  lie,  a  priest  has  by  them  an  absolute  and 
unlimited  power  in  this  matter,  not  restrained  to  conditions 
or  rules ;  so  that  if  he  does  pardon  or  retain  sins,  whether  in 
that  he  does  right  or  wrong,  the  sins  must  be  pardoned  or 
retained  accordingly :  he  may  indeed  sin  in  using  it  wrong, 
for  which  he  must  answer  to  God;  but  he  seems,  by  the 
literal  meaning  of  these  words,  to  be  clothed  with  such  a  ple- 
nipotentiary authority,  that  his  act  must  be  valid,  though  he 
may  be  punished  for  employing  it  amiss.* 

•  The  Trent  doctrine  of  absolution  is — '  Si  quis  dixerit,  absolutionem  sacra- 
mentalem  sacerdotis  non  esse  actum  judicialem,  sed  nudum  ministerium  pronuntiandi 
et  decluraudi  remi^sa  esse  peciata  confitenti,  modo  tantum  credat  se  esse  absolutum  ; 
out  sacerdos  non  serio,  sed  joco  ubsolvat  ;  aut  dixerit  non  requiri  confessionem  pceni- 
tentis,  ut  sacerdos  eum  absolvere  possit ;  anathema  sit ! ! !'  Sessio  xiv.  canon  ix. 

'  The  absolution  of  the  church  of  England  is  simply  declaratory.  The  words,  as 
you  will  find  them  in  the  daily  form  of  prayer,  are,  "  Almighty  God  the  Father  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  desireth  not  the  death  of  a  sinner,  but  rather  that  he 
may  turn  from  his  wickedness  and  live  ;  and  hath  given  power  and  commandment 
to  his  ministers,  to  declare  and  pronounce  to  his  people,  being  penitent,  the  absolution 
and  remission  of  their  sins.  HE  pardoneth  and  absolveth  all  them  that  truly 
repent,  and  unfeignedly  believe  his  holy  gospel."  But  because  the  minister  pro- 
nounces it  thus  in  the  visitation  of  the  sick — "  Our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  who  hath 
left  power  to  his  church  to  absolve  all  sinners  who  truly  repent  and  believe  in  him, 
of  bis  great  mercy  forgive  thee  thine  offences :  And  by  his  authority  committed  to 
me,  I  absolve  thee  from  all  thy  sins,  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son, 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost" — you  would,  I  suppose,  wisely  conclude,  that  when  the  re- 
formers reached  this  part  of  the  praver  book,  they  forgot  what  they  had  said  in  the 
conimencement,  and  here  claim  a  power  which  there  is  \ested  only  in  Cod.  Or  that 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


359 


An  ambassador  that  has  full  powers,  though  limited  by  ART. 
secret  instructions,  does  bind  him  that  so  empowered  him  by  XXV. 
every  act  that  he  does  pursuant  to  his  powers,  how  much  — 
soever  it  may  go  beyond  his  instructions ;  for  how  obnoxious 
soever  that  may  render  him  to  his  master,  it  does  not  at  all 
lessen  the  authority  of  what  he  has  done,  nor  the  obligation 
that  arises  out  of  it.    So  these  words  of  Christ's,  if  applied  to 
all  priests,  must  belong  to  them  in  their  full  extent;  and  if 
so,  the  salvation  or  the  damnation  of  mankind  is  put  abso- 
lutely in  the  priest's  power.    Nor  can  it  be  answered,  that 
the  conditions  of  the  pardon  of  sin  that  are  expressed  in  the 
other  parts  of  the  gospel,  are  here  to  be  understood,  though 
they  are  not  expressed ;  as  we  are  said  to  be  saved  if  we  be- 
lieve, which  does  not  imply  that  a  single  act  of  believing  the 
gospel  without  any  thing  else,  puts  us  in  a  state  of  salvation. 

In  opposition  to  this,  we  answer,  that  the  gospel  having  so 
described/izi/A  to  us,  as  the  root  of  all  other  graces  and  virtues, 
as  that  which  produces  them,  and  which  is  known  by  them, 


bv  saving  "by  his  authority  committed  unto  me,  I  absolve"  &c.  &c. ;  it  neces- 
sarily follows  that  they  contradict  what  they  had  said  before,  "  that  power  and  com- 
mandment is  given  unto  the  minister,  fn  declare  and  pronounce  to  his  people,  being 
penitent,"  &c.  &c.  But  a  few  words  will  explain  this,  and  may  discover  to  you, 
that  in  the  language  of  scripture  a  thing  is  said  to  he  done  iy  a  person,  when  his 
doing  it  only  consists  in  his  declaring  and  pronouncing  il — See  Jeremiah  i.  9,  10. — ■ 
"  And  the  Lord  said  unto  me,  Behold  I  have  put  my  words  in  thy  mouth.  See  I 
have  this  day  set  thee  over  the  nations  and  over  the  kingdoms,  to  root  out,  and  to 
pull  down,  and  to  destroy,  and  to  throw  down,  to  build  and  to  plant."  Now  we 
must  all  grant  that  Jeremiah  had  power  over  the  kingdoms,  to  root  out  and  to  pull 
down,  &c.  &c. ;  for  God  gave  it  to  him.  We  must  likewise  grant  that  Jeremiah 
exercised  this  power,  and  did  throw  down  and  destroy  kingdoms  :  otherwise  God's 
purpose  in  raising  him  up  would  have  failed.  The  point  then  is,  how,  and  in  what 
way,  did  Jeremiah  exercise  this  power,  and  throw  down  and  destroy  the  kingdoms? 
There  are  but  two  ways.  1st — By  being  actively  engaged  in  the  battle  in  the  day 
of  the  falling  of  these  kingdoms,  and  by  his  own  act  and  deed  destroying  them  ;  or, 
2dly — By  his  declaring  and  pronouncing  their  downfall  bv  the  authority  committed 
to  him,  and  by  proclaiming  the  word  of  destruction.  That  he  pulled  down  and 
destroyed  the  kingdoms  in  the  first  way,  you  must  maintain :  or  contradict  the 
council  of  Trent.  That  he  did  it  in  the  second  way  we  maintain,  and  say,  just  so 
hath  Christ  given  power  to  his  ministers  to  remit  sin  ;  but  this  power  is  only  to 
be  exorcised  by  their  declaring  and  pronouncing  the  absolution  and  remission  of  their 
sins  to  "  all  that  truly  repent,  and  unfeignedly  believe  his  holy  gospel."  And  the 
minister,  pronouncing  and  declaring  this  absolution,  may  be  said  to  absolve,  in  the 
same  way  that  Jeremiah,  declaring  and  pronouncing  the  downfall  of  nations  and 
kingdoms,  may  be  said,  and  is  said,  to  have  pulled  down,  rooted  out,  and  destroyed 
them  

'  Another  portion  of  scripture,  to  which  I  refer,  is  that  which  concerns  the  cleans- 
ing of  the  leper ;  which  is  exactly  parallel,  as  the  leper  typified  the  sinner  defiled 
with  sin.  In  Leviticus  xiii.  3,  6,  &c.  "  And  the  priest  shall  look  upon  him,  and 
shall  pronounce  him  unclean;"  and  again,  "  And  the  priest  shall  pronounce  him 
clean."  Here  then  we  see,  that  the  priest  had  only  the  power  of  declaring  and  pro- 
nouncing, and  not  the  power  of  killing  or  curing,  of  making  clean  or  unclean  :  and 
yet  in  the  14th  chap.  11th  verse,  the  thing  is  said  to  be  done  by  the  priest: — 
"  And  the  priest  that  maketh  him  clean,"  &c.  &c.  This  is  plain,  and  proves,  that 
in  the  language  of  scripture  a  thing  is  said  to  be  done  by  a  person,  when  his  doing 
it  only  consists  in  his  declaring  and  pronouncing  it.  Apply  this  now,  and  you  shall 
discover  that  we  may  use  the  words  "  I  absolve,"  and  yet  maintain  that  the  absolution 
is  only  declaratory,  without  agreeing  with  the  impious  doctrine  of  the  council  of 
Trent,  or  "  annihilating  the  hook  qf  Common  Prayer.''  Page's  Letters  to  a  Romish 
Priett.— [Ed.] 


360 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  all  that  is  promised  upon  our  faith  must  be  understood  of  a 
xxv-  faith  so  qualified  as  the  gospel  represents  it;  and  therefore 
that  cannot  be  applied  to  this  case,  where  an  unlimited  au- 
thority is  so  particularly  expressed,  that  no  condition  seems 
to  be  implied  in  it.  If  any  conditions  are  elsewhere  laid 
upon  us,  in  order  to  our  salvation,  then,  according  to  their 
doctrine,  we  may  say  that  of  them  which  they  say  of  contri- 
tion upon  this  occasion,  that  they  are  necessary  when  we 
cannot  procure  the  priest's  pardon;  but  that  by  it  the  want  of 
them  all  may  be  supplied,  and  that  the  obligation  to  them  all 
is  superseded  by  it  :*  and  if  any  conditions  are  to  be  under- 
stood as  limits  upon  this  power,  why  are  not  all  the  con- 
ditions of  the  gospel,  faith,  hope,  and  charity,  contrition  and 
new  obedience,  made  necessary,  in  order  to  the  lawful  dis- 
pensing of  it,  as  well  as  confession,  attrition,  and  the  doing 
the  penance  enjoined  ?  Therefore  since  no  condition  is  here 
named  as  a  restraint  upon  this  general  power,  that  is  pre- 
tended to  be  given  to  priests  by  those  words  of  our  Saviour, 
they  must  either  be  understood  as  simple  and  unconditional, 
or  they  must  be  limited  to  all  the  conditions  that  are  ex- 
pressed in  the  gospel ;  for  there  is  not  the  colour  of  a  reason 
to  restrain  them  to  some  of  them,  and  to  leave  out  the  rest : 
and  thus  we  think  we  are  fully  justified  by  saying,  that  by 
these  words  our  Saviour  did  indeed  fully  emjDower  the  apos- 

*  '  The  absolution  of  the  priest  is,  according  to  Trent,  of  such  importance  and 
value,  that  it  can,  by  some  strange  process,  make  attrition  contrition,  and  save  a 
man  who  has  only  imperfect  repentance,  in  which  there  is  no  love  of  God.  The 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  says,  "  Except  ye  repent,  ye  shall  all  likewise  perish:"  Trent 
says,  If  ye  have  even  attrition,  (i.  e.  imperfect  repentance,  arising  from  base  mo- 
tives, such  as  fear  of  hell,  he.)  ye  shall  surely  be  saved,  if  only  ye  can  get  the 
priest's  absolution.  You  say,  that  contrition  (perfect  repentance)  is  indispensably 
necessary  to  give  efficacy  to  the  absolution.  How  can  you  assert  this,  when  Trent 
lays  down  such  soul-destroying  doctrine  as  this,  that  attrition  is  sufficient,  if  the 
person  can  get  the  priest's  absolution  ! ! !  This  is  such  awful  doctrine,  that  I  shall 
give  your  own  authorities,  lest  any  should  conclude  that  I  misrepresent  your  sys- 
tem. The  council  of  Trent  speaks  thus  : — "  Illam  vero  contritionem  imperfectam, 
quae  attritio  dicitur,  quoniam  vel  ex  turpitudinis  peccati  consideratione,  vel  ex 
gehennae  et  poanarum  metu  communiter  concipitur,  si  voluntatem  peccandi  exclu- 
dat,  cum  spe  veniae;  declarat  non  solum  non  facere  hominem  hypocritam,  et  magis 
peccatorem,  verum,  etiam  donum  Dei  esse,  et  Spiritus  sancti  impulsum,  non  adhuc 
quidem  inhabitantis,  sed  tantum  moventis,  quo  penitens  adjutus,  viam  sibi  ad  jus- 
titiam  parat.  Et  quamvis  sine  sacramento  poenitentia?  per  se  ad  justificationem 
perducere  peccatorem  nequeat ;  tamen  eum  ad  Dei  gratiam  in  sacramento  poeni- 
tentiae  impetrandum  disponit."  Sessio  xiv.  cap.  4.  You  must  now  have  another 
statement  of  this  doctrine,  from  the  "  Abridgment  of  Christian  Doctrine"  revised 
by  Dr.  Doyle.  (See  the  article  on  penance.)  "  Q.  What  is  attrition?  A.  It  is 
imperfect  contrition,  arising  from  the  consideration  of  the  turpitude  of  sin,  or  fear 
of  punishment ;  and  if  it  contain  a  detestation  of  sin  with  the  hope  of  pardon,  it  is 
so  far  from  being  itself  wicked,  that  though  alone  it  justify  not,  yet  it  prepares  the 
way  to  justification,  and  disposes  us,  at  least  remotely,  towards  obtaining  God's 
grace  in  the  sacrament.  Q.  What,  if  a  dying  man  be  in  mortal  sin,  and  cannot 
have  a  priest  ?  A.  Then  nothing  but  perfect  contrition  will  suffice,  it  being  impos- 
sible to  be  saved  without  the  love  of  God."  So  that,  according  to  this  impious 
doctrine,  the  absolution  of  the  priest  supplies  the  place  of  the  love  of  God,  which 
is  lacking  in  attrition !  1  Need  I  say,  that  the  church  of  England  has  too  much 
respect  for  the  character  of  God,  and  his  truth,  not  to  protest  loudly  against  such 
a  system  as  this?'    Page's  Letters  to  a  Romish  Priest. — [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  361 

ties  to  publish  his  gospel  to  the  world,  and  to  declare  the  ART. 
terms  of  salvation,  and  of  obtaining  the  pardon  of  sin,  in  xxv- 
which  they  were  to  be  infallibly  assisted,  so  that  they  could 
not  err  in  discharging  their  commission;  and  the  terms  of  the 
covenant  of  grace  being  thus  settled  by  them,  all  who  were  to 
succeed  them  were  also  empowered  to  go  on  with  the  publica- 
tion of  this  pardon  and  of  those  glad  tidings  to  the  world :  so 
that  whatsoever  they  declared  in  the  name  of  God,  conform 
to  the  tenor  of  that  which  the  apostles  were  to  settle,  should 
be  always  made  good.  We  do  also  acknowledge,  that  the 
pastors  of  the  church  have,  in  the  way  of  censure  and  govern- 
ment, a  ministerial  authority  to  remit  or  to  retain  sins,  as 
they  are  matters  of  scandal  or  offence;  though  that  indeed 
does  not  seem  to  be  the  meaning  of  those  words  of  our  Sa- 
viour ;  and  therefore  we  think  that  the  power  of  pardoning 
and  retaining  is  only  declaratory,  so  that  all  the  exercises  of 
it  are  then  only  effectual,  when  the  declarations  of  the  pardon 
are  made  conform  to  the  conditions  of  the  gospel.  This 
doctrine  of  ours,  how  much  soever  decried  of  late  in  the 
Roman  church,  as  striking  at  the  root  of  the  priestly  autho- 
rity, yet  has  been  maintained  by  some  of  their  best  authors, 
and  some  of  the  greatest  of  their  schoolmen. 

Thus  we  have  seen  upon  what  reason  it  is  that  we  do  not 
conclude  from  hence,  that  auricular  confession  is  necessary ; 
in  which  we  think  that  we  are  fully  confirmed  by  the  practice 
of  many  of  the  ages  of  the  Christian  church,  which  did  not 
understand  these  words  as  containing  an  obligation  to  secret 
confession.  It  is  certain,  that  the  practice  and  tradition  of 
the  church  must  be  relied  on  here,  if  in  any  thing,  since  there 
was  nothing  that  both  clergy  and  laity  were  more  concerned 
both  to  know  and  to  deliver  down  faithfully,  than  this,  on 
which  the  authority  of  the  one,  and  the  salvation  of  the  other, 
depended  so  much.  Such  a  point  as  this  could  never  have 
been  forgot  or  mistaken ;  many  and  clear  rules  must  have 
been  given  about  it.  It  is  a  thing  to  which  human  nature 
has  so  much  repugnancy,  that  it  must,  in  the  first  forming  of 
churches,  have  been  infused  into  them  as  absolutely  necessary 
in  order  to  pardon  and  salvation. 

A  church  could  not  now  be  formed,  according  to  the  doc- 
trine and  practice  of  the  church  of  Rome,  without  very  full 
and  particular  instructions,  both  to  priests  and  people,  con- 
cerning confession  and  absolution.  It  is  the  most  intricate 
part  of  their  divinity,  and  that  which  the  clergy  must  be  the 
most  ready  at.  In  opposition  to  all  this,  let  it  he  considered, 
that  though  there  is  a  great  deal  said  in  the  New  Testament 
concerning  sorrow  for  sin,  repentance,  and  remission  of  sins, 
yet  there  is  not  a  word  said,  nor  a  rule  given,  concerning  con- 
fession to  be  made  to  a  priest,  and  absolution  to  be  given  by 
him.  There  is  indeed  a  passage  in  St.  James's  Epistle  relat-  , 
ing  to  confession ;  but  it  is  '  to  one  another;'  not  restrained  i™**  V* 


362 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  TIT.  to  the  priest ;  as  the  word  rendered  faults  seems  to  signify 
xxv-  those  offences  by  which  others  are  wronged ;  in  which  case 
confession  is  a  degree  of  reparation,  and  so  is  sometimes  ne- 
cessary :  but  whatever  may  be  in  this,  it  is  certain,  that  the 
confession,  which  is  there  appointed  to  be  made,  is  a  thing 
that  was  to  be  mutual  among  Christians ;  and  it  is  not  com- 
manded in  order  to  absolution,  but  in  order  to  the  procuring 
the  intercessions  of  other  good  men;  and  therefore  it  is 
added,  and  'pray  for  one  another.'  By  the  words  that  fol- 
low, 'that  ye  may  be  healed,'  joined  with  those  that  went 
before  concerning  the  sick,  it  seems  the  direction  given  by  St. 
James  belongs  principally  to  sick  persons;  and  the  conclusion 
of  the  whole  period  shews,  that  it  relates  only  to  the  private 
prayers  of  good  men  for  one  another ;  '  the  effectual  fervent 
prayer  of  a  righteous  man  availeth  much :'  so  that  this  place 
does  not  at  all  belong  to  auricular  confession  or  absolution. 

Nor  do  there  any  prints  appear,  before  the  apostacies  that 
happened  in  the  persecution  of  Pecius,  of  the  practice  even 
of  confessing  such  heinous  sins  as  had  been  publicly  commit- 
ted. Then  arose  the  famous  contests  with  the  Novatians, 
concerning  the  receiving  the  lapsed  into  the  communion  of 
the  church  again.  It  was  concluded  not  to  exclude  them 
from  the  hopes  of  mercy,  or  of  reconciliation ;  yet  it  was  re- 
solved not  to  do  that  till  they  had  been  kept  at  a  distance 
for  some  time  from  the  holy  communion ;  at  last  they  were 
admitted  to  make  their  confession,  and  so  they  were  received 
to  the  communion  of  the  church.  This  time  was  shortened, 
and  many  things  were  passed  over,  to  such  as  shewed  a  deep 
and  sincere  repentance ;  and  one  of  the  characters  of  a  true 
repentance,  upon  which  they  were  always  treated  with  a  great 
distinction  of  favour,  was,  if  they  came  and  first  accused 
themselves.  This  shewed  that  they  were  deeply  affected  with 
the  sense  of  their  sins,  when  they  could  not  bear  the  load  of 
them,  but  became  their  own  accusers,  and  discovered  their 
sins.  There  are  several  canons  that  make  a  difference  in  the 
degrees  and  time  of  the  penance,  between  those  who  had  ac- 
cused themselves,  and  those  against  whom  their  sins  were 
proved.  A  great  deal  of  this  strain  occurs  often  in  the  writ- 
ings of  the  fathers,  which  plainly  shews  that  they  did  not  look 
on  the  necessity  of  an  enumeration  of  all  their  sins  as  com- 
manded by  God ;  otherwise  it  would  have  been  enforced  with 
considerations  of  another  nature,  than  that  of  shortening  their 
penance. 

The  first  occasion  that  was  given  to  the  church  to  exercise 
this  discipline,  was  from  the  frequent  apostacies,  into  which 
many  had  lapsed  during  the  persecutions ;  and  when  these 
went  off,  another  sort  of  disorders  began  to  break  in  upon  the 
church,  and  to  defile  it.  Great  numbers  followed  the  ex- 
ample of  their  princes,  and  became  Christians ;  but  a  mixed 
multitude  came  among  them,  so  that  there  were  many  scan- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  363 


dais  amongst  that  body,  which  had  been  formerly  remarkable  ART. 
for  the  purity  of  their  morals,  and  the  strictness  of  their  lives.  XXV. 
It  was  the  chief  business  of  all  those  councils  that  met  in  the  ' 
fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  to  settle  many  rules  concerning  the 
degrees  and  time  of  penance,  the  censures  both  of  the  clergy 
and  laity,  the  orders  of  the  penitents  and  the  methods  of 
receiving  them  to  the  communion  of  the  church.    In  some  of  Dallseus 
those  councils  they  denied  reconciliation  after  some  sins,  even  ^  Confes- 
to  the  last,  though  the  general  practice  was  to  receive  all  at      'de  °~ 
their  death ;  but  while  they  were  in  a  good  state  of  health,  Pceniten- 
they  kept  them  long  in  penance,  in  a  public  separation  from  tia- 
the  common  privileges  of  Christians,  and  chiefly  from  the 
holy  sacrament,  and  under  severe  rules,  and  that  for  several 
years,  more  or  fewer,  according  to  the  nature  of  their  sins, 
and  the  characters  of  their  repentance ;  of  which  a  free  and 
unextorted  confession  being  one  of  the  chief,  this  made  many 
prevent  that,  and  come  in  of  their  own  accord  to  confess  their 
sins,  which  was  much  encouraged  and  magnified. 

Confession  was  at  first  made  publicly ;  but  the  inconveni- 
encies  of  that  appearing,  and  particularly  many  of  those  sins 
being  capital,  instead  of  a  public,  there  was  a  private  confes- 
sion practised.  The  bishops  either  attended  upon  these 
themselves,  or  they  appointed  a  penitentiary  priest  to  receive 
them :  all  was  in  order  to  the  executing  the  canons,  and  for 
keeping  up  the  discipline  of  the  church.  Bishops  were  war- 
ranted by  the  council  of  Nice  to  excuse  the  severity  of  the 
canons,  as  the  occasion  should  require.  The  penitents  went 
through  the  penance  imposed,  which  was  done  publicly ;  the 
separation  and  penance  being  visible,  even  when  the  sin  was 
kept  secret;  and  when  the  time  of  the  penance  was  finished, 
they  received  the  penitents  by  prayer  and  imposition  of 
hands,  into  the  communion  of  the  church,  and  so  they  were 
received.  This  was  all  the  absolution  that  was  known  during 
the  first  six  centuries. 

Penitents  were  enjoined  to  publish  such  of  their  secret  sins, 
as  the  penitentiary  priest  did  prescribe.    This  happened  to 
give  great  scandal  at  Constantinople,  when  Nectarius  was  Socr.  Hist, 
bishop  there ;  for  a  woman  being  in  a  course  of  penance,  '• v- c* 19* 
confessed  publicly  that  she  had  been  guilty  of  adultery,  com- 
mitted with  a  deacon  in  the  church.    It  seems,  by  the  relation 
that  the  historian  gives  of  this  matter,  that  she  went  beyond 
the  injunction  given  her ;  but  whether  the  fault  was  in  her, 
or  in  the  penitentiary  priest,  this  gave  such  offence,  that  Nec- 
tarius broke  that  custom.    And  Chrysostom,  who  came  soon  Thirteen 
after  him  to  that  see,  speaks  very  fully  against  secret  confes-  passages 
sion,  and  advises  Christians  to  confess  only  to  God;  yet  theoutofhim 
practice  of  secret  confession  was  kept  up  elsewhere.    But  it  ex^med 
appears  by  a  vast  number  of  citations  from  the  fathers,  both  by  Daill* 
in  different  ages,  and  in  the  different  corners  of  the  church,  de.  Conf. 
that  though  they  pressed  confession  much,  and  magnified  the   lv* c" 26, 


364 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  value  of  it  highly,  yet  they  never  urged  it  as  necessary  to  the 
xxv-  pardon  of  sin,  or  as  a  sacrament;  they  only  pressed  it  as  a 
mean  to  complete  the  repentance,  and  to  give  the  sinner  an 
interest  in  the  prayers  of  the  church.  This  may  be  positively 
affirmed  concerning  all  the  quotations  that  are  brought  in  this 
matter,  to  prove  that  auricular  confession  is  necessary  in 
order  to  the  priest's  pardon,  and  that  it  is  founded  on  those 
words  of  Christ,  '  Whose  sins  ye  remit,'  &c.  that  they  prove 
quite  the  contrary ;  that  the  fathers  had  not  that  sense  of  it, 
but  considered  it,  either  as  a  mean  to  help  the  completing  of 
repentance,  or  as  a  mean  to  maintain  the  purity  of  the  Chris- 
tian church,  and  the  rigour  of  discipline. 

In  the  fifth  century  a  practice  begun,  which  was  no  small 
step  to  the  ruin  of  the  order  of  the  church.  Penitents  were 
suffered,  instead  of  the  public  penance  that  had  been  formerly 
enjoined,  to  do  it  secretly  in  some  monastery,  or  in  any  other 
private  place,  in  the  presence  of  a  few  good  men,  and  that  at 
the  discretion  of  the  bishop,  or  the  confessor ;  at  the  end  of 
which,  absolution  was  given  in  secret.  This  was  done  to 
draw  what  professions  of  repentance  they  could  from  such 
persons  who  would  not  submit  to  settled  rules :  this  temper 
was  found  neither  to  lose  them  quite,  nor  to  let  their  sins 
pass  without  any  censure.  But  in  the  seventh  century,  all 
public  penance  for  secret  sins  was  taken  quite  away.  Theo- 
dore, archbishop  of  Canterbury,  is  reckoned  the  first  of  all 
the  bishops  of  the  western  church  that  did  quite  take  away  all 
public  penance  for  secret  sins. 

Another  piece  of  the  ancient  severity  was  also  slackened, 
for  they  had  never  allowed  penance  to  men  that  had  relapsed 
into  any  sin ;  though  they  did  not  cut  them  off  from  all  hope 
of  the  mercy  of  God,  yet  they  never  gave  a  second  absolution 
to  the  relapse.  This  the  church  of  Rome  has  still  kept  up  in 
one  point,  which  is  heresy ;  a  relapse  being  delivered  to  the 
secular  arm,  without  admitting  him  to  penance.  The  ancients 
did  indeed  admit  such  to  penance,  but  they  never  reconciled 
them.  Yet  in  the  decay  of  discipline,  absolution  came  to  be 
granted  to  the  relapse,  as  well  as  to  him  that  had  sinned  but 
once. 

About  the  end  of  the  eighth  century,  the  commutation  of 
penance  began ;  and,  instead  of  the  ancient  severities,  vocal 
prayers  came  to  be  all  that  was  enjoined ;  so  many  Paters 
stood  for  so  many  days  of  fasting,  and  the  rich  were  admitted 
to  buy  off  their  penance  under  the  decenter  name  of  giving 
alms.  The  getting  many  masses  to  be  said,  was  thought  a 
devotion  by  which  God  was  so  much  honoured,  that  the  com- 
muting penance  for  masses  was  much  practised.  Pilgrimages 
a»d  wars  came  on  afterwards ;  and  in  the  twelfth  century,  the 
trade  was  set  up  of  selling  indulgences.  By  this  it  appears, 
that  confession  came  by  several  steps  into  the  church ;  that  in 
the  first  ages  it  was  not  heard  of ;  that  the  apostacies  in  time 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


S65 


of  persecution  gave  the  first  rise  to  it :  all  which  demonstrates  A  R  'I 
that  the  primitive  church  did  not  consider  it  as  a  thing  xxv 
appointed  by  Christ  to  be  the  matter  of  a  sacrament. 

It  may  be  in  the  power  of  the  church  to  propose  confes- 
sion, as  a  mean  to  direct  men  in  their  repentance,  to  humble 
them  deeper  for  their  sins,  and  to  oblige  them  to  a  greater 
strictness.  But  to  enjoin  it  as  necessary  to  obtain  the  pardon 
of  sin,  and  to  make  it  an  indispensable  condition,  and  indeed 
the  most  indispensable  of  all  the  parts  of  repentance,  is  be- 
yond the  power  of  the  church  ;  for  since  Christ  is  the  Mediator 
of  this  new  covenant,  he  alone  must  fix  the  necessary  condi- 
tions of  it.  In  this,  more  than  in  any  thing  else,  we  must 
conclude  that  the  gospel  is  express  and  clear ;  and  therefore 
so  hard  a  condition  as  this  is  cannot  be  imposed  by  any  other 
authority.  The  obligation  to  auricular  confession  is  a  thing 
to  which  mankind  is  naturally  so  little  disposed  to  submit, 
and  it  may  have  such  consequences  on  the  peace  and  order  of 
the  world,  that  we  have  reason  to  believe,  that  if  Christ  had 
intended  to  have  made  it  a  necessary  part  of  repentance,  he 
would  have  declared  it  in  express  words,  and  not  have  left  it 
so  much  in  the  dark,  that  those  who  assert  it,  must  draw  it 
by  inferences  from  those  words,  6  Whose  sins  ye  remit/  &c. 
Some  things  are  of  such  a  nature,  that  we  may  justly  conclude, 
that  either  they  are  not  at  all  required,  or  that  they  are  com- 
manded in  plain  terms. 

As  for  the  good  or  evil  effects  that  may  follow  on  the 
obliging  men  to  a  strictness  in  confession,  that  does  not  belong 
to  this  matter :  if  it  is  acknowledged  to  be  only  a  law  of  the 
church,  other  considerations  are  to  be  examined  about  it ;  but 
if  it  is  pretended  to  be  a  law  of  God,  and  a  part  of  a  sacrament, 
we  must  have  a  divine  institution  for  it ;  otherwise  all  the 
advantages  that  can  possibly  be  imagined  in  it,  without  that, 
are  only  so  many  arguments  to  persuade  us,  that  there  is 
somewhat  that  is  highly  necessary  to  the  purity  of  Christians, 
of  which  Christ  has  not  said  a  word,  and  concerning  which 
his  apostles  have  given  us  no  directions.    We  do  not  deny 
but  it  may  be  a  mean  to  strike  terror  in  people,  to  keep  them 
under  awe  and  obedience ;  it  may,  when  the  management  of  it 
is  in  good  hands,  be  made  a  mean  to  keep  the  world  in  order, 
and  to  guide  those  of  weaker  judgments  more  steadily  and 
safely,  than  could  be  well  done  any  other  way.    In  the  use  of 
confession,  when  proposed  as  our  church  does,  as  matter  of 
advice,  and  not  of  obligation,  we  are  very  sensible  many  good 
ends  may  be  attained ;  but  while  we  consider  those,  we  must 
like  .vise  reflect  on  the  mischief  that  may  arise  out  of  it ;  espe- 
cially supposing  the  greater  part  both  of  the  clergy  and  laity 
to  be  what  they  ever  were,  and  ever  will  be,  depraved  and 
corrupted.    The  people  will  grow  to  think  that  the  priest  is 
in  God's  stead  to  them ;  that  their  telling  their  sins  to  him, 
is  as  if  they  confessed  them  to  God ;  they  will  expect  to  be 


366 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  easily  discharged  for  a  gentle  penance,  with  a  speedy  absolu- 
xxv-  tion ;  and  this  will  make  them  as  secure,  as  if  their  consciences 
were  clear,  and  their  sins  pardoned;  so  the  remedy  being  easy 
and  always  at  hand,  they  will  be  encouraged  to  venture  the 
more  boldly  on  sin.  It  is  no  difficult  matter  to  gain  a  priest, 
especially  if  he  himself  is  a  bad  man,  to  use  them  tenderly 
upon  those  occasions.  On  the  other  hand,  corrupt  priests 
will  find  their  account  in  the  dispensing  this  great  power,  so 
as  to  serve  their  own  ends.  They  will  know  all  people's 
tempers  and  secrets ;  and  how  strict  soever  they  may  make 
the  seal  of  confession,  to  draw  the  world  to  trust  to  it ;  yet  in 
bodies  so  knit  together,  as  communities  and  orders  are,  it  is 
not  possible  to  know  what  use  they  make  of  this.  Still  they 
know  all  themselves,  and  see  into  the  weakness,  the  passions, 
and  appetites,  of  their  people.  This  must  often  be  a  great 
snare  to  them,  especially  in  the  supposition  that  cannot  be 
denied  to  hold  generally  true,  of  their  being  bad  men  them- 
selves :  great  advantages  are  hereby  given  to  infuse  fears  and 
scruples  into  people's  minds,  who,  being  then  in  their  ten- 
derest  minutes,  will  be  very  much  swayed  and  wrought  on  by 
them.  A  bad  priest  knows  by  this  whom  he  may  tempt  to 
any  sort  of  sin :  and  thus  the  good  and  the  evil  of  confession, 
as  it  is  a  general  law  upon  all  men's  consciences,  being 
weighed  one  against  the  other ;  and  it  being  certain  that  the 
far  greater  part  of  mankind  is  always  bad,  we  must  conclude 
that  the  evil  does  so  far  preponderate  the  good,  that  they  bear 
no  comparison  or  proportion  to  one  another.  The  matter  at 
present  under  debate  is  only  whether  it  is  one  of  the  laws  of 
God,  or  not  ?  and  it  is  enough  for  the  present  purpose  to 
shew,  that  it  is  no  law  of  God ;  upon  which  we  do  also  see 
very  good  reason  why  it  ought  not  to  be  made  a  law  of  the 
church ;  both  because  it  is  beyond  her  authority,  which  can 
only  go  to  matters  of  order  and  discipline,  as  also  because  of 
the  vast  inconveniencies  that  are  like  to  arise  out  of  it. 

The  next  part  of  repentance  is  contrition,  which  is  a  sorrow 
for  sin  upon  the  motives  of  the  love  of  God,  and  the  hatred 
of  sin  joined  with  a  renovation  of  heart.  This  is  that  which 
we  acknowledge  to  be  necessary  to  complete  our  repentance ; 
but  this  consisting  in  the  temper  of  a  man's  mind,  and  his 
inward  acts,  it  seems  a  very  absurd  thing  to  make  this  the 
matter  of  a  sacrament,  since  it  is  of  a  spiritual  and  invisible 
nature.    But  this  is  not  all  that  belongs  to  this  head. 

The  casuists  of  the  church  of  Rome  have  made  a  distinction 
between  a  perfect  and  an  imperfect  contrition ;  the  imperfect 
they  call  attrition ;  which  is  any  sorrow  for  sin,  though  upon 
an  inferior  motive,  such  as  may  be  particular  to  one  act  of  sin, 
as  when  it  rises  from  the  loss  or  shame  it  has  brought  with 
it,  together  with  an  act  formed  in  detestation  of  it,  without  a 
resolution  to  sin  no  more.  Such  a  sorrow  as  this  is  they 
teach  does  make  the  sacrament  effectual,  and  puts  a  man  in  a 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


367 


state  of  justification,  though  they  acknowledge  that  without  A  R  T, 
the  sacrament  it  is  not  sufficient  to  justify  him.  XXV. 

This  was  settled  by  the  council  of  Trent.*  We  think  it  Trid  Sess. 
strikes  at  the  root  of  all  religion  and  virtue,  and  is  a  reversing  14.  c.  4. 
of  the  design  for  which  sacraments  were  instituted,  which  was 
to  raise  our  minds  to  a  high  pitch  of  piety,  and  to  exalt  and 
purify  our  acts.  We  think  the  sacraments  are  profaned  when 
we  do  not  raise  our  thoughts  as  high  as  we  can  in  them.  To 
teach  men  how  low  they  may  go,  and  how  small  a  measure 
will  serve  turn,  especially  when  the  great  and  chief  command- 
ment, the  consideration  of  the  love  of  God,  is  left  out,  seems 
to  be  one  of  the  greatest  corruptions  in  practice  of  which  any 
church  can  be  guilty ;  a  slackness  in  doctrine,  especially  in  so 
great  a  point  as  this,  in  which  human  nature  is  under  so  fatal 
a  bias,  will  always  bring  with  it  a  much  greater  corruption  in 
practice.  This  will  indeed  make  many  run  to  the  sacrament, 
and  raise  its  value ;  but  it  will  rise  upon  the  ruins  of  true 
piety  and  holiness.  There  are  few  men  that  can  go  long  on 
in  very  great  sins  without  feeling  great  remorses ;  these  are 
to  them  rather  a  burden  that  they  cannot  shake  off,  than  a 
virtue.  Sorrow  lying  long  upon  their  thoughts  may  be  the 
beginning  of  a  happy  change,  and  so  prove  a  great  blessing  to 
them :  all  which  is  destroyed  by  this  doctrine :  for  if  under 
such  uneasy  thoughts  they  go  to  confession,  and  are  attrite, 
the  sacrament  is  valid,  and  they  are  justified :  then  the  un- 
easiness goes  off,  and  is  turned  into  joy,  without  their  being 
any  thing  the  better  by  it.  They  return  to  their  sins  with  a 
new  calm  and  security,  because  they  are  taught  that  their  sins 
are  pardoned,  and  that  all  scores  are  cleared.  Therefore  we 
conclude,  that  this  doctrine  wounds  religion  in  its  vitals ;  and 
we  are  confirmed  in  all  this  by  what  appears  in  practice,  and 
what  the  best  writers  that  have  lived  in  that  communion  have 
said  of  the  abuses  that  follow  on  the  methods  in  which  this 
sacrament  is  managed  among  them,  which  do  arise  mainly  out 
of  this  part  of  their  doctrine  concerning  attrition.  All  that 
they  teach  concerning  those  acts  of  attrition,  or  even  contri- 
tion, is  also  liable  to  great  abuse  in  practice :  for,  as  a 
man  may  bring  forth  those  acts  in  words,  and  not  be  the 
better  for  them  ;  so  he  may  force  himself  to  think  them, 
which  is  nothing  but  the  framing  an  inward  discourse  within 
himself  upon  them  ;  and  yet  these  not  arising  genuinely  from 
a  new  nature,  or  a  change  of  temper,  such  acts  can  be  of  no 
value  in  the  sight  of  God :  yet  the  whole  practice  of  their 
church  runs  upon  these  acts,  as  if  a  man's  going  through 
them,  and  making  himself  think  them,  could  be  of  great  value 
in  the  sight  of  God. 

The  third  branch  of  the  matter  of  this  sacrament  is  the 


•  For  this  decree,  lee  note,  p.  360. — [Ed.] 


368 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


R  T.  satisfaction,  or  the  doing  the  penance ;  which,  by  the  constant 
practice  of  the  church  for  above  twelve  centuries,  was  to  be 
performed  before  absolution  could  be  given  ;  except  in  extra- 
ordinary cases,  such  as  death,  or  martyrdom ;  but  in  these 
latter  ages,  in  which  the  necessity  of  confession  is  carried 
higher,  the  obligation  to  satisfaction  or  the  doing  of  penance 
is  let  fall  lower.  A  distinction  is  invented  by  which  confes- 
sion and  contrition,  attrition  at  least,  are  made  essential  parts 
of  the  sacrament,  without  which  there  is  no  sacrament;  as 
soul  and  body  are  essential  to  the  being  of  a  man ;  and  satis- 
faction is  considered  only  as  an  integral  part;  such  as  an  eye 
or  a  limb  in  a  man,  which  is  necessary  to  the  order  of  it,  but 
not  to  its  being.  If  satisfaction  is  considered  as  that  which 
destroys  the  habits  of  sin,  and  introduces  the  habits  of  virtue; 
if  it  is  purgative  and  medicinal,  and  changes  a  man's  princi- 
ples and  nature,  then  it  ought  to  be  reckoned  the  principal 
and  least  dispensable  thing  of  all  repentance.  For  our  con- 
fessing past  sins,  and  sorrowing  for  them,  is  only  enjoined  us 
as  a  mean  to  reform  and  purify  our  nature.  If  we  imagine 
that  our  acts  of  repentance  are  a  discounting  with  God,  by  so 
many  pious  thoughts  whish  are  to  be  set  against  so  many 
bad  oiies,  this  will  introduce  a  sort  of  mechanical  religion ; 
which  will  both  corrupt  our  ideas  of  God,  and  of  the  nature 
of  good  and  evil. 

The  true  and  generous  notion  of  religion  is,  that  it  is  a 
system  of  many  truths,  which  are  of  such  efficacy,  that  if 
we  receive  them  into  our  minds,  and  are  governed  by  them, 
they  will  rectify  our  thoughts,  and  purify  our  natures ;  and 
by  making  us  like  God  here,  they  will  put  us  in  a  sure  way  to 
enjoy  him  eternally  hereafter.  Sorrow  for  past  sins,  and  all 
reflections  upon  them,  are  enjoined  us  as  means  to  make  the 
sense  of  them  go  so  deep  in  our  minds,  as  to  free  us  from 
all  those  bad  habits  that  sin  leaves  in  us,  and  from  those  ill 
inclinations  that  are  in  our  nature.  If  we  therefore  set  up  a 
sorrowing  for  sin  as  a  merchandise  with  God,  by  so  many  acts 
of  one  kind  to  take  off  the  acts  of  another,  here  the  true  de- 
sign of  our  sorrow  is  turned  into  a  trafficking,  by  which  how 
much  soever  priests  may  gain,  or  the  value  of  sacraments  may 
seem  to  rise,  religion  will  certainly  lose  in  its  main  design, 
which  is  the  planting  a  new  nature  in  us,  and  the  making 
us  become  like  God.  Confession  and  contrition  are  previous 
acts,  that  lead  to  this  reformation,  which,  as  they  teach,  is 
wrought  by  the  satisfaction ;  therefore  we  must  needs  con- 
demn that  doctrine  which  makes  it  less  necessary  and  more 
dispensable  than  the  other.  In  the  case  of  death  we  confess 
all  the  rights  of  the  church  with  relation  to  a  man's  scandals, 
and  his  obligations  to  make  public  penance,  may  and  ought  to 
be  then  forgiven  him ;  but  we  think  it  one  of  the  most  fatal 
errors  that  can  creep  into  any  church,  to  encourage  men  to 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


rely  on  a  death-bed  repentance.  The  nature  of  man  leans  so  ART. 
much  this  way,  that  it  is  necessary  to  bend  the  point  as  xxv- 
strong  as  may  be  to  the  other  hand. 

The  promises  of  the  gospel  run  all  upon  the  condition  of 
repentance ;  which  imports  a  renovation  of  the  inner  man,  and 
a  purity  of  life :  so  that  no  repentance  can  be  esteemed  true, 
but  as  we  perceive  that  it  has  purified  our  hearts,  and  changed 
our  course  of  life.  What  God  may  do  with  death-bed  peni- 
tents, in  the  infinite  extent  and  absoluteness  of  his  mercy, 
becomes  not  us  to  define:  but  we  are  sure  he  has  given  no 
promises  to  such  persons  in  his  gospel.  And  since  the  func- 
tion of  clergymen  is  the  dispensing  of  that,  we  cannot  go 
beyond  the  limits  set  us  in  it :  so  there  is  no  reason  to  make 
this  part  of  repentance  less  necessary  or  obligatory  than  the 
other,  but  very  much  to  the  contrary.  Another  exception 
that  we  have  to  the  allowed  practice  of  that  church,  is  the 
giving  absolution  before  the  satisfaction  is  made ;  upon  its 
being  enjoined  and  accepted  by  the  penitent.  This  is  so 
contrary  to  all  ancient  rules,  that  it  were  a  needless  labour  to 
go  to  prove  it ;  the  thing  being  confessed  by  all :  and  yet  the 
practice  is  so  totally  changed  among  them,  that  such  as  have 
blamed  it,  and  have  attempted  to  revive  the  ancient  method, 
have  been  censured  as  guilty  of  an  innovation,  savouring  of 
heresy :  because  they  condemn  so  general  a  practice,  that  it 
would  render  the  infallibility  of  the  church  very  doubtful,  if 
it  should  be  pretended  to  have  erred  in  so  universal  a 
practice. 

Hasty  absolutions,  contrary  both  to  the  whole  design  of  the 
gospel,  and  to  the  constant  practice  of  the  church,  for  at  least 
twelve  centuries,  are  now  the  avowed  methods  of  that  church; 
to  which  in  a  great  measure  all  that  corruption  of  morals  that 
is  among  them  owes  its  rise  and  continuance :  for  who  can 
be  supposed  to  set  himself  against  those  inclinations  to  sin, 
that  are  deeply  rooted  in  his  nature,  and  are  powerfully  re- 
commended by  the  pleasure  and  gain  that  arises  out  of  vicious 
practices,  if  the  way  to  pardon  is  cast  so  wide  open,  that  a 
man  may  sin  as  long  and  as  securely  as  he  will,  and  yet  all 
at  once,  upon  a  few  acts  that  he  makes  himself  go  through,  he 
may  get  into  a  state  of  grace,  and  be  pardoned  and  justified  ? 
The  power  that  is  left  to  the  priest  to  appoint  the  penance, 
is  a  trust  of  a  high  nature,  which  yet  is  known  to  be  univer- 
sally ill  applied;  so  that  absolution  is  generally  prostituted 
among  them. 

The  true  penance  enjoined  by  the  gospel  is  the  forsaking  of 
sin,  and  the  doing  acts  of  virtue.  Fasting,  prayers,  and  alms- 
giving, are  acts  that  are  very  proper  means  to  raise  us  to  this 
temper.  If  fasting  is  joined  with  prayer,  and  if  prayer  arises 
out  of  an  inward  devotion  of  mind,  and  is  serious  and  fervent, 
then  we  know  that  it  has  great  efficacy ;  as  being  one  of  the 

2  B 


370 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  chief  acts  of  our  religious  service  of  God,  to  which  the  greatest 
XXV.  promises  are  made,  and  upon  which  the  best  blessings  do 
descend  upon  us.  Alms-giving  is  also  a  main  part  of  charity: 
which,  when  done  from  a  right  principle  of  loving  God  and 
our  neighbour,  is  of  great  value  in  his  sight.  But  if  fasting  is 
only  an  exercise  of  the  bodv,  and  of  abstaining  so  long, 
and  from  such  things,  this  mav  perhaps  trouble  and  pain  the 
body  ;  but  bodily  exercise  profiteth  nothing ;  so  not  to  men- 
tion the  mockery  of  fasting,  when  it  is  only  a  delay  of  eating, 
after  which  all  liberties  are  taken,  or  an  abstinence  which  iy 
made  up  with  other  delicious  and  inflaming  nutritives,  these 
are  of  no  value,  being  onlv  inventions  to  deceive  men,  and  to 
expose  religion  to  mockery.  But  even  severe  and  afflicting 
fasting,  if  done  only  as  a  punishment,  which,  when  it  is  over, 
the  penance  is  believed  to  be  completed,  gives  such  a  low 
idea  of  God  and  religion,  that  from  thence  men  are  led  to 
think  very  slightly  of  sin,  when  they  know  at  what  price  they 
can  carry  it  off.  Such  a  continuance  in  fasting  in  order  to 
prayer,  as  humbles  and  depresses  nature,  and  raises  the  mind, 
is  a  great  mean  to  reform  the  world ;  but  fasting  as  a  pre- 
scribed task  to  expiate  our  sins  is  a  scorn  put  upon  religion. 

Prayer,  when  it  arises  from  a  serious  heart  that  is  earnest 
in  it,  and  when  it  becomes  habitual,  is  certainly  a  most 
effectual  mean  to  reform  the  world,  and  to  fetch  down  divine 
assistances.  But  to  appoint  so  many  vocal  prayers  to  be  gone 
through  as  a  task ;  and  then  to  tell  the  world  that  the  running 
through  these,  with  few  or  no  inward  acts  accompanying  them, 
is  contrition  or  attrition,  this  is  more  like  a  design  to  root  out 
all  the  impressions  of  religion,  and  all  sense  of  that  repentance 
which  the  gospel  requires,  than  to  promote  it.  This  may  be 
a  task  fit  to  accustom  children  to  ;  but  it  is  contrary  to  the 
true  genius  of  religion,  to  teach  men,  instead  of  that  reasonable 
service  that  we  ought  to  offer  up  to  God,  to  give  him  only  the 
labour  of  the  lips,  which  is  the  sacrifice  of  fools.  Prayers  gone 
through  as  a  task  can  be  of  no  value,  and  can  find  no  accep- 
1  Cor.  xiii.  tation  in  the  sight  of  God.  And  as  St.  Paul  said,  that  '  if 
1»  2,  3.  he  gave  all  his  goods  to  the  poor,  and  had  not  charity,  he  was 
nothing;'  so  the  greatest  profusion  of  alms-giving,  when  done 
in  a  mercenary  way,  to  buy  off  and  to  purchase  a  pardon,  is 
the  turning  of  God's  house  from  being  a  house  of  prayer,  to 
be  a  den  of  thieves. 

Upon  all  these  reasons  we  except  to  the  whole  doctrine 
and  practice  of  the  church  of  Rome,  as  to  the  satisfaction 
made  by  doing  penance.  And  in  the  last  place  Ave  except  to 
the  form  of  absolution  in  these  words,  /  absolve  thee.  We  of 
this  church,  who  use  it  only  to  such  as  are  thought  to  be  near 
death,  cannot  be  meant  to  understand  any  thing  by  it,  but  the 
full  peace  and  pardon  of  the  church:  for  if  we  meant  a  pardon 
with  relation  to  God,  we  ought  to  use  it  upon  many  other  oc- 
casions. The  pardon  that  we  give  in  the  name  of  God  is  only 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


declaratory  of  his  pardon,  or  supplicatory  in  a  prayer  to  him  ART. 
for  pardon.  XXV. 

In  this  we  have  the  whole  practice  of  the  church  till  the 
twelfth  century  universally  of  our  side.  All  the  fathers,  all 
the  ancient  liturgies,  all  that  have  writ  upon  the  offices,  and 
the  first  schoolmen,  are  so  express  in  this  matter,  that  the 
thing  in  fact  cannot  be  denied.  Morinus  has  published  so 
many  of  their  old  rituals,  that  he  has  put  an  end  to  all  doubt- 
ing about  it.  In  the  twelfth  century  some  few  began  to  use 
the  words,  /  absolve  thee :  yet,  to  soften  this  expression,  that 
seemed  new  and  bold,  some  tempered  it  with  these  words,  in 
so  far  as  it  is  granted  to  my  frailty  ;  and  others  with  these 
words,  as  far  as  the  accusation  comes  from  thee,  and  as  the 
pardon  is  in  me.  Yet  this  form  was  but  little  practised :  so 
that  William,  bishop  of  Paris,  speaks  of  the  form  of  absolution 
as  given  only  in  a  prayer,  and  not  as  given  in  these  words,  I 
absolve  thee.  He  lived  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth 
century ;  so  that  this  practice,  though  begun  in  other  places 
before  that  time,  yet  was  not  known  long  after  in  so  public  a 
city  as  Paris.  But  some  schoolmen  began  to  defend  it,  as 
implying  only  a  declaration  of  the  pardon  pronounced  by  the 
priest ;  and  this  having  an  air  of  more  authority,  and  being 
once  justified  by  learned  men,  did  so  universally  prevail,  that 
in  little  more  than  sixty  years'  time,  it  became  the  universal 
practice  of  the  whole  Latin  church.  So  sure  a  thing  is  tradi- 
tion, and  so  impossible  to  be  changed,  as  they  pretend,  when 
within  the  compass  of  one  age,  the  new  form,  /  absolve  thee, 
was  not  so  much  as  generally  known  ;  and  before  the  end  of 
it  the  old  form  of  doing  it  in  a  prayer,  with  imposition  of 
hands,  was  quite  worn  out.  The  idea  that  arises  naturally  out 
of  these  words  is,  that  the  priest  pardons  sins  ;  and  since  that 
is  subject  to  such  abuses,  and  has  let  in  so  much  corruption 
upon  that  church,  we  think  we  have  reason  not  only  to  deny 
that  penance  is  a  sacrament,  but  likewise  to  affirm,  that  they 
have  corrupted  this  great  and  important  doctrine  of  repent- 
ance, in  all  the  parts  and  branches  of  it:  nor  is  the  matter 
mended  with  that  prayer  that  follows  the  absolution ;  The  TlituaIe 
passion  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  merits  of  the  blessed  Vir-  Romanuro 
gin  and  all  the  saints,  and  all  the  good  that  thou  hast  done,  and  de  sacr- 
the  evil  that  thou  hast  suffered,  be  to  thee  for  the  remission  of  PoeDltent- 
sins,  the  increase  of  grace,  and  the  reward  of  eternal  life. 

The  third  sacrament  rejected  by  this  Article  is  Orders ; 
which  is  reckoned  the  sixth  by  the  church  of  Rome.  We 
affirm,  that  Christ  appointed  a  succession  of  pastors  in  dif- 
ferent ranks,  to  be  continued  in  his  church,  for  the  work  of 
the  gospel,  and  the  care  of  souls :  and  that,  as  the  apostles 
settled  the  churches,  they  appointed  different  orders  of  bishops, 
priests,  and  deacons :  and  we  believe  that  all  who  are  dedicated 
to  serve  in  these  ministries,  after  they  are  examined  and 
judged  worthy  of  them,  ought  to  be  separated  to  them  by  the 

2  b  2 


372 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  imposition  of  hands,  and  by  prayer.  These  were  the  only  rites 
XXV.  that  we  find  practised  by  the  apostles.  For  many  ages  the 
church  of  God  used  no  other ;  therefore  we  acknowledge  that 
bishops,  priests,  and  deacons,  ought  to  be  blessed  and  dedicated 
to  the  holy  ministry  by  imposition  of  hands  and  prayer ;  and 
that  then  they  are  received  according  to  the  order  and  practice 
settled  by  the  apostles  to  serve  in  their  respective  degrees. 
Men  thus  separated  have  thereby  authority  to  perfect  the 
saints  or  Christians,  that  is,  to  perform  the  sacred  functions 
among  them,  to  minister  to  them,  and  to  build  them  up 
in  their  most  holy  faith.  And  we  think  no  other  persons, 
without  such  a  separation  and  consecration,  can  lawfully 
touch  the  holy  things.  In  all  which  we  separate  the  qualifi- 
cations of  the  function  from  the  inward  qualities  of  the  per- 
son ;  the  one  not  at  all  depending  on  the  other ;  the  one 
relating  only  to  the  order  and  the  good  government  of  the 
society,  and  the  other  relating  indeed  to  the  salvation  of 
him  that  officiates,  but  not  at  all  to  the  validity  of  his  office 
or  service. 

But  in  all  this  we  see  nothing  like  a  sacrament :  here  is 
neither  matter,  form,  nor  institution  ;  here  is  only  prayer :  the 
laying  on  of  hands  is  only  a  gesture  in  prayer,  that  imports 
Haberti  the  designation  of  the  person  so  prayed  over.  In  the  Greek 
Grasciim  cnurch  there  is  indeed  a  different  form ;  for  though  there  are 
Morinusde  prayers  in  their  office  of  Ordination,  yet  the  words  that  do  ac- 
Ordinat.  company  the  imposition  of  hands  are  only  declaratory ;  The 
sacns.  grace  of  God,  that  perfects  the  feeble  and  heals  the  weak,  pro- 
motes this  man  to  be  a  deacon,  a  priest,  or  a  bishop ;  let 
us  therefore  pray  for  him :  by  which  they  pretend  only  to 
judge  of  a  divine  vocation:  all  the  ancient  rituals,  and  all  those 
that  treat  of  them  for  the  first  seven  centuries,  speak  of 
nothing  as  essential  to  orders  but  prayer  and  imposition  of 
hands.  It  is  true,  many  rites  came  to  be  added,  and  many 
prayers  were  used  that  went  far  beyond  the  first  simplicity. 
But  in  the  tenth  or  eleventh  century  a  new  form  was  brought 
in,  of  delivering  the  vessels  in  ordaining  priests ;  and  words 
were  joined  with  that,  giving  them  power  to  offer  sacrifices  to 
God,  and  to  celebrate  masses,  and  then  the  orders  were 
believed  to  be  given  by  this  rite.  The  delivering  of  the  ves- 
sels looked  like  a  matter,  and  these  words  were  thought 
the  form  of  the  sacrament ;  and  the  prayer  that  was  formerly 
used  with  the  imposition  of  hands,  was  indeed  still  used,  but 
only  as  a  part  of  the  office  ;  no  hands  were  laid  on  when  it 
was  used  :  and  though  the  form  of  laying  on  of  hands  was  still 
continued,  the  bishop  with  other  priests  laying  their  hands  on 
those  they  ordained,  yet  it  is  now  a  dumb  ceremony,  not 
a  word  of  a  prayer  being  said  while  they  lay  on  their  hands. 
So  that  though  both  prayer  and  imposition  of  hands  are  used 
in  the  office,  yet  they  are  not  joined  together.  In  the  con- 
clusion of  the  office,  a  new  benediction  was  added  ever  since 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


373 


the  twelfth  century.    The  hishop  alone  lays  on  his  hands,  ART. 
saying,  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost :  whose  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  xxv- 
remitted;  and  whose  sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained.    The  ~ 
number  seven  was  thought  to  suit  the  sacraments  best,  so 
Orders  were  made  one  of  them,  and  of  these  only  priesthood ; 
where  the  vessels  were  declared  to  be  the  matter,  and  the  form 
was  the  delivering  them  with  the  words,  Take  thou  authority 
to  offer  up  sacrifices  to  God,  and  to  celebrate  masses,  both  for 
the  living  and  the  dead;  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  the  Son,  and 
the  Holy  Ghost. 

The  schoolmen  have  taken  a  new  way  of  explaining  this 
whole  matter,  borrowed  from  the  eucharist,  that  is  made  up 
of  two  parts,  the  consecration  of  the  bread  and  of  the  wine ; 
both  so  necessary,  that  without  the  one  the  other  becomes 
void :  so  they  teach  that  a  priest  has  two  powers,  of  conse- 
crating and  of  absolving;  and  that  he  is  ordained  to  the  one 
by  the  delivery  of  the  vessels,  and  to  the  other  by  the  bishop's 
laying  on  of  hands,  with  the  words  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
and  they  make  the  bishop  and  the  priest's  laying  on  of  hands 
jointly,  to  be  only  their  declaring  as  by  a  suffrage,  that  such 
a  person  ought  to  be  ordained ;  so  totally  have  they  departed 
from  the  primitive  forms. 

If  this  is  a  sacrament,  and  if  the  sacrament  consists  in  this 
matter  and  form  by  them  assigned,  then  since  all  the  rituals 
of  the  Latin  church  for  the  first  ten  centuries  had  no  stch 
form  of  ordaining  priests,  this  cannot  be  the  matter  and  form 
of  a  sacrament :  otherwise  the  church  had  in  a  course  of  so 
many  ages  no  true  orders,  nor  any  sacrament  in  them.  Nor 
will  it  serve  in  answer  to  this  to  say,  that  Christ  instituted  no 
special  matter  nor  form  here,  but  has  left  the  specifying  those 
among  the  other  powers  that  he  has  given  to  his  church  : 
for  a  sacrament  being  an  institution  of  applying  a  matter  de- 
signed by  God,  by  a  particular  form  likewise  appointed ;  to 
say  that  Christ  appointed  here  neither  matter  nor  form,  is 
plainly  to  confess  that  this  is  no  sacrament.  In  the  first  nine 
or  ten  ages  there  was  no  matter  at  all  used,  nothing  but  an 
imposition  of  hands  with  prayer :  so  that  by  this  doctrine  the 
church  of  God  was  all  that  while  without  true  orders,  since 
there  was  nothing  used  that  can  be  called  the  matter  of  a 
sacrament. 

Therefore,  though  we  continue  this  institution  of  Christ, 
as  he  and  his  apostles  settled  it  in  the  church,  yet  we  deny  it 
to  be  a  sacrament  ;  we  also  deny  all  the  inferior  orders  to  be 
sacred  below  that  of  deacon.  The  other  orders  we  do  not 
deny  might  be  well,  and  on  good  reasons,  appointed  by  the 
church  as  steps  through  which  clerks  might  be  made  to  pas3, 
in  order  to  a  stricter  examination  and  trial  of  them ;  like 
degrees  in  universities :  but  the  making  them,  at  least  the 
subdiaconate,  sacred,  as  it  is  reckoned  by  pope  Eugenius,  is, 
we  think,  beyond  the  power  of  the  church ;  for  here  a  degree 


374 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  of  orders  is  made  a  sacrament,  and  yet  that  degree  is  not 
xxv-  named  in  the  scripture,  nor  in  the  first  ages.  It  is  true,  it 
"  came  to  be  soon  used  with  the  other  inferior  orders ;  but 

it  cannot  be  pretended  to  be  a  sacrament,  since  no  divine  in- 
stitution can  be  brought  for  it.  And  we  cannot  but  observe, 
that  in  the  definition  that  Eugenius  has  given  of  the  sacra- 
ments, which  is  an  authentical  piece  in  the  Roman  church, 
where  he  reckons  priests,  deacons,  and  subdeacons,  as  belong- 
ing to  the  sacrament  of  orders,  he  does  not  name  bishops, 
though  their  being  of  divine  institution  is  not  questioned  in 
that  church.  Perhaps  the  spirit  with  which  they  acted  at  that 
time  in  Basil  offended  him  so  much,  that  he  was  more  set  on 
depressing  than  on  raising  them.  In  the  council  of  Trent,  in 
which  so  much  zeal  appeared  for  recovering  the  dignity  of  the 
episcopal  order,  at  that  time  so  much  eclipsed  by  the  papal 
usurpations,  when  the  sacrament  of  orders  was  treated  of, 
they  reckon  seven  degrees  of  them,  the  highest  of  which  is 
that  of  priest.  So  that  though  they  decreed  that  a  bishop 
was  by  the  divine  institution  above  a  priest,  yet  they  did  not 
decree  that  the  office  was  an  order,  or  a  sacrament.  And  the 
schoolmen  do  generally  explain  episcopate,  as  being  a  higher 
degree  or  extension  of  priesthood,  rather  than  a  new  order,  or 
a  sacrament ;  the  main  thing  in  their  thoughts  being  that 
which,  if  true,  is  the  greatest  of  all  miracles,  the  wonderful 
conversion  made  in  transubstantiation,  they  seem  to  think 
that  no  order  can  be  above  that  which  qualifies  a  man  for  so 
great  a  performance. 

I  say  nothing  in  this  place  concerning  the  power  of  offering 
sacrifices,  pretended  to  be  given  in  orders ;  for  that  belongs 
to  another  Article. 

The  fourth  sacrament  here  rejected  is  Marriage ;  which  is 
reckoned  the  last  by  the  Roman  account.  In  the  point  of 
argument  there  is  less  to  say  here  than  in  any  of  the  other ; 
but  there  seems  to  be  a  very  express  warrant  for  calling  it  a 
Ephes.  v.  sacrament,  from  the  translation  of  a  passage  in  St.  Paul's 
32,  Epistle  to  the  Ephesians,  in  which  he  makes  an  allusion, 
while  he  treats  of  marriage,  to  the  mutual  relation  that  is  be- 
tween Christ  and  his  church,  from  that  state  of  life,  and  says, 
'  There  is  a  great  mystery  here ;'  the  Vulgar  has  translated  the 
word  mystery  by  sacrament.  So  though  the  words  imme- 
diately following  seem  to  turn  the  matter  another  way,  '  but  I 
speak  concerning  Christ  and  the  church yet  from  the  pro- 
miscuous use  of  those  two  words,  and  because  sacraments 
were  called  the  mysteries  of  the  Christian  religion,  the  trans- 
lator, it  seems,  thought  that  all  mysteries  might  be  called 
sacraments.  But  it  is  so  very  hard  here  to  find  matter,  form, 
a  minister,  and  a  sacramental  effect,  that  though  pope  Euge- 
nius, in  that  famous  decree  of  his,  is  very  punctual  in  assigning 
these,  when  he  explains  the  other  sacraments ;  yet  he  wisely 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


375 


passed  them  all  over  when  he  came  to  this,  and  only  makes  a  ART, 
true  consent  necessary  to  the  making  the  sacrament.  XXV. 

We  do  not  deny  marriage  to  be  an  ordinance  of  God ;  but 
we  think  that  as  it  was  at  first  made  in  the  state  of  innocence, 
so  it  is  still  founded  on  the  law  of  nature ;  and  though  the 
gospel  gives  rules  concerning  the  duties  belonging  to  this  state 
of  life,  as  it  does  concerning  the  duties  of  parents  and  children, 
which  is  another  relation  founded  on  the  same  law  of  nature, 
yet  we  cannot  call  it  a  sacrament;  for  we  find  neither  matter, 
form,  institution,  nor  federal  acts,  nor  effects  assigned  to  it  in 
the  gospel,  to  make  us  esteem  it  a  sacrament. 

The  matter  assigned  by  the  Roman  doctors  is  the  inward 
consent,  by  which  both  parties  do  mutually  give  themselves 
to  one  another  :  the  form  they  make  to  be  the  words  or  signs, 
by  which  this  is  expressed.  Now*  it  seems  a  strange  thing 
to  make  the  secret  thoughts  of  men  the  matter,  and  their 
words  the  form  of  a  sacrament ;  all  mutual  compacts  being  as 
much  sacraments  as  this,  there  being  no  visible  material  things 
applied  to  the  parties  who  receive  them ;  which  is  necessary 
to  the  being  of  a  sacrament.  It  is  also  a  very  absurd  opinion, 
which  may  have  very  fatal  consequences,  and  raise  very 
afflicting  scruples,  if  any  should  imagine  that  the  inward  con- 
sent is  the  matter  of  this  sacrament;  here  is  a  foundation  laid 
down  for  voiding  every  marriage.  The  parties  may  and  often 
do  marry  against  their  wills  ;  and  though  they  profess  an  out- 
ward consent,  they  do  inwardly  repine  against  what  they  are 
doing.  If  after  this  they  grow  to  like  their  marriage,  scruples 
must  arise,  since  they  know  they  have  not  the  sacrament; 
because  it  is  a  doctrine  in  that  church,  that  as  intention  is 
necessary  in  every  sacrament,  so  here  that  goes  further,  the 
intention  being  the  only  matter  of  this  sacrament ;  so  that 
without  it  there  is  no  marriage,  and  yet  since  they  cannot  be 
married  again  to  complete,  or  rather  to  make  the  marriage, 
such  persons  do  live  only  in  a  state  of  concubinage. 

On  the  other  hand,  here  is  a  foundation  laid  down  for 
breaking  marriages  as  often  as  the  parties,  or  either  of  them, 
will  solemnly  swear  that  they  gave  no  inward  consent,  which 
is  often  practised  at  Rome.  All  contracts  are  sacred  things ; 
but  of  them  all,  marriage  is  the  most  sacred,  since  so  much 
depends  upon  it.  Men's  words,  confirmed  by  oaths  and 
other  solemn  acts,  must  either  be  binding  according  to  the 
plain  and  acknowledged  sense  of  them,  or  all  the  security  and 
confidence  of  mankind  is  destroyed.    No  man  can  be  safe  if 

*  Upon  the  whole  doctrine  of  the  church  of  Rome,  concerning  the  sacraments, 
as  it  is  explained  by  the  schoolmen,  I  have  followed  the  account  given  by  Hono- 
ratus  Fabri,  in  his  Summa  Theologica,  who  is  dead  within  these  ten  years.  I  knew 
him  at  Rome,  anno  1685.  He  was  a  true  philosopher,  beyond  the  liberties  allowed 
by  his  order,  and  studied  to  reduce  their  school-divinity  to  as  clear  ideas  as  it  was 
capable  of.  So  that  in  following  him  I  have  given  the  best,  and  not  the  worst,  face 
of  their  doctrine.    His  book  was  printed  at  Lyons,  anno  1669. 


876 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  this  principle  is  once  admitted  ;  that  a  man  is  not  bound  by 
XXV.  his  promises  and  oaths,  unless  his  inward  consent  went  along 
:  with  them :  and  if  such  a  fraudulent  thing  may  be  applied  to 

marriages,  in  which  so  many  persons  are  concerned,  and  upon 
which  the  order  of  the  world  does  so  much  depend,  it  may  be 
very  justly  applied  to  all  other  contracts  whatsoever,  so  that 
they  may  be  voided  at  pleasure.  A  man's  words  and  oaths 
bind  him  by  the  eternal  laws  of  fidelity  and  truth ;  and  it  is 
a  just  prejudice  against  any  religion  whatsoever,  if  it  should 
teach  a  doctrine  in  which,  by  the  secret  reserves  of  not  giving 
an  inward  consent,  the  faith  which  is  solemnly  given  may  be 
broken.  Here  such  a  door  is  open  to  perfidy  and  treachery, 
that  the  world  can  be  no  longer  safe  while  it  is  allowed ; 
hereby  lewd  and  vicious  persons  may  entangle  others,  and  in 
the  mean  while  order  their  own  thoughts  so,  that  they  shall 
be  all  the  while  free. 

Next  to  matter  and  form,  we  must  see  for  the  institution 
of  this  sacrament.  The  church  of  Rome  think  that  is  strong 
here,  though  they  feel  it  to  be  hardly  defensible  in  the  other 
points  that  relate  to  it.  They  think  that  though  marriage,  as 
it  is  a  mutual  contract,  subsists  upon  the  law  of  nature,  yet  a 
divine  virtue  is  put  in  it  by  the  gospel,  expressed  in  these 
words,  '  This  is  a  great  mystery,  or  sacrament ;'  so  the 
explaining  these  words  determines  this  controversy.  The 
chief  point  in  dispute  at  that  time  was,  whether  the  Gentiles 
were  to  be  received  to  equal  privileges  with  the  Jews,  in  the 
dispensation  of  the  Messias.  The  Jews  do  not  to  this  day 
deny,  but  that  the  Gentiles  may  be  admitted  to  it ;  but  still 
they  think  that  they  are  to  be  considered  as  a  distinct  body, 
and  in  a  lower  order,  the  chief  dignitv  being  to  be  reserved  to 
the  seed  of  Abraham.  Now  St.  Paul  had  in  that  Epistle,  as 
well  as  in  his  other  Epistles,  asserted,  that  all  were  equal  in 
Christ ;  that  he  had  taken  away  the  '  middle  wall  of  partition  f 
that  he  had  abolished  the  ground  of  the  enmity,  which  was 
Eph.ii.15,  the  Mosaicallaw,  called  'the  law  of  commandments  contained 
16.  20, 21.  jn  ordinances  ;  that  he  might  make  both  Jew  and  Gentile  one 
new  man  ;'  one  entire  body  of  a  church ;  '  he  being  the  chief 
corner-stone,  in  whom  the  whole  building  was  fitly  framed 
together  :  and  so  became  a  holy  habitation  to  God.'  Thus  he 
made  use  of  the  figure  of  a  body,  and  of  a  temple,  to  illustrate 
this  matter ;  and  to  shew  how  all  Christians  were  to  make  up 
but  one  body,  and  one  church.  So  when  he  came  to  speak  of 
the  rules  belonging  to  the  several  states  of  human  life,  he 
takes  occasion  to  explain  the  duties  of  the  married  state,  by 
comparing  that  to  the  relation  that  the  church  has  to  Christ : 
and  when  he  had  said  that  the  married  couple  make  but  one 
body  and  one  flesh  ;  which  declares  that,  according  to  the  first 
institution,  every  man  was  to  have  but  one  wife ;  he  adds 
upon  that,  '  this  is  a  great  mystery :'  that  is,  from  hence 
another  mystical  argument  might  be  brought,  to  shew  that 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


377 


Jew  and  Gentile  must  make  one  body ;  for  since  the  church  ART. 
was  the  spouse  of  Christ,  he  must,  according  to  that  figure,  xxv 
have  but  one  wife ;  and  by  consequence  the  church  must  be 
one :  otherwise  the  figure  will  not  be  answered ;  unless  we 
suppose  Christ  to  be  in  a  state  answering  a  polygamy,  rather 
than  a  single  marriage.  Thus  a  clear  account  of  these  words 
is  given,  which  does  fully  agree  to  them,  and  to  what  follows, 
'  but  I  speak  concerning  Christ  and  the  church.' 

This,  which  is  all  the  foundation  of  making  marriage  a 
sacrament,  being  thus  cleared,  there  remains  nothing  to  be 
said  on  this  head,  but  to  examine  one  consequence,  that  has 
been  drawn  from  the  making  it  a  sacrament,  which  is,  that 
the  bond  is  indissoluble ;  and  that  even  adultery  does  not  void 
it.  The  law  of  nature  or  of  nations  seems  very  clear,  that 
adultery,  at  least  on  the  wife's  part,  should  dissolve  it :  for 
the  end  of  marriage  being  the  ascertaining  of  the  issue,  and 
the  contract  itself  being  a  mutual  transferring  the  right  to  one 
another's  person,  in  order  to  that  end ;  the  breaking  this 
contract  and  destroying  the  end  of  marriage  does  very  natu- 
rally infer  the  dissolution  of  the  bond :  and  in  this  both  the 
Attic  and  Roman  laws  were  so  severe,  that  a  man  was  infamous 
who  did  not  divorce  upon  adultery.  Our  Saviour,  when  he 
blamed  the  Jews  for  their  frequent  divorces,  established  this 
rule,  '  that  whosoever  puts  away  his  wife,  except  it  be  for  Matt.  v. 
fornication,  and  shall  marry  another,  committeth  adultery.'  32.  ^ 
Which  seems  to  be  a  plain  and  full  determination,  that  in  the  g  • 
case  of  fornication,  he  may  put  her  away  and  marry  another. 
It  is  true,  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke  repeat  these  words,  without  Markx.n 
mentioning  this  exception ;  so  some  have  thought  that  we  Luke  xvu 
ought  to  bring  St.  Matthew  to  them,  and  not  them  to  St.  * 
Matthew.  But  it  is  an  universal  rule  of  expounding  scrip- 
tures, that  when  a  place  is  fully  set  down  by  one  inspired 
writer,  and  less  fully  by  another,  that  the  place  which  is  less 
full  is  always  to  be  expounded  by  that  which  is  more  full. 
So  though  St.  Mark  and  St.  Luke  report  our  Saviour's  words 
generally,  without  the  exception,  which  is  twice  mentioned 
by  St.  Matthew,  the  other  two  are  to  be  understood  to  sup- 
pose it;  for  a  general  proposition  is  true  when  it  holds 
generally  ;  and  exceptions  may  be  understood  to  belong  to  it, 
though  they  are  not  named.  The  Evangelist  that  does  name 
them  must  be  considered  to  have  reported  the  matter  more 
particularly,  than  the  others  that  do  it  not.  Since  then  our 
Saviour  has  made  the  exception,  and  since  that  exception  is 
founded  upon  a  natural  equity,  that  the  innocent  party  has 
against  the  guilty,  there  can  be  no  reason  why  an  exception 
so  justly  grounded,  and  so  clearly  made,  should  not  take 
place. 

Both  Tertullian,  Basil,  Chrysostom,  and  Epiphanius,  allow  Tertull.lib, 
of  a  divorce  in  case  of  adultery ;  and  in  those  days  they  had  >v-  com. 
110  other  notion  of  a  divorce,  but  that  it  was  the  dissolution  of  M"c,on- 


378 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  the  bond;  the  late  notion  of  a  separation,  the  tie  continuing, 
'  not  being  known  till  the  canonists  brought  it  in.  Such  a 
Basil.  Ep.  divorce  was  allowed  by  the  council  of  Elliberis.  The  council 
adAmphil.  of  Aries  did  indeed  recommend  it  to  the  husband,  whose  wife 
Chrysos  was  S11^)7  °^  adultery,  not  to  marry;  which  did  plainly 
Hom.  17,  acknowledge  that  he  might  do  it.  It  was,  and  still  is,  the 
in  Matt,  constant  practice  of  the  Greek  church ;  and  as  both  pope 
Hires'  59  Gregory  and  pope  Zachary  allowed  the  innocent  person  to 
Cath.  marry,  so  in  a  synod  held  at  Rome  in  the  tenth  century,  it 
Cone  was  still  allowed.  When  the  Greeks  were  reconciled  to  the 
Ellib.c.65.  Latins  in  the  council  of  Florence,  this  matter  was  passed  over, 

Cone. Are!.       .,  .  .  '  1111  i 

c. 10.  Cone.  and  the  care  ot  it  was  only  recommended  by  the  pope  to  the 
Afric.  c.  emperor.  It  is  true,  Eugenius  put  it  in  his  instruction  to  the 
69.  Causa  Armenians  ;  but  though  that  passes  generally  for  a  part  of  the 
In  deer.'  council  of  Florence,  yet  the  council  was  over  and  up  before 
Eu;.  in     that  was  given  out. 

Conc.Flor.     This  doctrine  of  the  indissolubleness  of  marriage,  even  for 

J-.rasm.  in      ,  .  .    ,  .  ..  .    -         . °  3    .  ™ 

l  Ep.  ad  adultery,  was  never  settled  in  any  council  before  that  of  1  rent. 
Cor.  vii.  The  canonists  and  schoolmen  had  indeed  generally  gone  into 
Mau^xix"  tna^  °Pm^on  5  but  not  only  Erasmus,  but  both  Cajetan  and 
c.  9.  '  Catherinus  declared  themselves  for  the  lawfulness  of  it :  Ca- 
Cathar.  in  jetan  indeed  used  a  salvo,  in  case  the  church  had  otherwise 
Co^viM  defined,  which  did  not  then  appear  to  him.  So  that  this 
5.  Aonot.  is  a  doctrine  very  lately  settled  in  the  church  of  Rome. 

Our  reformers  here  had  prepared  a  title  in  the  new  body  of 
the  canon  law,  which  they  had  digested,  allowing  marriage 
to  the  innocent  party ;  and  upon  a  great  occasion,  then 
in  debate,  they  declared  it  to  be  lawful  by  the  law  of  God : 
and  if  the  opinion,  that  marriage  is  a  sacrament,  falls,  the 
conceit  of  the  absolute  indissolubleness  of  marriage  will  fall 
with  it. 

The  last  sacrament  which  is  rejected  by  this  Article,  that  is, 
the  fifth,  as  they  are  reckoned  up  in  the  church  of  Rome,  is 
Extreme  Unction.*  In  the  commission  that  Christ  gave  his 

•  The  council  of  Trent  having  made  this  sacrament,  thus  describes  its  virtue: 
'  De  effectn  hujus  sacramenti. 

'  Resporro,  et  effectus  hujus  sacramenti  illis  verbis  explicatur:  et  oratio  fidei  sal- 
vabit  infirmum  ;  et  alleviabit  eum  Dominus ;  et,  si  in  peccatis  sit,  dimittentur  ei :  Res 
etenim  haec  gratia  est  Spiritus  Sancti :  cujus  unctio  delicta,  si  quae  sint  adhuc  ex- 
pianda,  ac  peccati  reliquias  abstergit ;  et  aegroti  animam  alleviat,  et  confirmat,  mag- 
nam  in  eo  divinae  misericordiae  fiduciam  excitando  ;  qua  infirmus  sublevatus ;  et 
morbi  incommoda  ac  labores  levius  fert ;  et  tentatior.ibus  daemonis  calcaneo  insi- 
diantis  facilius  resistit ;  et  sanitatem  corporis  interdum.  ubi  saluti  animae  expedie- 
nt, consequitur.'    Sessio  xiv.  cap.  2. 

In  the  following  chapter,  '  De  ministro  hujus  sacramenti,  et  tempore  quo  dari  de- 
beat,'  the  council  states  the  reason  of  the  name  extreme  unction  :  '  Declaratur 
etiam,  esse  hanc  unctionem  infirmis  adhibendam,  illis  vero  praesertim  qui  tam  peri- 
culose  decumbunt,  ut  in  exitu  vitae  constituti  videantur :  unde  et  sacramentura 
exeuntium  nuncupatur.' 

In  another  place  of  the  same  session  the  council  thus  enforces  her  new  article : 

Canon  1. — '  Si  quis  dixerit,  extremum  unctionem  non  esse  vere  et  proprie  sacra - 
mentum  a  Christo  Domino  nostro  institutum,  et  a  beato  Jacobo  apostolo  promul- 
gatum  ;  sed  ritum  tantum  acceptum  a  patribus,  aut  figmentum  humanum ;  anathema 
ait. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


379 


apostles,  among  the  other  powers  that  were  given  them  ART. 
to  confirm  it,  one  was  to  cure  diseases  and  heal  the  sick ;  pur-  XXV. 
suant  to  which  St.  Mark  tells,  that  4  they  anointed  with  oil  ^~"k~X" 
many  that  were  sick,  and  healed  them.'  The  prophets  used  13. 
some  symbolical  actions  when  they  wrought  miracles;  so  Moses 
used  his  rod  often  ;  Elisha  used  Elijah's  mantle  ;  our  Saviour 
put  his  finger  into  the  deaf  man's  ear,  and  made  clay  for  the 
blind  man ;  and  oil  being  upon  almost  all  occasions  used  in 
the  eastern  parts,  the  apostles  made  use  of  it ;  but  no  hint  is 
given  that  this  was  a  sacramental  action.  It  was  plainly 
a  miraculous  virtue  that  healed  the  sick,  in  which  oil  was 
made  use  of  as  a  symbol  accompanying  it.  It  was  not  pre- 
scribed by  our  Saviour,  for  any  thing  that  appears,  as  it  was 
not  blamed  by  him  neither.  It  was  no  wonder,  if,  upon  such 
a  precedent,  those  who  had  that  extraordinary  gift,  did  apply 
it  with  the  use  of  oil ;  not  as  if  oil  was  the  sacramental 
conveyance  ;  it  was  only  used  with  it.  The  end  of  it  was  mi- 
raculous •  it  was  in  order  to  the  recovery  of  the  sick,  and  had 
no  relation  to  their  souls,  though  with  the  cure  wrought  on 
the  body  there  might  sometimes  be  joined  an  operation  upon 
the  soul;  and  this  appears  clearly  from  St.  James's  words,  'Is  James  v. 
any  sick  among  you?  let  him  call  for  the  elders  of  the  church; 14'  15* 
and  let  them  pray  over  him,  anointing  him  with  oil  in  the 
name  of  the  Lord  :  and  the  prayer  of  faith  shall  save  the  sick, 
and  the  Lord  shall  raise  him  up.'  All  hitherto  is  one  period, 
which  is  here  closed.  The  following  words  contain  new 
matter  quite  of  a  different  kind ;  '  and  if  he  have  committed 
sins,  they  shall  be  forgiven  him.'  It  appears  clearly  that  this 
was  intended  for  the  recovery  of  the  sick  person,  which  is  the 
thing  that  is  positively  promised ;  the  other  concerning  the 
pardon  of  sins,  comes  in  on  the  bye,  and  seems  to  be  added 
only  as  an  accessary  to  the  other,  which  is  the  principal  thing 
designed  by  this  whole  matter.  Therefore,  since  anointing 
was  in  order  to  healing,  either  we  must  say  that  the  gift  of 
healing  is  still  deposited  with  the  elders  of  the  church,  which 
nobody  affirms ;  or  this  oil  was  only  to  be  used  by  those  who 
had  that  special  gift ;  and  therefore  if  there  are  none  now  who 
pretend  to  have  it,  and  if  the  church  pretends  not  to  have  it 
lodged  with  her,  then  the  anointing  with  oil  cannot  be  used 
any  more  ;  and  therefore  those  who  use  it  not  in  order  to  the 
recovery  of  the  person,  delaying  it  till  there  is  little  or  no  hope 
left,  use  not  that  unction  mentioned  by  St.  James,  but  an- 
other of  their  own  devising,  which  they  call  the  sacrament  of 
the  dying.  It  is  a  vain  thing  to  say,  that  because  saving  and 
raising  up  are  sometimes  used  in  a  spiritual  sense,  that  there- 
fore the  saving  the  sick  here,  and  that  of  the  Lord's  raising  him 
up,  are  to  be  so  meant.    For  the  forgiveness  of  sin,  which  is 

sit.' — Canon  2.  '  Si  quis  dixerit,  sacram  infirmorum  unctionem  non  confcrre  gratiam, 
nec  reraittere  peccata,  nee  alleviare  infirmos ;  sed  jam  cessasse,  quasi  olim  tantum 
fuerit  gratia  curationurr,:  anathema  sit.' — [Ed.] 


330 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  UT.  the  spiritual  blessing,  comes  afterwards,  upon  supposition  that 
xxy-  the  sick  person  had  committed  sins.  The  saving  and  raising 
tip  must  stand  in  opposition  to  the  sickness  :  so  since  all  ac- 
knowledge that  the  one  is  literal,  the  other  must  be  so  too. 
The  supposition  of  sin  is  added,  because  some  persons,  upon 
whom  this  miracle  might  have  been  wrought,  might  be  emi- 
nently pious ;  and  if  at  any  time  it  was  to  be  applied  to  ill 
men  who  had  committed  some  notorious  sins,  perhaps  such 
sins  as  had  brought  their  sickness  upon  them,  these  were  also 
to  be  forgiven. 

In  the  use  of  miraculous  powers,  those  to  whom  that  gift 
was  given,  were  not  empowered  to  use  it  at  pleasure ;  they 
were  to  feel  an  inward  impulse  exciting  them  to  it,  and  they 
were  obliged  upon  that  firmly  to  believe,  that  God,  who  had 
given  them  the  impulse,  would  not  be  wanting  to  them  in  the 
execution  of  it.    This  confidence  in  God  was  the  faith  of  mi- 

Matt.  xxi.  racles,  of  which  Christ  said,  '  If  ye  have  faith  as  a  grain  of 
mustard-seed,  ye  shall  say  to  this  mountain,  Remove  hence 
to  yonder  place,  and  nothing  shall  be  impossible  unto  you.' 

1  Cor.  xiii.  Of  this  also  St.  Paul  meant,  when  he  said,  '  If  I  have  all  faith.' 

So  from  this  we  may  gather  the  meaning  of  the  prayer  of 
faith,  and  the  anointing  with  oil;  that  if  the  elders  of  the 
church,  or  such  others  with  whom  this  power  was  lodged,  felt 
an  inward  impulse  moving  them  to  call  upon  God,  in  order  to 
a  miraculous  cure  of  a  sick  person,  then  they  were  to  c  anoint 
him  with  oil  in  the  name  of  the  Lord :'  that  is,  by  the  authority 
that  they  had  from  Christ  to  heal  all  manner  of  diseases  :  and 
they  were  to  pray,  believing  firmly  that  God  would  make  good 
that  inward  motion  which  he  had  given  them  to  work  this 
miracle ;  and  in  that  case  the  effect  was  certain,  the  sick  per- 
son would  certainly  recover,  for  that  is  absolutely  promised. 
Every  one  that  was  sick  was  not  to  be  anointed,  unless  an  au- 
thority and  motion  from  Christ  had  been  secretly  given  for 
doing  it ;  but  every  one  that  was  anointed  was  certainly 

John  xiv.  healed.    Christ  had  promised  that  '  whatsoever  they  should 

13-  ask  in  his  name,  he  would  do  it.'  His  name  must  be  re- 
strained to  his  authority,  or  pursuant  to  such  secret  motions 
as  they  shall  receive  from  him.  This  is  the  prayer  of  faith 
here  mentioned  by  St.  James :  it  being  an  earnest  application 
to  God  to  join  his  omnipotent  power  to  perform  a  wonderful 
work,  to  which  a  person  so  divinely  qualified  felt  himself  in- 
wardly moved  by  the  spirit  of  Christ.  The  supposition  of  the 
sick  person's  having  committed  sins,  which  is  added,  shews 
that  sometimes  this  virtue  was  applied  to  persons  of  that 
eminent  piety,  that  though  all  men  are  guilty  in  the  sight  of 
God,  yet  they  could  not  be  said  to  have  committed  sins  in  the 
sense  in  which  St.  John  uses  the  phrase  ;  signifying  by  it, 
either  that  they  had  lived  in  the  habits  of  sin,  or  that  they  had 
committed  some  notorious  sin :  but  if  some  should  happen  to 
be  sick,  who  had  been  eminent  sinners,  and  those  sins  had 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


381 


drawn  down  the  judgments  of  God  upon  them,  which  seems  to  ART. 
be  the  natural  meaning  of  these  words,  'if  ye  have  committed  xxv- 
sins;'  then,  with  his  bodily  health,  he  was  to  receive  a  much 
greater  blessing,  even  the  pardon  of  his  sins.  And  thus  the 
anointing  mentioned  by  St.  James  was  in  order  to  a  mira- 
culous cure,  and  the  cure  did  constantly  follow  it :  so  that  it 
can  be  no  precedent  for  an  extreme  unction,  that  is  never 
given  till  the  recovery  of  the  person  is  despaired  of,  and 
by  which  it  is  not  pretended  that  any  cure  is  wrought.* 

The  matter  of  it  is  oil-olive  blessed  by  the  bishop;  the  form 
is  the  applying  it  to  the  five  senses,  with  these  words,  Per  Rituale 
hanc  sacram  unctionem,  et  suam  piissimam  misericordiam  in-  K°™'g°.g* 
dulgeat  tibi  Deus  quicquid  peccasti,  per  visum,  auditum,  olfac-  ]  4.  ' 
turn,  gustum,  et  factum.    The  proper  word  to  every  sense 
being  repeated  as  the  organ  of  that  sense  is  anointed.    It  is 
administered  by  a  priest,  and  gives  the  final  pardon,  with  all 
necessary  assistances,  in  the  last  agony.    Here  is  then  an 
institution,  that,  if  warranted,  is  matter  of  great  comfort ;  and 
if  not  warranted,  is  matter  of  as  great  presumption.    In  the  fg"'^^3' 
first  ages  we  find  mention  is  made  frequently  of  persons  that  1.  vii.c.  42 
were  cured  by  an  anointing  with  oil :  oil  was  then  much  used  44. 
in  all  their  rituals,  the  catechumens  being  anointed  with  oil  d?e 
before  they  were  baptized,  besides  the  chrism  that  was  given  Cypi-.Ep. 
after  it.    Oil  grew  also  to  be  used  in  ordinations,  and  the  70.  Clem, 
dead  were  anointed  in  order  to  their  burial :  so  that  the  A1*x- 
ordinary  use  of  oil  on  other  occasions  brought  it  to  be  very  f^Lcfs. 
frequently  used  in  their  sacred  rites;  yet  how  customary  Dionys. 
soever  the  practice  of  anointing  grew  to  be,  we  find  no  men-  g^°p-  de 
tion  of  any  unction  of  the  sick  before  the  beginning  of  the  Hier.V  8. 
fifth  century.    This  plainly  shews  that  they  understood  St. 
James's  words  as  relating  to  a  miraculous  power,  and  not  to  a 
function  that  was  to  continue  in  the  church,  and  to  be 
esteemed  a  sacrament. 

That  earliest  mention  of  it  by  pope  Innocent  the  First,  how  Innocent, 
much  soever  it  is  insisted  on,  is  really  an  argument  that  j)gCe1n'tad 
proves  against  it,  and  not  for  it.    For  not  to  enlarge  on  the 
many  idle  things  that  are  in  that  Epistle,  which  have  made 

*  '  This  passage  in  St.  James  speaks  of  the  sick  person,  anointed  and  prayed  over, 
being  raised  up.  How  then  do  you  prove  a  sacrament  of  extreme  unction  from 
unction  not  extreme,  not  to  be  used,  as  Trent  says,  on  those  past  being  raised  up,  but 
on  those  that  were  to  be  raised  up,  "and  the  Loud  shall  raise  him  up?"  Again, 
how  can  you  promise  remission  of  the  sick  man's  sin,  when  you  cannot  promise  the 
sign  of  it,  viz.  the  recovery  of  the  sick  person  ?  Two  questions  more.  If  extreme 
unction  confers  grace,  wipes  away  and  remits  sin,  and  resists  the  assaults  of  the 
devil,  as  Trent  says,  why  do  you  not  give  it  to  criminals  about  to  die?  Is  it  because 
they  have  no  need  of  what  this  sacrament  professes  to  give?  Surely  they  have  more 
need  than  other  persons.  Again,  if  extreme  unction  remits  sin  and  wipes  away  the 
remainder  of  sin,  why  is  it  necessary,  that  those  who  receive  this  sacrament,  should 
have  masses  said  afterwards  for  the  release  of  their  souls  from  purgatory,  where  they 
are  supposed  to  be  detained,  until  all  their  sins  be  wiped  away?  If  unction  bo 
effectual  to  do  all  that  Trent  says,  why  send  those  to  purgatory  who  receive  this 
unction?  If  it  be  not  effectual  to  the  wiping  away  the  remainder  of  sin  (as  Trent 
eays  it  is)  in  the  dying  person,  of  what  use  is  it?'  Page's  he  ters  to  a  Romish  Priett. 
-[Ed.] 


382 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  some  think  that  it  could  not  be  genuine,  and  that  do  rery 
XXV.   muc}1  sink  the  credit  both  of  the  testimony  and  of  the  man; 
for  it  seems  to  be  well  proved  to  be  his  :  the  passage  relating 
to  this  matter  is  in  answer  to  a  demand  that  was  made  to 
him  by  the  bishop  of  Eugubium,  whether  the  sick  might  be 
anointed  with  the  oil  of  the  chrism  ?  and  whether  the  bishop 
might  anoint  with  it  ?    To  these  he  answers,  that  no  doubt  is 
to  be  made  but  that  St.  James's  words  are  to  be  understood 
of  the  faithful  that  were  sick,  who  may  be  anointed  by  the 
chrism ;  which  may  be  used  not  only  by  the  priests,  but  by- 
all  Christians,  not  only  in  their  own  necessities,  but  in  the 
necessities  of  any  of  their  friends :  and  he  adds,  that  it  was 
a  needless  doubt  that  was  made,  whether  a  bishop  might  do 
it;  for  presbyters  are  only  mentioned,  because  the  bishop 
could  not  go  to  all  the  sick;  but  certainly  he  who  made  the 
chrism  itself,  might  anoint  with  it.    A  bishop  asking  these 
questions  of  another,  and  the  answers  which  the  other  gives 
him,  do  plainly  shew  that  this  was  no  sacrament  practised 
from  the  beginnings  of  Christianity ;  for  no  bishop  could  be 
ignorant  of  those.    It  was  therefore  some  newly  begun  cus- 
tom, in  which  the  world  was  not  yet  sufficiently  instructed. 
And  so  it  was  indeed,  for  the  subject  of  these  questions  was 
not  pure  oil,  such  as  now  they  make  to  be  the  matter  of  ex- 
treme unction ;  but  the  oil  of  chrism,  which  was  made  and 
kept  for  other  occasions ;  and  it  seems  very  clear,  that  the 
miraculous  power  of  healing  having  ceased,  and  none  being 
any  more  anointed  in  order  to  that ;  some  began  to  get  a 
portion  of  the  oil  of  chrism,  which  the  laity,  as  well  as  the 
priests,  applied  both  to  themselves  and  to  their  friends,  hoping 
that  they  might  be  cured  by  it.    Nothing  else  can  be  meant 
by  all  this,  but  a  superstitious  using  the  chrism,  which  might 
have  arisen  out  of  the  memory  that  remained  of  those  who 
had  been  cured  by  oil,  as  the  use  of  bread  in  the  eucharist 
brought  in  the  holy  bread,  that  was  sent  from  one  church  to 
another ;  and  as  from  the  use  of  water  in  baptism  sprung  the 
use  of  holy  water.  This  then  being  the  clear  meaning  of  those 
words,  it  is  plain  that  they  prove  quite  the  contrary  of  that 
for  which  they  are  brought ;  and  though  in  that  Epistle  the 
pope  calls  chrism  a  kind  of  sacrament,  that  turns  likewise 
against  them ;  to  shew  that  he  did  not  think  it  was  a  sacra- 
ment, strictly  speaking.    Besides,  that  the  ancients  used  that 
word  very  largely,  both  for  every  mysterious  doctrine,  and  for 
every  holy  rite  that  they  used.    In  this  very  Epistle,  when 
he  gives  directions  for  the  carrying  about  that  bread,  which 
-they  blessed,  and  sent  about  as  an  emblem  of  their  com- 
munion with  other  churches ;  he  orders  them  to  be  sent 
about  only  to  the  churches  within  the  city,  because  he  con- 
ceived the  sacraments  were  not  to  be  carried  a  great  way  off ; 
so  these  loaves  aie  called  by  him  not  only  a  kind  of  sacra' 
ment,  but  are  simply  reckoned  to  be  sacraments. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


383 


We  hear  no  more  of  anointing  the  sick  with  the  chrism,  A  R  T. 
among  all  the  ancients ;  which  shews,  that  as  that  practice  XX  v. 
was  newly  begun,  so  it  did  not  spread  far,  nor  continue  long. 
No  mention  is  made  of  this  neither  in  the  first  three  ages, 
nor  in  the  fourth  age;  though  the  writers,  and  particularly 
the  councils  of  the  fourth  age,  are  very  copious  in  rules  con- 
cerning the  sacraments.  Nor  in  all  their  penitentiary  canons, 
when  they  define  what  sins  are  to  be  forgiven,  and  what  not, 
when  men  were  in  their  last  extremities,  is  there  so  much  as 
a  hint  given  concerning  the  last  unction.  The  Constitutions, 
and  the  pretended  Dionysius,  say  not  a  word  of  it,  though 
they  are  very  full  upon  all  the  rituals  of  that  time  in  which 
those  works  were  forged,  in  the  fourth  or  fifth  century.  In 
none  of  the  lives  of  the  saints  before  the  ninth  century,  is 
there  any  mention  made  of  their  having  extreme  unction, 
though  their  deaths  are  sometimes  very  particularly  related, 
and  their  receiving  the  eucharist  is  oft  mentioned.  Nor  was 
there  any  question  made  in  all  that  time  concerning  the  per- 
sons, the  time,  and  the  other  circumstances  relating  to  this 
unction ;  which  could  not  have  been  omitted,  especially  when 
almost  all  that  was  thought  on,  or  writ  of,  in  the  eighth  and 
ninth  century,  relates  to  the  sacraments,  and  the  other  rituals 
of  the  church. 

It  is  true,  from  the  seventh  century  on  to  the  twelfth,  they  Lil)  Sa_ 
began  to  use  an  anointing  of  the  sick,  according  to  that  men-  cram.  Gre- 
tioned  by  pope  Innocent,  and  a  peculiar  office  was  made  for  |°r^enar" 
it ;  but  the  prayers  that  were  used  in  it,  shew  plainly  that  it 
was  all  intended  only  in  order  to  their  recovery. 

Of  this  anointing  many  passages  are  found  in  Bede,  and  Bede  Hist 
in  the  other  writers  and  councils  of  the  eighth  and  ninth  cen-  Angl.  l.hi 
tury.    But  all  these  do  clearly  express  the  use  of  it,  not  as  a  e^"^ 
sacrament  for  the  good  of  the  soul,  but  as  a  rite  that  carried  siveRitual. 
with  it  health  to  the  body;  and  so  it  is  still  used  in  the  Greek  ^^c'  P- 
church.    No  doubt  they  supported  the  credit  of  this  with 
many  reports,  of  which  some  might  be  true,  of  persons  that 
had  been  recovered  upon  using  it.    But  because  that  failed 
so  often,  that  the  credit  of  this  rite  might  suffer  much  in  the 
esteem  of  the  world,  they  began  in  the  tenth  century  to  say, 
that  it  did  good  to  the  soul,  even  when  the  body  was  not 
healed  by  it ;  and  they  applied  it  to  the  several  parts  of  the 
body.    This  begun  from  the  custom  of  applying  it  at  first  to 
the  diseased  parts.    This  was  carried  on  in  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury.   And  then  in  the  twelfth,  those  prayers  that  had  been 
formerly  made  for  the  souls  of  the  sick,  though  only  as  a  part 
of  the  office,  the  pardon  of  sin  being  considered  as  prepara-  Dec  gug< 
tory  to  their  recovery,  came  to  be  considered  as  the  main  and  in  Con. 
most  essential  part  of  it :  then  the  schoolmen  brought  it  into  T 
shape,  and  so  it  was  decreed  to  be  a  sacrament  by  pope  Eu-  Sess'  14  ' 
genius,  and  finally  established  at  Trent. 

The  argument  that  they  draw  from  a  parity  in  reason,  that 


384 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  because  there  is  a  sacrament  for  such  as  come  into  the  world, 
xxv-  there  should  be  also  one  for  those  that  go  out  of  it,  is  very 
trifling ;  for  Christ  has  either  instituted  this  to  be  a  sacra- 
ment, or  it  is  not  one:  if  he  has  not  instituted  it,  this  pre- 
tended fitness  is  only  an  argument  that  he  ought  to  have  done 
somewhat  that  he  has  not  done.  The  eucharist  was  con- 
sidered by  the  ancients  as  the  only  viaticum  of  Christians,  in 
their  last  passage :  with  them  we  give  that,  and  no  more. 

Thus  it  appears  upon  what  reason  we  reject  those  five 
sacraments,  though  we  allow  both  of  confirmation  and  orders 
as  holy  functions,  derived  to  us  down  from  the  apostles;  and 
because  there  is  a  visible  action  in  these,  though  in  strict- 
ness they  cannot  be  called  a  sacrament,  yet  so  the  thing  be 
rightly  understood,  we  will  not  dispute  about  the  extent  of 
a  word  that  is  not  used  in  scripture.  Marriage  is  in  no 
respect  to  be  called  a  sacrament  of  the  Christian  religion ; 
though  it  being  a  state  of  such  importance  to  mankind,  we 
hold  it  very  proper,  both  for  the  solemnity  of  it,  and  for  im- 
ploring the  blessing  of  God  upon  it,  that  it  be  done  with 
prayers  and  other  acts  of  religious  worship ;  but  a  great  dif- 
ference is  to  be  made  between  a  pious  custom  begun  and 
continued  by  public  authority,  and  a  sacrament  appointed  by 
Christ.  We  acknowledge  true  repentance  to  be  one  of  the 
great  conditions  of  the  new  covenant ;  but  we  see  nothing  of 
the  nature  of  a  sacrament  in  it:  and,  for  extreme  unction,  we  do 
not  pretend  to  have  the  gift  of  healing  among  us:  and  therefore 
we  will  not  deceive  the  world,  by  an  office  that  shall  offer  at 
that,  which  we  acknowledge  we  cannot  do:  nor  will  we  make 
a  sacrament  for  the  good  of  the  soul,  out  of  that  which  is 
mentioned  in  scripture,  only  as  a  rite  that  accompanied  the 
curing  the  diseases  of  the  body. 

The  last  part  of  this  Article,  concerning  the  use  of  the 
sacraments,  consists  of  two  parts :  the  first  is  negative,  that 
they  are  not  ordained  to  be  gazed  on,  or  to  be  carried  about, 
but  to  be  used :  and  this  is  so  express  in  the  scripture,  that 
little  question  can  be  made  about  it.  The  institution  of  bap- 
tism is,  '  Go  preach  and  baptize and  the  institution  of  the 
eucharist  is,  '  Take,  eat,  and  drink  ye  all  of  it :'  which  words 
being  set  down  before  those  in  which  the  consecrating  them 
is  believed  to  be  made,  '  This  is  my  body and  '  This  is  my 
blood and  the  consecratory  words  being  delivered  as  the 
reason  of  the  command,  '  Take,  eat,  and  drink nothing  can 
be  more  clearly  expressed  than  this,  that  the  eucharist  is 
consecrated  only  that  it  may  be  used,  that  it  may  be  eat  and 
drunk. 

The  second  part  of  this  period  is,  that  the  effect  of  the 
sacraments  comes  only  upon  the  worthy  receiving  of  them ; 
of  this  so  much  was  already  said,  upon  the  first  paragraph  of 
this  Article,  that  it  is  not  necessary  to  add  any  more  here. 
The  pretending  that  sacraments  have  their  effect  any  other 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  385 


way,  is  the  bringing  in  the  doctrine  and  practice  of  charms  ART. 
into  the  Christian  religion :  and  it  tends  to  dissolve  all  obli-  XXV. 
gations  to  piety  and  devotion,  to  a  holiness  of  life,  or  a  purity 
of  temper,  when  the  being  in  a  passive  and  perhaps  insensible 
state,  while  the  sacraments  are  applied,  is  thought  a  disposi- 
tion sufficient  to  give  them  their  virtue.  Sacraments  are 
federal  acts,  and  those  visible  actions  are  intended  to  quicken 
us,  so  that  in  the  use  of  them  we  may  raise  our  inward  acts  to 
the  highest  degrees  possible ;  but  not  to  supply  their  defects 
and  imperfections.  Our  opinion  in  this  point  represents  them 
as  means  to  raise  our  minds,  and  to  kindle  our  devotion ; 
whereas  the  doctrine  of  the  church  of  Rome  represents  them 
as  so  many  charms,  which  may  heighten  indeed  the  authority 
of  him  that  administers  them,  but  do  extinguish  and  deaden 
all  true  piety,  when  such  helps  are  offered,  by  which  the  worst 
of  men,  living  and  dying  in  a  bad  state,  may  by  a  few  feint 
acts,  and  perhaps  by  none  at  all  of  their  own,  be  well  enough 
taken  care  of  and  secured.  But  as  we  have  not  so  learned 
Christ,  so  neither  dare  we  corrupt  his  doctrine  in  its  most 
vital  and  essential  parts. 


2c 


386 


AX  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART. 

XXVI. 


ARTICLE  XXVI. 

Of  the  Unworthiness  of  the  Ministers,  which  hinders  not  the 
Effect  of  the  Sacraments. 

although,  tn  the  Visible  Church,  the  l£bil  be  ffacr  mmglcii  totth  the 
C>ooo,  aniJ  sometimes  the  (£bil  babe  chief  Sutijontp  m  tijr  iHiniss 
trattoit  of  tl)r  ISorii  aniJ  Sacraments  ;  ret  for  as  mud)  as  thep 
io  not  thr  same  in  tljcir  ohm  jiamc,  but  in  (Christ's',  ano  io 
mintstcr  bo  fjts  Commission  ant)  SUitliorthi,  lot  BUD)  use  their 
iBimstn)  both  m  brartng  the  liiori)  of  ^oi,  anil  in  rrrrtbtng  the 
Sacraments',  f^ritfjer  is  ti)r  i£fftct  of  Cijvist's  ©romance  taken 
alnau  bp  tbrtr  iSicfefinuss  :  iiov  the  €>vatt  of  t£5oo's'  ^tfts1 
ijtmtnis'heo  from  such  as'  bp  fattfj  aniJ  rightlp  Ijo  rrretbe  tfje 
^arrammts  mtnis'trrrlJ  unto  them,  uihtch  br  liffectual  because  of 
Christ's  Institution  anil  }3ronusr,  although  tfjrp  br  mmtsterriJ  bp 
3£bil  fSta. 

Jhbcrtbeless  it  appcrtainrth  to  tijc  Sisciplmc  of  the  Church,  that 
I£nquirp  be  matjc  of  ifbil  fHints'tcrs'  ;  anil  that  thrp  br  arcuSeil 
bp  tl)0S£  that  babe  huouiUtige  of  thnr  ©fences',  anil  finallp  bring 
founo  gutltp,  bp  just  Juigmrnt  be  tjrposeii. 

The  occasion  that  was  given  to  this  Article,  was  the  heat  of 
some  in  the  beginnings  of  the  Reformation  :  who,  being  much 
offended  tl  the  public  scandal  which  was  given  by  the  enor- 
mous vices  that  were  without  any  disguise  practised  by  the 
Roman  clergv  of  all  ranks,  did  from  thence  revive  the  conceit 
of  the  Donatists,  who  thought  that  not  only  heresy  and  schism 
did  invalidate  sacred  functions,  but  that  personal  sins  did  also 
make  them  void. 

It  cannot  be  denied  but  that  there  are  many  passages  in 
St.  Cyprian  that  look  this  way ;  and  which  seem  to  make  the 
sacraments  depend  as  much  on  the  good  state  that  he  was  in 
who  administered  them,  as  the  answer  of  their  other  pravers 
did. 

In  the  progress  of  the  controversy  with  the  Donatists,  they 
carried  this  matter  very  far ;  and  considered  the  effect  of  the 
sacraments  as  the  answer  of  prayers :  so  since  the  pravers  of 
a  wicked  man  are  abomination  to  God.  they  thought  the  virtue 
of  these  actions  depended  wholly  on  him  that  officiated. 

Against  this  St.  Augustin  set  himself  very  zealouslv;  he 
answered  all  that  was  brought  from  St.  Cyprian  in  such  a 
manner,  that  by  it  he  has  set  us  a  pattern,  how  we  ought  to 
separate  the  just  respect  that  we  pay  the  fathers,  from  an 
implicit  receiving  of  all  their  notions.  If  this  conceit  were 
allowed  of,  it  must  go  to  the  secret  thoughts  and  inward  state 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


387 


in  which  he  is  who  officiates ;  for  if  the  sacraments  are  to  be  A  R  T. 
considered  only  as  prayers  offered  up  by  him,  then  a  man  can  XXV1, 
never  be  sure  that  he  receives  them ;  since  it  is  impossible  to 
see  into  the  hearts,  or  know  the  secrets,  of  men.  Sacraments 
therefore  are  to  be  considered  only  as  the  public  acts  of  the 
church  ;  and  though  the  effect  of  them,  as  to  him  that  receives 
them,  depends  upon  his  temper,  his  preparation  and  applica- 
tion ;  yet  it  cannot  be  imagined  that  the  virtue  of  those  federal 
acts  to  which  Christians  are  admitted  in  them,  the  validity  of 
them,  or  the  blessings  that  follow  them,  can  depend  on  the 
secret  state  or  temper  of  him  that  officiates.  Even  in  the 
case  of  public  scandals,  though  they  may  make  the  holy  things 
to  be  loathed  by  the  aversion  that  will  naturally  follow  upon 
them ;  yet  after  all,  though  that  aversion  may  go  too  far,  we 
must  still  distinguish  between  the  things  that  the  ministers  of 
the  church  do  as  they  are  public  officers,  and  what  they  do  as 
they  are  private  Christians.  Their  prayers,  and  every  thing 
else  that  they  do,  as  they  are  private  Christians,  have  their 
effect  only  according  to  the  state  and  temper  that  they  are  in 
when  they  offer  them  up  to  God  :  but  their  public  functions 
are  the  appointments  of  Christ,  in  which  they  officiate ;  they 
can  neither  make  them  the  better  nor  the  worse  by  any  thing 
that  they  join  to  them.  And  if  miraculous  virtues  may  be  in 
bad  men,  so  that  in  the  great  day  some  of  those  to  whom 
Christ  shall  say,  '  I  never  knew  you ;  depart  from  me  ye  that  Matt.  vii. 
work  iniquity,'  may  yet  say  to  him,  '  Lord,  Lord,  have  we  22,  23' 
not  prophesied  in  thy  name  ?  and  in  thy  name  have  cast  out 
devils  ?  and  in  thy  name  done  many  wonderful  works  ?'  then 
certainly  this  may  be  concluded  much  more  concerning  those 
standing  functions  and  appointments  that  are  to  continue  in 
the  church.  Nor  can  any  difference  be  made  in  this  matter 
between  public  scandals  and  secret  sins ;  for  if  the  former 
make  void  the  sacraments,  the  latter  must  do  so  too.  The 
only  reason  that  can  be  pretended  for  the  one,  will  also  fall 
upon  the  other  :  for  if  the  virtue  of  the  sacraments  is  thought 
to  be  derived  upon  them  as  an  answer  of  prayer ;  then  since 
the  prayers  of  hypocrites  are  as  little  effectual  as  the  prayers 
of  those  who  are  openly  vicious,  the  inference  is  good,  that  if 
the  sacraments  administered  by  a  scandalous  man  are  without 
any  effect,  the  sacraments  administered  by  a  man  that  is 
inwardly  corrupted,  though  that  can  be  only  known  to  God, 
will  be  also  of  no  effect ;  and  therefore  this  opinion  that  was 
taken  up,  perhaps  from  an  inconsiderate  zeal  against  the  sins 
and  scandals  of  the  clergy,  is  without  all  foundation,  and  must 
needs  cast  all  men  into  endless  scruples,  which  can  never  be 
cured. 

The  church  of  Rome,  though  they  reject  this  opinion,  yet 
have  brought  in  another  very  like  it,  which  must  needs  fill 
the  minds  of  men  with  endless  distractions  and  fears ;  chiefly 
considering  of  what  necessity  and  efficacy  they  make  th« 

2  c  2 


388 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  sacraments  to  be.  They  do  teach  that  the  intention  of  him 
1  that  gives  the  sacrament  is  necessary  to  the  essence  of  it,  so 
that  without  it  no  sacrament  can  be  administered.  This  was 
expressly  affirmed  by  pope  Eugenius  in  his  decree,  and  an 
anathema  passed  at  Trent  against  those  that  deny  it.*  They 
do  indeed  define  it  to  be  only  an  intention  of  doing  that  which 
the  church  intends  to  do ;  and  though  the  surest  way,  they 
say,  is  to  have  an  actual  intention,  yet  it  is  commonly  taught 
among  them,  that  an  habitual  or  virtual  intention  will  serve. 
But  they  do  all  agree  in  this,  that,  if  a  priest  has  a  secret 
intention  not  to  make  a  sacrament,  in  that  case  no  sacrament 
is  made :  and  this  is  carried  so  far,  that  in  one  of  the  rubrics 
Mi^.Rom-  of  the  Missalf  it  is  given  as  a  rule,  that  if  a  priest  who  goes 
defeciu  la- t0  consecrate  twelve  Hosties,  should  have  a  general  intention 
tent.  an.  to  leave  out  one  of  them  from  being  trulv  consecrated,  and 
TU-  should  not  apply  that  to  any  one,  but  let  it  run  loosely 
through  them  all,  that  in  such  case  be  should  not  consecrate 
any  one  of  the  twelve :  that  loose  exception  falling  upon  them 
all,  because  it  is  not  restrained  to  any  one  particular.  And 
among  the  Articles  that  were  condemned  by  pope  Alexander 
the  Eighth,  the  7th  of  December  1690,  the  28th  runs  thus  ; 
Valet  baptismus  collatus  a  ministro,  qui  omnem  ritum  ex- 
ternum forniamque  baptizandi  observat,  intus  vero  in  corde 
guo  apud  se  resolvit,  non  intendo  quod  facit  ecclesia.  And  thus 
they  make  the  secret  acts  of  a  priest's  mind  enter  so  far  into 
those  divine  appointments,  that  by  his  malice,  irreligion,  or 
atheism,  he  can  make  those  sacraments,  which  he  "visibly 
blesses  and  administers,  to  be  only  the  outward  shows  of 
sacraments,  but  no  real  ones.  We  do  not  pretend  that  the 
sacraments  are  of  the  nature  of  charms ;  so  that  if  a  man 
should  in  a  wav  of  open  mockery  and  profanation  go  about 
them,  that  therefore,  because  matter  and  form  are  observed, 
they  should  be  true  sacraments.  But  though  we  make  the 
serious  appearances  of  a  Christian  action  to  be  necessary  to 
the  making  it  a  sacrament ;  yet  we  carry  this  no  further,  to 
the  inward  and  secret  acts  of  the  priest,  as  if  they  were  essen- 
tial to  the  being  of  it.  If  this  is  true,  no  man  can  have  quiet 
in  his  mind. 

It  is  a  profanation  for  an  unbaptized  person  to  receive  the 
eucharist ;  so  if  baptism  is  not  true  when  a  priest  sets  his 
intention  cross  to  it,  then  a  man  in  orders  must  be  in  per- 
petual doubts,  whether  he  is  not  living  in  a  continual  state  of 
sacrilege  in  administering  the  other  sacraments  while  he  is 
not  yet  baptized  :  and  if  baptism  be  so  necessary  to  salvation, 
that  no  man  who  is  not  baptized  can  hope  to  be  saved,  here  a 
perpetual  scruple  must  arise,  which  can  never  be  removed. 

*  The  doctrine  of  intention  is  thus  stated  by  the  council  of  Trent: — 

*  Si  quis  dixent,  in  rainistris.  dum  sacramenta  conficiunt,  et  confenint,  non  requiri 
i  tentionem  saltern  faciendi  quod  facit  ecclesia.  anathema  sit.'    Srasiovii.  car.  XL 

f  For  tbi>  and  the  other  Rubrics,  see  Appendix. — l^u-] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


380 


"Nor  can  a  man  be  sure  but  that,  when  he  thinks  he  is  wof-  a  R  T. 
shipping  the  true  body  of  Jesus  Christ,  he  is  committing  XXVI. 
idolatry,  and  worshipping  only  a  piece  of  bread ;  for  it  is  no  ' 
more,  according  to  them,  if  the  priest  had  an  intention  against 
consecrating  it.    No  orders  are  given  if  an  intention  lies 
against  them  ;  and  then  he  who  passes  for  a  priest  is  no  priest; 
and  all  his  consecrations  and  absolutions  are  so  many  invalid 
things,  and  a  continued  course  of  sacrilege. 

Now  what  reason  soever  men  may  have  in  this  case  to  hope 
for  the  pardon  of  those  sins,  since  it  is  certain  that  the  igno- 
rance is  invincible ;  yet  here  strange  thoughts  must  arise 
concerning  Christ  and  his  gospel ;  if  in  those  actions  that  are 
made  necessary  to  salvation,  it  should  be  in  the  power  of 
a  false  Christian,  or  an  atheistical  priest  or  bishop,  to  make 
them  all  void ;  so  that  by  consequence  it  should  be  in  his 
power  to  damn  them :  for  since  they  are  taught  to  expect 
grace  and  justification  from  the  sacraments,  if  these  are  no 
true  sacraments  which  they  take  for  such,  but  only  the 
shadows  and  the  phantasms  of  them,  then  neither  grace  nor 
justification  can  follow  upon  them.  This  may  be  carried  so 
far  as  even  to  evacuate  the  very  being  of  a  church  ;  for  a  man 
not  truly  baptized  can  never  be  in  orders  ;  so  that  the  whole 
ordinations  of  a  church,  and  the  succession  of  it,  may  be 
broke  by  the  impiety  of  any  one  priest.  This  we  look  on  as 
such  a  chain  of  absurdities,  that  if  this  doctrine  of  intention 
were  true,  it  alone  might  serve  to  destroy  the  whole  credit  of 
the  Christian  religion,  in  which  the  sacraments  are  taught  to 
be  both  so  necessary  and  so  efficacious ;  and  yet  all  this  is 
made  to  depend  on  that  which  can  neither  be  known  nor  pre- 
vented. 

The  last  paragraph  of  this  Article  is  so  clear,  that  it  needs 
no  explanation,  and  is  so  evident,  that  it  wants  no  proof. 
Eli  was  severely  threatened  for  suffering  his  sons  to  go  on  in  i  Sam.iii. 
their  vices,  when  by  their  means  the  sacrifice  of  God  was  ab-  ll- 
horred.    God  himself  struck  Nadab  and  Abihu  dead,  when 
they  offered  strange  fire  at  his  altar ;  and  upon  that  these 
words  were  uttered,  '  I  will  be  sanctified  in  them  that  come  Levit.  x.  3. 
nigh  me,  and  before  all  the  people  will  I  be  glorified.'  Ti- 
mothy was  required  to  receive  'an  accusation  of  an  elder,' l  Tim.  v.l, 
when  regularly  tendered  to  him ;  and  to  '  rebuke  before  all,  g9^' vl" 
those  that  sinned  ;'  and  he  was  charged  to  withdraw  himself 
from  those  teachers  who  '  consented  not  to  wholesome  words,' 
and  that  made  a  gain  of  godliness.    A  main  part  of  the  disci- 
pline of  the  primitive  church  lay  heaviest  on  the  clergy :  and 
such  of  them  as  either  apostatized,  or  fell  into  scandalous  sins, 
even  upon  their  repentance,  were  indeed  received  into  the 
peace  of  the  church  ;  but  they  were  appointed  to  communicate 
among  the  laity,  and  were  never  after  that  admitted  to  the 
body  of  the  clergy,  or  to  have  a  share  in  their  privileges. 
Certainly  there  is  nothing  more  incumbent  on  the  whole  body 


390 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  of  the  church,  than  that  all  possible  care  be  taken  to  discover 
XXVI-  the  bad  practices  that  may  be  among  the  clergy :  which  will 
ever  raise  strong  prejudices  not  only  against  their  persons, 
but  even  against  their  profession,  and  against  that  religion 
which  they  seem  to  advance  with  their  mouths,  while  in  their 
works,  and  by  their  lives,  they  detract  from  it,  and  seem  to 
deny  its  authority.  But  after  all,  our  zeal  must  go  along  with 
justice  and  discretion :  fame  may  be  a  just  ground  to  inquire 
upon ;  but  a  sentence  cannot  be  founded  on  it.  The  laity 
must  discover  what  they  know,  that  so  these  who  have  autho- 
Gal.  v.  12.  rity  may  be  able  to  'cut  off  those  that  trouble  the  church.5 
Discretion  will  require  that  things  which  cannot  be  proved, 
ought  rather  to  be  covered  than  exposed,  when  nothing  but 
clamour  can  follow  upon  it.  In  sum,  this  is  a  part  of  the  go- 
vernment of  the  church,  for  which  God  will  reckon  severely 
with  those  who,  from  partial  regards,  or  other  feeble  or  carnal 
considerations,  are  defective  in  that,  which  is  so  great  a  part 
of  their  duty,  and  in  which  the  honour  of  God,  and  of  religion, 
and  the  good  of  souls,  as  well  as  the  order  and  unity  of  the 
church,  are  so  highly  concerned. 


THiS  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


391 


ART. 
XXVII. 


ARTICLE  XXVII. 

i 

Of  Baptism. 

Saptttfm  ii  not  onlp  a  &tgn  of  -^rofeMon  an*  ^Harfe  of  Stffcrence, 
toljerebp  Christian  fMeu  are  StScerneH  from  others  that  be  not 
ChrtStenttf ;  but  it  tsi  also  a  |*>tgn  of  Regeneration  or  f!rh)  33trtrj, 
toherebp,  asf  bp  an  tfnsltrument,  the"  ti)nt  recetbe  33aptt<Sm  rtgfttlp, 
are  grafteH  into  the  Cfturrf).  €bc  $rointSc$  of  the  dforgibriUEfsS  of 
J?tn,  of  our  SttJoption  to  be  the  £onS  of  <SoD  bp  ti)t  $oIp  ©hosit, 
are  btStblp  ^tgnctJ  anH  SealetJ,  dfattl)  t£S  fonfi'rmeU  antf  ©race  tit* 
creasetl  bp  btrtue  of  draper  to  &otS.  Che  Baptism  of  jjouitg 
Children  is  it  anp  hn'Se  to  be  retained  in  the  Church,  as(  most 
agreeable  with  the  Institution  of  Christ. 

When  St.  John  Baptist  began  first  to  baptize,  we  do 
plainly  see  by  the  first  chapter  of  St.  John's  Gospel,  that  the 
Jews  were  not  surprised  at  the  novelty  of  the  rite ;  for  they 
sent  to  ask  who  he  was  ?  And  when  he  said  he  was  not  the 
Messias,  nor  Elias,  nor  that  Prophet,  they  asked,  '  Why  bap-  John  i.  25. 
tizest  thou  then  ?'  Which  shews,  not  only  that  they  had  clear 
notions  of  baptism,  but  in  particular  that  they  thought  that 
if  he  had  been  the  Messias,  or  Elias,  or  that  Prophet,  he 
might  then  have  baptized.  St.  Paul  does  also  say,  that  the 
Jews  '  were  all  baptized  unto  Moses  in  the  cloud,  and  in  the  j  Cor  2 
sea which  seems  to  relate  to  some  opinion  the  Jews  had, 
that  by  that  cloud,  and  their  passing  through  the  sea,  they 
were  purified  from  the  Egyptian  defilements,  and  made  meet 
to  become  Moses's  disciples.  Yet  in  the  Old  Testament  we 
find  no  clear  warrant  for  a  practice  that  had  then  got  among 
the  Jews,  which  is  still  taught  by  them,  that  they  were  to 
receive  a  proselyte,  if  a  male,  by  baptism,  circumcision,  and 
sacrifice;  and  if  a  female,  only  by  baptism  and  sacrifice.  Thus 
they  reckoned,  that  when  any  came  over  from  heathenism  to 
their  religion,  they  were  to  use  a  washing ;  to  denote  their 
purifying  themselves  from  the  uncleanness  of  their  former 
idolatry,  and  their  entering  into  a  holy  religion. 

And  as  they  do  still  teach,  that  when  the  Messias  comes, 
they  are  all  bound  to  set  themselves  to  repent  of  their  former 
sins ;  so  it  seems  they  then  thought,  or  at  least  it  would  have 
been  no  strange  thing  to  them,  if  the  Messias  had  received 
such  as  came  to  him  by  baptism.  St.  John,  by  baptizing 
those  who  came  to  him,  took  them  obliged  to  enter  upon  a 
course  of  repentance,  and  he  declared  to  them  the  near  ap- 
proach of  the  Messias,  and  that  'the  kingdom  of  God  was  Matt.iii.2. 


392 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   at  hand ;'  and  it  is  very  probable,  that  those  who  were  bap- 

XXVI1-  tized  by  Christ,  that  is,  by  his  apostles ;  for  though  it  is 
expressly  said  that  he  baptized  none,  yet  what  he  did  by  his 
disciples  he  might  in  a  more  general  sense  be  said  to  have 
done  himself;  that  these,  I  say,  were  baptized  upon  the  same 
sponsions,  and  with  the  same  declarations,  and  with  no  other; 
for  the  dispensation  of  the  Messias  was  not  yet  opened,  nor 
was  it  then  fully  declared  that  he  was  the  Messias  :  howsoever 
this  was  a  preparatory  initiation  of  such  as  were  fitted  for  the 
coming  of  the  Messias;  by  it  they  owned  their  expectations 
of  him,  as  then  near  at  band,  and  they  professed  their  repent- 
ance of  their  sins,  and  their  purposes  of  doing  what  should 
be  enjoined  them  by  him. 

Water  was  a  very  proper  emblem,  to  signify  the  passing 
from  a  course  of  defilement  to  a  greater  degree  of  purity,  both 
in  doctrine  and  practice. 

Gal.iv.  4.  Our  Saviour  in  his  state  of  humiliation,  as  he  was  subject 
to  the  Mosaical  law,  so  he  thought  fit  to  fulfil  all  the  obliga- 
tions that  lay  upon  the  other  Jews;  which  by  a  phrase  used 

Mat.iii.l5.  among  them  he  expresses  thus,  cto  fulfil  all  righteousness.' 

For  though  our  Saviour  had  no  sins  to  confess,  yet  that  not 
being  known,  he  might  come  to  profess  his  belief  of  the  dis- 
pensation of  the  Messias,  that  was  then  to  appear.  But  how 
well  soever  the  Jews  might  have  been  accustomed  to  this 
rite,  and  how  proper  a  preparation  soever  it  might  be  to  the 
manifestation  of  the  Messias ;  yet  the  institution  of  baptism, 
as  it  is  a  federal  act  of  the  Christian  religion,  must  be  taken 
from  the  commission  that  our  Saviour  gave  to  his  disciples ; 

Matt.       '  tQ  gQ  preach  and  make  disciples  to  him  in  all  nations,  (for 

xxvm.  19,  t^at  jg  stricj.  signification  of  the  word,)  baptizing  them  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost;  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you.' 

Bv  the  first  teaching  or  making  of  disciples,  that  must  go 
before  baptism,  is  to  be  meant  the  convincing  the  world,  that 
Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  true  Messias,  anointed  of  God,  with  a 
fulness  of  grace  and  of  the  Spirit  without  measure,  and  sent 
to  be  the  Saviour  and  Redeemer  of  the  world.  And  when 
they  were  brought  to  acknowledge  this,  then  they  were  to 
baptize  them,  to  initiate  them  to  this  religion,  by  obliging 
them  to  renounce  all  idolatry  and  ungodliness,  as  well  as  all 
secular  and  carnal  lusts,  and  then  they  led  them  into  the 
water;  and  with  no  other  garments  but  what  might  cover 
nature,  they  at  first  laid  them  down  in  the  water,  as  a  man  is 
laid  in  the  grave,  and  then  they  said  those  words,  '  I  baptize 
or  wash  thee  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  Son,  and  Holy 
Ghost :'  then  they  raised  them  up  again,  and  clean  garments 

Rom.vi.3,  were  put  on  them:  from  whence  came  the  phrases  of  'being 
5- ..      baptized  into  Christ's  death  ;'  of  '  being  buried  with  him  by 

CoLu.  12.  ],aptism  int;0  death  ;'  of  'our  being  risen  with  Christ/  and  of 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  393 


'our  putting  on  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ;'  of  '  putting  off  the  ART. 
old  man,  and  putting  on  the  new.'    After  baptism  was  thus  XXVII. 
performed,  the  baptized  person  was  to  be  further  instructed  col.iii. 
in  all  the  specialities  of  the  Christian  religion,  and  in  all  the  9,  10. 
rules  of  life  that  Christ  had  prescribed.  J** 

This  was  plainly  a  different  baptism  from  St.  John's ;  a 
profession  was  made  in  it,  not  in  general,  of  the  belief  of  a 
Messias  soon  to  appear,  but  in  particular,  that  '  Jesus  was  the 
Messias.' 

The  stipulation  in  St.  John's  baptism  was  repentance ;  but 
here  it  is  the  belief  of  the  whole  Christian  religion.  In  St. 
John's  baptism  they  indeed  promised  repentance,  and  he 
received  them  into  the  earnests  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Mes- 
sias ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  St.  John  either  did  promise 
them  remission  of  sins,  or  that  he  had  commission  so  to  do ; 
for  repentance  and  remission  of  sins  were  not  joined  together 
till  after  the  resurrection  of  Christ;  that  he  appointed  that 
'repentance  and  remission  of  sins  should  be  preached  in  his  Lukexxiv. 
name  among  all  nations,  beginning  at  Jerusalem.'  47- 

In  the  baptism  of  Christ,  I  mean  that  which  he  appointed 
after  his  resurrection,  (for  the  baptism  of  his  disciples  before 
that  time  was,  no  doubt,  the  same  with  St.  John's  baptism,) 
there  was  to  be  an  instruction  given  in  that  great  mystery  of 
the  Christian  religion  concerning  the  Father,  the  Son,  and  the 
Holy  Ghost ;  which  those  who  had  only  received  St.  John's 
baptism  knew  not :  'they  did  not  so  much  as  know  that  there  Actsxix. 
was  a  Holy  Ghost;'  that  is,  they  knew  nothing  of  the  extra-  2— 5- 
ordinary  effusion  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  And  it  is  expressly 
said,  that  those  of  St.  John's  baptism,  when  St.  Paul  ex- 
plained to  them  the  difference  between  the  baptism  of  Christ, 
and  that  of  St.  John,  that  'they  were  baptized  in  the  name 
of  the  Lord  Jesus.'  For  St.  John  in  his  baptism  had  only 
initiated  them  to  the  belief  of  a  Messias ;  but  had  not  said  a 
word  of  Jesus,  as  being  that  Messias.  So  that  this  must  be 
fixed,  that  these  two  baptisms  were  different ;  the  one  was  a 
dawning  or  imperfect  beginning  to  the  other,  as  he  that  ad- 
ministered the  one  was  like  the  morning  star  before  the  Sun 
of  righteousness. 

Our  Saviour  had  this  ordinance  (that  was  then  imperfect, 
and  was  to  be  afterwards  completed,  when  he  himself  had 
finished  all  that  he  came  into  the  world  to  do) — he  had,  I  say, 
this  visibly  in  his  eye,  when  he  spake  to  Nicodemus,  and  told 
him,  that  '  except  a  man  were  born  again,  he  could  not  see  John  iii.  3, 
(or  discern)  the  kingdom  of  God:'  by  which  he  meant  that  5>  6- 
entire  change  and  renovation  of  a  man's  mind,  and  of  all  his 
powers,  through  which  he  must  pass,  before  he  could  discern 
the  true  characters  of  the  dispensation  of  the  Messias;  for 
that  is  the  sense  in  which  the  kingdom  of  God  does  stand, 
almost  universally  through  the  whole  gospel.  When  Nico- 
demus was  amazed  at  this  odd  expression,  and  seemed  to  take 


394 


AX  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  it  literally,  our  Saviour  answered  more  fully,  f  Verily,  verily,  I 
XXVII.  say  unt;0  thee,  Except  a  man  be  born  of  water  and  of  the  Spirit, 
he  cannot  enter  into  the  kingdom  of  God.'  The  meaning  of 
which  seems  to  be  this,  that  except  a  man  came  to  be  renewed, 
by  an  ablution  like  the  baptism  which  the  Jews  used,  that 
imported  the  outward  profession  of  a  change  of  doctrine  and 
of  heart ;  and  with  that,  except  he  were  inwardly  changed  by 
a  secret  power  called  the  Spirit,  that  should  transform  his 
nature,  he  could  not  become  one  of  his  disciples,  or  a  true 
Christian ;  which  is  meant  by  his  entering  into  the  kingdom 
of  God,  or  the  dispensation  of  the  Messias. 

Upon  this  institution  and  commission  given  by  Christ,  we 
see  the  apostles  went  up  and  down  preaching  and  baptizing. 
And  so  far  were  they  from  considering  baptism  only  as  a 
carnal  rite,  or  a  low  element,  above  which  a  higher  dispensa- 
tion of  the  Spirit  was  to  raise  them,  that  when  St.  Peter  saw 
the  Holy  Ghost  visibly  descend  upon  Cornelius  and  his 
friends,  he  upon  that  immediately  baptized  them :  and  said, 

Acts  x.  44,  c  Can  any  man  forbid  (or  deny)  water,  that  these  should  not 

47,  48.  De  baptized,  which  have  received  the  Holy  Ghost  as  well  as 
we  ?'  Our  Saviour  has  also  made  baptism  one  of  the  precepts, 
though  not  one  of  the  means,  necessary  to  salvation.  A  mean 
is  that  which  does  so  certainly  procure  a  thing,  that  it  being 
had,  the  thing  to  which  it  is  a  certain  and  necessary  mean  is 
also  hr.d ;  and  without  it  the  thing  cannot  be  had ;  there  being 
a  natural  connection  between  it  and  the  end.  Whereas  a 
precept  is  an  institution,  in  which  there  is  no  such  natural 
efficiency ;  but  it  is  positively  commanded ;  so  that  the 
neglecting  it  is  a  contempt  of  the  authority  that  commanded 
it :  and  therefore  in  obeying  the  precept,  the  value  or  virtue  of 
the  action  lies  only  in  the  obedience.  This  distinction  appears 
very  clearly  in  what  our  Saviour  has  said  both  of  faith  and 

Mark  xvi.  baptism.    c  He  that  believeth  and  is  baptized  shall  be  saved ; 

l6t         and  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned.' 

Where  it  appears  that  faith  is  the  mean  of  salvation  with 
which  it  is  to  be  had,  and  not  without  it ;  since  such  a  be- 
lieving as  makes  a  man  receive  the  whole  gospel  as  true,  and 
so  firmly  to  depend  upon  the  promises  that  are  made  in  it,  as 
to  observe  all  the  laws  and  rules  that  are  prescribed  by  it; 
such  a  faith  as  this  gives  us  so  sure  a  title  to  all  the  blessings 
of  this  new  covenant,  that  it  is  impossible  that  we  should 
continue  in  this  state,  and  not  partake  of  them  ;  and  it  is  no 
less  impossible  that  we  should  partake  of  them,  unless  we  do 
thus  believe.  It  were  not  suitable  to  the  truth  and  holiness 
of  the  divine  nature  to  void  a  covenant  so  solemnly  made,  and 
that  in  favour  of  wicked  men,  who  will  not  be  reformed  by  it : 
so  faith  is  the  certain  and  necessary  mean  of  our  salvation, 
and  is  so  put  by  Christ ;  since  upon  our  having  it  we  shall  be 
saved,  as  well  as  damned  upon  our  not  having  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  nature  of  a  ritual  action,  even  when 


THE  XXXI X  ARTICLES. 


395 


commanded,  is  such,  that  unless  we  oould  imagine  that  there  ART. 
is  a  charm  in  it,  which  is  contrary  to  the  spirit  and  genius  of  XX  VII. 
the  gospel,  which  designs  to  save  us  by  reforming  our  natures, 
we  cannot  think  that  there  can  be  any  thing  in  it  that  is  of 
itself  effectual  as  a  mean ;  and  therefore  it  must  only  be  con- 
sidered as  a  command  that  is  given  us,  which  we  are  bound  to 
obey,  if  we  acknowledge  the  anthority  of  the  command.  But 
this  being  an  action  that  is  not  always  in  our  power,  but  is  to 
be  done  by  another,  it  were  to  put  our  salvation  or  damnation  in 
the  power  of  another,  to  imagine  that  we  cannot  be  saved  with- 
out baptism  ;  and  therefore  it  is  only  a  precept  which  obliges 
us  in  order  to  our  salvation ;  and  our  Saviour,  by  leaving  it 
out  when  he  reversed  the  words,  saying  only,  '  he  that  believeth 
not,'  without  adding,  and  is  not  baptized,  shall  be  damned,  does 
plainly  insinuate  that  it  is  not  a  mean,  but  only  a  precept,  in 
order  to  our  salvation. 

As  for  the  ends  and  purposes  of  baptism,  St.  Paul  gives  us 
two :  the  one  is,  that  '  we  are  all  baptized  into  one  body,  we  l  Cor. 
are  made  members  one  of  another :'  we  are  admitted  to  the  13* 
society  of  Christians,  and  to  all  the  rights  and  privileges  of 
that  body,  which  is  the  church.  And  in  order  to  this,  the 
outward  action  of  baptism,  when  regularly  gone  about,  is 
sufficient.  We  cannot  see  into  the  sincerity  of  men's  hearts ; 
outward  professions  and  regular  actions  are  all  that  fall  under 
men's  observation  and  judgment.  But  a  second  end  of  bap- 
tism is  internal  and  spiritual.  Of  this  St.  Paul  speaks  in  very 
high  terms,  when  he  says,  that  *  God  has  saved  us  according  Tit.  iii.  5. 
to  his  mercy,  by  the  washing  of  regeneration,  and  the  renew- 
ing of  the  Holy  Ghost.'  It  were  a  strange  perverting  the 
design  of  these  words,  to  say,  that  somewhat  spiritual  is  to  be 
understood  by  this  washing  of  regeneration,  and  not  baptism ; 
when  as  to  the  word  save,  that  is  here  ascribed  to  it,  St. 
Peter  gives  that  undeniably  to  baptism ;  and  St.  Paul  else- 
where, in  two  different  places,  makes  our  baptism  to  represent 
'  our  being  dead  to  sin,  and  buried  with  Christ ;'  and  our  being  Rom.  vi. 
'  risen  and  quickened  with  him,  and  made  alive  unto  God ;'  Co]  jj  j2> 
which  are  words  that  do  very  plainly  import  regeneration.  So 
that  St.  Paul  must  be  understood  to  speak  of  baptism  in  these 
words.  Here  then  is  the  inward  effect  of  baptism ;  it  is  a 
death  to  sin,  and  a  new  life  in  Christ,  in  imitation  of  him,  and 
in  conformity  to  his  gospel.  So  that  here  is  very  expressly 
delivered  to  us  somewhat  that  rises  far  above  the  badge  of  a 
profession,  or  a  mark  of  difference. 

That  does  indeed  belong  to  baptism ;  it  makes  us  the  visible 
members  of  that  one  body,  into  which  we  are  baptized,  or  ad- 
mitted by  baptism  ;  but  that  which  saves  us  in  it,  which  both 
deadens  and  quickens  us,  must  be  a  thing  of  another  nature.  If 
baptism  were  only  the  receiving  us  into  the  society  of  Chris- 
tians, there  were  no  need  of  saying,  '  I  baptize  thee  in  the  name 
of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.'    It  were 


396 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  more  proper  to  say,  /  baptize  thee  in  the  name  or  by  the 
1J-  authority  of  the  church.  Therefore  these  august  words,  that 
were  dictated  bv  our  Lord  himself,  shew  us  that  there  is 
somewhat  in  it  that  is  internal,  which  comes  from  God ;  that 
it  is  an  admitting  men  into  somewhat  that  depends  onlv  on 
God,  and  for  the  giving  of  which  the  authority  can  onlv 
be  derived  by  him.  But  after  all,  this  is  not  to  be  believed  to 
be  of  the  nature  of  a  charm,  as  if  the  very  act  of  baptism  car- 
ried always  with  it  an  inward  regeneration.  Here  we  must 
confess,  that  very  earlv  some  doctrines  arose  upon  baptism, 
that  we  cannot  be  determined  by.  The  words  of  our  Saviour 
to  Nicodemus  were  expounded  so  as  to  import  the  absolute 
necessity  of  baptism  in  order  to  salvation ;  for  it  not  being 
observed  that  the  dispensation  of  the  Messias  was  meant  by 
the  kingdom  of  God,  but  it  being  taken  to  signify  eternal 
glory,  that  expression  of  our  Saviour's  was  understood  to 
import  this,  that  no  man  could  be  saved  unless  he  were  bap- 
tized ;  so  it  was  believed  to  be  simply  necessary  to  salvation. 
A  natural  consequence  that  followed  upon  that,  was  to  allow 
all  persons  leave  to  baptize,  clergy  and  laity,  men  and  women, 
since  it  seemed  necessarv  to  suffer  every  person  to  do  that 
without  which  salvation  could  not  be  had.  Upon  this,  these 
hast}*  baptisms  were  used,  without  any  special  sponsion  on 
the  part  of  those  who  desired  it ;  of  which  it  may  be  reason- 
ably doubted  whether  such  a  baptism  be  true,  in  which  no 
sponsion  is  made ;  and  this  cannot  be  well  answered,  but  bv 
saying,  that  a  general  and  an  implied  sponsion  is  to  be  con- 
sidered to  be  made  by  their  parents  while  they  desire  them  to 
be  baptized. 

Another  opinion  that  arose  out  of  the  former,  was  the 
mixing  of  the  outward  and  the  inward  effects  of  baptism ;  it 
bein^  believed  that  everv  person  that  was  '  born  of  the  water,' 
was  also  c  born  of  the  Spirit ;'  and  that  the  1  renewing  of  the 
Holy  Ghost'  did  always  accompany  the  6  washing  of  regene- 
ration.' And  this  obliged  St.  Austin  (as  was  formerly  told) 
to  make  that  difference  between  the  regenerate  and  the  pre- 
destinated ;  for  he  thought  that  all  who  were  baptized  were 
alsa  regenerated.  St.  Peter  has  stated  this  so  fully,  that  if 
his  words  are  well  considered,  they  will  clear  the  whole 
matter.  He,  after  he  had  set  forth  the  miserable  state  in 
which  mankind  was,  under  the  figure  of  the  deluge,  in  which 
an  ark  was  prepared  for  Noah  and  his  family,  says  upon  that, 
1  Pet.  iii.  '  the  like  figure  whereunto  even  baptism  doth  also  now  save 
21.  us.'  Upon  which  he  makes  a  short  digression  to  explain  the 
nature  of  baptism,  '  not  the  putting  away  the  filth  of  the 
flesh,  but  the  answer  (or  the  demand  and  interrogation)  of  a 
good  conscience  towards  God ;  by  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ,  who  is  gone  into  heaven.'  The  meaning  of  all  which 
is,  that  Christ  having  risen  again,  and  having  then  had  £  all 
pjwer  in  heaven  and  in  earth'  given  to  him,  he  had  put  that 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


397 


virtue  in  baptism,  that  by  it  we  are  saved,  as  in  an  ark,  from  A  i>  T. 
that  miserable  state  in  which  the  world  lies,  and  in  which  it  XXV,I> 
must  perish.  But  then  he  explains  the  way  how  it  saves  us  ; 
that  it  is  not  as  a  physical  action,  as  it  washes  away  the  filthi- 
ness  of  the  flesh,  or  of  the  body,  like  the  notion  that  the 
Gentiles  might  have  of  their  februations ;  or,  which  is  more 
natural,  considering  to  whom  he  writes,  like  the  opinions  that 
the  Jews  had  of  their  cleansings  after  their  legal  impurities, 
from  which  their  washings  and  bathings  did  absolutely  free 
them.  The  salvation  that  we  Christians  have  by  baptism,  is 
effected  by  that  federation  into  which  we  enter,  when  upon 
the  demands  that  are  made  of  our  renouncing  the  Devil,  the 
icorld,  and  the  flesh,  and  of  our  believing  in  Christ,  and  our 
repentance  towards  God,  we  make  such  answers  from  a  good 
conscience,  as  agree  with  the  end  and  design  of  baptism  ;  then 
by  our  thus  coming  into  covenant  with  God,  we  are  saved  in 
baptism.  So  that  the  salvation  by  baptism  is  given  by  reason 
of  the  federal  compact  that  is  made  in  it.  Now  this  being 
made  outwardly,  according  to  the  rules  that  are  prescribed, 
that  must  make  the  baptism  good  among  men,  as  to  all  the 
outward  and  visible  effects  of  it :  but  since  it  is  the  c  answer 
of  a  good  conscience'  only  that  saves,  then  an  answer  from  a 
bad  conscience,  from  a  hypocritical  person,  who  does  not 
inwardly  think,  or  purpose,  according  to  what  he  professes 
outwardly,  cannot  save,  but  does  on  the  contrary  aggravate 
his  damnation.  Therefore  our  Article  puts  the  efficacy  of 
baptism,  in  order  to  the  forgiveness  of  our  sins,  and  to  our 
adoption  and  salvation,  upon  the  virtue  of  prayer  to  God ; 
that  is,  upon  those  vows  and  other  acts  of  devotion  that 
accompany  them :  so  that  when  the  seriousness  of  the  mind 
accompanies  the  regularity  of  the  action,  then  both  the  out- 
ward and  inward  effects  of  baptism  are  attained  by  it;  and 
we  are  not  only  '  baptized  into  one  body,'  but  are  also  '  saved 
by  baptism.'  So  that  upon  the  whole  matter,  baptism  is  a 
federal  admission  into  Christianity,  in  which,  on  God's  part, 
all  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  are  made  over  to  the  baptized ; 
and,  on  the  other  hand,  the  person  baptized  takes  on  him,  by 
a  solemn  profession  and  vow,  to  observe  and  adhere  to  the 
whole  Christian  religion.  So  it  is  a  very  natural  distinction 
to  say,  that  the  outward  effects  of  baptism  follow  it  as  out- 
wardly performed;  but  that  the  inward  effects  of  it  follow 
upon  the  inward  acts  :  but  this  difference  is  still  to  be  observed 
between  inward  acts  and  outward  actions,  that  when  the  out- 
ward action  is  rightly  performed,  the  church  must  reckon  the 
baptism  good,  and  never  renew  it :  but  if  one  has  been  wanting 
in  the  inward  acts,  those  may  be  afterwards  renewed,  and 
that  want  may  be  made  up  by  repentance. 

Thus  all  that  the  scriptures  have  told  us  concerning  baptism 
seems  to  be  sufficiently  explained.  There  remains  only  one  place 
that  may  seem  somewhat  strange.  St.  Paul  says,  that  '  Christ  iCor.i.17. 


398 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  sent  him  not  to  baptize,  but  to  preach which  some  hare  car- 
I1-  ried  so  far  as  to  infer  from  thence,  that  preaching  is  of  more 
value  than  baptism.  But  it  is  to  be  considered,  that  the 
preaching  of  the  Apostles  was  of  the  nature  of  a  promulgation 
made  by  heralds ;  it  was  an  act  of  a  special  authority,  by 
which  he  in  particular  was  to  convert  the  world  from  idolatry 

Acts  viii.    and  J udaism,  to  acknowledge  '  Jesus  to  be  the  true  Messias.' 

endt0the  Now  when  men,  by  the  preaching  of  the  apostles,  and  by 
the  miracles  that  accompanied  it,  were  so  wrought  on  as 
to  believe  that  '  Jesus  was  the  Christ ;'  then,  according  to  the 
practice  of  Philip  towards  the  eunuch  of  Ethiopia,  and  of  St. 

Acts  xvi.    Paul  to  his  jailor  at  Philippi,  they  might  immediately  baptize 

31,32,  33.  ^em  .  ygf.  most  commonly  there  was  a  special  instruction  to 
be  used,  before  persons  were  baptized  who  might  in  general 
have  some  conviction,  and  yet  not  be  so  fully  satisfied,  but 
that  a  great  deal  of  more  pains  was  to  be  taken  to  carry  them 
on  to  that  full  assurance  of  faith  which  was  necessary.  This 
was  a  work  of  much  time,  and  was  to  be  managed  by  the 
pastors  or  teachers  of  the  several  churches  ;  so  that  the  mean- 
ing of  what  St.  Paul  says  was  this,  that  he  was  to  publish  the 
gospel  from  city  to  city,  but  could  not  descend  to  the  par- 
ticular labour  of  preparing  and  instructing  of  the  persons  to 
be  baptized,  and  to  the  baptizing  them  when  so  prepared.  If 
he  had  entered  upon  this  work,  he  could  not  have  made  that 
progress,  nor  have  founded  those  churches,  that  he  did.  All 
this  is  therefore  misunderstood,  when  it  is  applied  to  such 
preaching  as  is  still  continued  in  the  church  ;  which  does 
not  succeed  the  apostolical  preaching  that  was  inspired  and 
infallible,  but  comes  in  the  room  of  that  instruction  and 
teaching  which  was  then  performed  by  the  pastors  of  the 
church. 

The  last  head  in  this  Article  relates  to  the  baptism  of  in- 
fants, which  is  spoken  of  with  that  moderation,  which  appears 
very  eminently  through  the  whole  Articles  of  our  church.  On 
this  head,  it  is  only  said  to  be  most  agreeable  with  the  insti- 
tution of  Christ,  and  that  therefore  it  is  to  be  in  any  ways 
retained  in  the  church.  Now  to  open  this,  it  is  to  be  consi- 
dered, that  though  baptism  and  circumcision  do  not  in  every 
particular  come  to  a  parallel,  yet  they  do  agree  in  two  things : 
the  one  is,  that  both  were  the  rites  of  admission  into  their 
respective  covenants,  and  to  the  rights  and  privileges  that  did 
arise  out  of  them ;  and  the  other  is,  that  in  them  both  there 
was  an  obligation  laid  on  the  persons  to  the  observance  of 
that  whole  law  to  which  they  were  so  initiated.  St.  Paul, 
arguing  against  circumcision,  lays  this  down  as  an  uncontested 
Galat.v.3.  maxim,  that  if  a  man  was  circumcised,  'he  became  thereby  a 
debtor  to  the  whole  law.' 

Parents  had,  by  the  Jewish  constitution,  an  authority  given 
them  to  conclude  their  children  under  that  obligation;  so  that 
the  soul  and  will  of  the  child  was  so  far  put  in  the  power 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


399 


of  the  parents,  that  they  could  bring  them  under  federal  ART 
obligations,  and  thereby  procure  to  them  a  share  in  federal  XXVIf- 
blessings.    And  it  is  probable,  that  from  hence  it  was,  that  ~ 
when  the  Jews  made  proselytes,  they  considered  them  as 
having  such  authority  over  their  children,  that  they  baptized 
them  first,  and  then  circumcised  them,  though  infants. 

Now  since  Christ  took  baptism  from  them,  and  appointed  it 
to  be  the  federal  admission  to  his  religion,  as  circumcision 
had  been  in  the  Mosaical  dispensation,  it  is  reasonable  to 
believe,  that,  except  where  he  declared  a  change  that  he  made 
in  it,  in  all  other  respects  it  was  to  go  on  and  to  continue  as 
before  ;  especially  when  the  apostles  in  their  first  preaching 
told  the  Jews,  that  the  promises  were  made  to  them  and  Acts  ii.  39. 
to  their  children ;  which  the  Jews  must  have  understood 
according  to  what  they  were  already  in  possession  of,  that 
they  could  initiate  their  children  into  their  religion,  bring 
them  under  the  obligations  of  it,  and  procure  to  them  a  share 
in  those  blessings  that  belonged  to  it.  The  law  of  nature  and 
nations  puts  children  in  the  power  of  their  parents ;  they  are 
naturally  their  guardians;  and  if  they  are  entitled  to  any  thing, 
their  parents  have  a  right  to  transact  about  it,  because  of  the 
weakness  of  the  child ;  and  what  contracts  soever  they  make, 
by  which  the  child  does  not  lose,  but  is  a  gainer,  these  do  cer- 
tainly bind  the  child.  It  is  then  suitable  both  to  the  consti- 
tution of  mankind,  and  to  the  dispensation  of  the  Mosaical 
covenant,  that  parents  may  dedicate  their  children  to  God, 
and  bring  them  under  the  obligations  of  the  gospel ;  and 
if  they  may  do  that,  then  they  certainly  procure  to  them  with 
it,  or  in  lieu  of  it,  a  share  in  the  blessings  and  promises  of  the 
gospel.  So  that  they  may  offer  their  children  either  them- 
selves, or  by  such  others  of  their  friends,  to  whom  for  that 
occasion  they  transfer  that  right  which  they  have,  to  transact 
for  and  to  bind  their  children. 

All  this  receives  a  great  confirmation  from  the  decision 
which  St.  Paul  makes  upon  a  case  that  must  have  happened 
commonly  at  that  time ;  which  was,  when  one  of  the  parties 
in  a  married  state,  husband  or  wife,  was  converted,  while  the 
other  continued  still  in  the  former  state  of  idolatry,  or  infi- 
delity :  here  then  a  scruple  naturally  arose,  whether  a  believer 
or  Christian  might  still  live  in  a  married  state  with  an  infidel. 
Besides  the  ill  usage  to  which  that  diversity  of  religion  might 
give  occasion,  another  difficulty  might  be  made,  whether  a 
person  defiled  by  idolatry  did  not  communicate  that  impurity 
to  the  Christian,  and  whether  the  children  born  in  such  a  mar- 
riage were  to  be  reckoned  a  holy  seed,  according  to  the  Jewish 
phrase,  or  an  unholy,  unclean  children,  that  is  heathenish 
children ;  who  were  not  to  be  dedicated  to  God,  nor  to  be 
admitted  into  covenant  with  him :  for  unclean  in  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, and  uncircumcised,  signify  sometimes  the  same  thing ; 
and  so  St.  Peter  said  that  in  the  case  of  Cornelius  God  had 


400 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.    shewed  him,  that  he  should  call  no  man  common  or  unclean ; 
XXVIL  jn  a|iusion  j0  an  which  St.  Paul  determines  the  case,  not  by 
Acts  x.  28.  an  immediate  revelation,  but  by  the  inferences  that  he  drew 
l  Cor.  vii.  from  what  had  been  revealed  to  him ;  he  does  appoint  the 
14-         Christian  to  live  with  the  infidel,  and  says,  that  the  Christian 
is  so  far  from  being  defiled  by  the  infidel,  that  there  is  a  com- 
munication of  a  blessing  that  passes  from  the  Christian  to  the 
infidel ;  the  one  being  the  better  for  the  prayers  of  the  other, 
and  sharing  in  the  blessings  bestowed  on  the  other:  the  better 
part  was  accepted  of  God,  'in  whom  mercy  rejoices  over  judg- 
ment.'   There  was  a  communication  of  a  blessing  that  the 
Christian  derived  to  the  infidel;  which  at  least  went  so  far, 
that  their  children  were  not  unclean;  that  is,  shut  out  from 
being  dedicated  to  God,  but  were  holy.    Now  it  is  to  be  con- 
sidered that  in  the  New  Testament  Christians,  and  saints,  or 
holy,  stand  all  promiscuously.    The  purity  of  the  Christian 
doctrine,  and  the  dedication  by  which  Christians  offer  up 
themselves  to  God,  makes  them  holy. 

In  scripture,  holiness  stands  in  a  double  sense ;  the  one  is 
a  true  and  real  purity,  by  which  a  man's  faculties  and  actions 
become  holy;  the  other  is  a  dedicated  holiness,  when  any 
thing  is  appropriated  to  God ;  in  which  sense  it  stands  most 
commonly  in  the  Old  Testament.  So  times,  places,  and  not 
only  persons,  but  even  utensils  applied  to  the  service  of  God, 
are  called  holy.  In  the  New  Testament,  Christian  and  saint 
are  the  same  thing;  so  the  saying  that  children  are  holy  when 
one  of  the  parents  is  a  Christian,  must  import  this,  that  the 
child  has  also  a  right  to  be  made  holy,  or  to  be  made  a 
Christian ;  and  by  consequence,  that  by  the  parents'  dedi- 
cation that  child  may  be  made  holy,  or  a  Christian. 

Upon  these  reasons  we  conclude,  that  though  there  is  no 
express  precept  or  rule  given  in  the  New  Testament  for  the 
baptism  of  infants,  yet  it  is  most  agreeable  to  the  institution 
of  Christ,  since  he  conformed  his  institutions  to  those  of  the 
Mosaicai  law,  as  far  as  could  consist  with  his  design ;  and 
therefore  in  a  thing  of  this  kind,  in  which  the  just  tenderness 
of  the  human  nature  does  dispose  parents  to  secure  to  their 
children  a  title  to  the  mercies  and  blessings  of  the  gospel, 
there  is  no  reason  to  think  that  this  being  so  fully  set  forth 
and  assured  to  the  Jews  in  the  Old  Testament,  that  Christ 
should  not  have  intended  to  give  parents  the  same  comforts 
and  assurances  by  his  gospel  that  they  had  under  the  law  of 
Moses:  since  nothing  is  said  against  it,  we  may  conclude  from 
the  nature  of  the  two  dispensations,  and  the  proportion  and 
gradation  that  is  between  them,  that  children  under  the  new 
testament  are  a  holy  seed,  as  well  as  they  were  under  the  old; 
and  by  consequence,  that  they  may  be  now  baptized  as  well  as 
they  were  then  circumcised. 

If  this  may  be  done,  then  it  is  very  reasonable  to  say  what 
is  said  in  the  Article  concerning  it,  that  it  ought  in  any  wise 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


401 


to  be  retained  in  the  church:  for  the  same  humanity  that  ART. 
obliges  parents  to  feed  their  children,  and  to  take  care  of  xxvn. 
them  while  they  are  in  such  a  helpless  state,  must  dictate, 
that  it  is  much  more  incumbent  on  them,  and  is  as  much 
more  necessary  as  the  soul  is  more  valuable  than  the  body, 
for  them  to  do  all  that  in  them  lies  for  the  souls  of  their 
children,  for  securing  to  them  a  share  in  the  blessings  and 
privileges  of  the  gospel,  and  for  dedicating  them  early  to  the 
Christian  religion.  The  office  for  baptizing  infants  is  in  the 
same  words  with  that  for  persons  of  riper  age  ;  because  in- 
fants being  then  in  the  power  of  their  parents,  who  are  of 
age,  are  considered  as  in  them,  and  as  binding  themselves  by 
the  vows  that  they  make  in  their  name.  Therefore  the  office 
carries  on  the  supposition  of  an  internal  regeneration ;  and  in 
that  helpless  state  the  infant  is  offered  up  and  dedicated  to 
God ;  and  provided,  that  when  he  comes  to  age  he  takes 
those  vows  on  himself,  and  lives  like  a  person  so  in  covenant 
with  God,  then  he  shall  find  the  full  effects  of  baptism ;  and 
if  he  dies  in  that  state  of  incapacity,  he  being  dedicated  to 
God,  is  certainly  accepted  of  by  him;  and  by  being  put  in 
the  second  Adam,  all  the  bad  effects  of  his  having  descended 
from  the  first  Adam  are  quite  taken  away.  Christ,  when  on 
earth,  encouraged  those  who  brought  little  children  to  him ; 
'  he  took  them  in  his  arms,  and  laid  his  hands  on  them,  and  Matt.  xix. 
blessed  them,'  and  said,  '  Suffer  little  children  to  come  unto  13>  14- 
me,  and  forbid  them  not;  for  of  such  is  the  kingdom  of 
God/  Whatever  these  words  may  signify  mystically,  the 
literal  meaning  of  them  is,  that  little  children  may  be  admit- 
ted into  the  dispensation  of  the  Messias,  and  by  consequence 
that  they  may  be  baptized. 


2  D 


402 


AX  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T. 
XXVIII. 


ARTICLE  XXVIII. 

Of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

€br  Supper  of  the  JLorH  is  not  onlp  a  Sign  of  the  Eobe  that  Chri*# 
tianS  ought  to  babe  among  tbcmSelbcS  out  to  another;  but  rather 
it  is  a  Jjarramrut  of  our  ^coemption  bp  Christ's  2tat!j:  fnso* 
much  that  to  Such  as  rigbtlp,  toortbilp,  aniJ  toitlj  Jfaitf),  rtctibt 
the  Same,  ti)c  iSreatl  tohich  toe  brrak  is  a  partaking  of  the  Coop 
of  Christ,  aniJ  likctoiSc  the  Cup  of  Clcs'Sing  is'  a  partaking  of  the 
JJlooo'  of  Christ.  CranSubStantiation  (or  the  Change  of  the 
Substance  of  SrcatJ  autj  IHtnr  in  the  Supper  of  the  3LoriJ,  ran* 
not  br  probco  bp  feolp  JHrit,  but  it  is'  rrpugnant  to  tlje  plain 
£Horos  of  Scripture,  obcrtbrotortb  tfjf  feature  of  a  Sacrament, 
aiiH  hath  gibrn  occasion  to  manp  Superstitions'.  Che  Soop  of 
Christ  is  giben,  taken,  antl  eaten  in  the  Supper  onlp  after  a 
??tabrnlp  anO  Spiritual  fHanncr;  ano  the  mean  toherebp  the 
fioop  of  Christ  is  rrceibeil  anil  eaten  in  the  Supper,  is  dFaitfj. 
Che  Sacrament  of  the  iLoro'S  Supper  toas'  not  bp  Christ's  <9r« 
iinauce  reSerbco,  rarricU  about,  liftco  up,  aiti  toorSrjippro. 

In  the  edition  of  these  Articles  in  Edward  VI. 's  Reign,  there  was 
another  long  paragraph  against  Transubstantiation  added  in  these 
words:  jforaSmuci)  as'  the  Crutb  of  fHan'S  jiature  rrquiretb  that 
the  fioop  of  one  antJ  the  selfsame  fHau  cannot  be  at  one  Cime  in 
itbers'  glares,  but  must  neeos'  be  in  one  certain  $Jlarr;  therefore 
the  Jaotip  of  Christ  cannot  be  present  at  one  Cime  in  manp  ano" 
oibers'  places' :  ana  because,  as  i^olp  Scripture  Both  teach,  Christ 
toas  tnken  up  into  Igtaben,  ano  there  Shall  continue  unto  the 
IHntl  of  tije  JSorlo ;  a  dfattbful  fHau  ougijt  not  ritbrr  to  beliebe, 
or  oprnlp  confess,  the  lical  ano  33ooilp  £ "eSeuce,  as  thep  tenn  it, 
of  Christ's  dflcSb  anil  Slool  in  the  Sacrament  of  the  ilori'S 
Supper. 

When  these  Articles  were  at  first  prepared  by  the  convoca- 
tion in  queen  Elizabeth's  reign,  this  paragraph  was  made  a 
part  of  them;  for  the  original  subscription  by  both  houses  of 
convocation,  yet  extant,  shews  this.  But  the  design  of  the 
government  was  at  that  time  much  turned  to  the  drawing 
over  the  body  of  the  nation  to  the  Reformation,  in  whom  the 
old  leaven  had  gone  deep  ;  and  no  part  of  it  deeper  than  the 
belief  of  the  corporeal  presence  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament; 
therefore  it  was  thought  not  expedient  to  offend  them  by  so 
particular  a  definition  in  this  matter ;  in  which  the  very  word 
real  presence  was  rejected.  It  might,  perhaps,  be  also  sug- 
gested, that  here  a  definition  was  made  that  went  too  much 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


403 


upon  the  principles  of  natural  philosophy ;  which  how  true  ART. 
soever,  they  might  not  be  the  proper  subject  of  an  article  of  XXVIII 
religion.  Therefore  it  was  thought  fit  to  suppress  this  para-  — 
graph ;  though  it  was  a  part  of  the  Article  that  was  sub- 
scribed, yet  it  was  not  published,  but  the  paragraph  that 
follows,  The  body  of  Christ,  &c.  was  put  in  its  stead,  and  was 
received  and  published  by  the  next  convocation  ;  which  upon 
the  matter  was  a  full  explanation  of  the  way  of  Christ's  pre- 
sence in  this  sacrament ;  that  he  is  present  in  a  heavenly  and 
spiritual  manner,  and  that  faith  is  the  mean  by  which  he  is 
received.  This  seemed  to  be  more  theological ;  and  it  does 
indeed  amount  to  the  same  thing.  But  howsoever  we  see 
what  was  the  sense  of  the  first  convocation  in  queen  Eliza- 
beth's reign;  it  differed  in  nothing  from  that  in  king  Edward's 
time :  and  therefore  though  this  paragraph  is  now  no  part  of 
our  Articles,  yet  we  are  certain  that  the  clergy  at  that  time  did 
not  at  all  doubt  of  the  truth  of  it;  we  are  sure  it  was  their 
opinion ;  since  they  subscribed  it,  though  they  did  not  think 
fit  to  publish  it  at  first ;  and  though  it  was  afterwards  changed 
for  another,  that  was  the  same  in  sense. 

In  the  treating  of  this  Article,  I  shall  first  lay  down  the 
doctrine  of  this  church,  with  the  grounds  of  it ;  and  then  I 
shall  examine  the  doctrine  of  the  church  of  Rome,  which  must 
be  done  copiously ;  for  next  to  the  doctrine  of  infallibility, 
this  is  the  most  valued  of  all  their  other  tenets ;  this  is  the 
most  important  in  itself,  since  it  is  the  main  part  of  their 
worship,  and  the  chief  subject  of  all  their  devotions.  There 
is  not  any  one  thing  in  which  both  clergy  and  laitv  are  more 
concerned ;  which  is  more  generally  studied,  and  for  which 
they  pretend  they  have  more  plausible  colours,  both  from 
scripture  and  the  fathers :  and  if  sense  and  reason  seem  to 
press  hard  upon  it,  they  reckon,  that,  as  they  understand  the 
words  of  St.  Paul,  'every  thought  must  be  captivated  into  2  Cor. x. 5. 
the  obedience  of  faith.' 

In  order  to  the  expounding  our  doctrine,  we  must  consider 
the  occasion  and  the  institution  of  this  sacrament.  The  Jews 
were  required  once  a  year  to  meet  at  Jerusalem,  in  remem- 
brance of  the  deliverance  of  their  fathers  out  of  Egypt. 
Moses  appointed  that  every  family  should  kill  a  lamb,  whose  Exo[)- 
blood  was  to  be  sprinkled  on  their  door-posts  and  lintels,  and  3— 14" 
whose  flesh  they  were  to  eat ;  at  the  sight  of  which  blood  thus 
sprinkled,  the  destroying  angel,  that  was  to  be  sent  out  to  kill 
the  firstborn  of  every  family  in  Egypt,  was  to  j)ass  over  all  the 
houses  that  were  so  marked  :  and  from  that  passing  by  or  over 
the  Israelites,  the  lamb  was  called  the  Lord's  passover,  as  being 
then  the  sacrifice,  and  afterwards  the  memorial  of  t\\a.t  pass- 
over.  The  people  of  Israel  were  required  to  keep  up  the 
memorial  of  that  transaction,  by  slaying  a  lamb  before  the 
place  where  God  should  set  his  name ;  and  by  eating  it  up 
that  night:  they  were  also  to  eat  with  it  a  salad  of  bitter 

2  d  2 


404 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  herbs  and  unleavened  bread;  and  when  they  went  to  eat  of 
XXVTII. lamb,  they  repeated  these  words  of  Moses;  e  that  it  was 
the  Lord's  passover.'  Now  though  the  first  lamb  that  was 
killed  in  Egypt  was  indeed  the  sacrifice  upon  which  God  pro- 
mised to  pass  over  their  houses  ;  yet  the  lambs  that  were  after- 
wards offered  were  only  the  memorials  of  it ;  though  they  still 
carried  that  name,  which  was  given  to  the  first,  and  were 
called  the  Lord's  passover. 

So  that  the  Jews  were  in  the  paschal  supper  accustomed  to 
call  the  memorial  of  a  thing  by  the  name  of  that  of  which  it 
was  the  memorial :  and  as  the  deliverance  out  of  Egypt  was  a 
type  and  representation  of  that  greater  deliverance  that  we 
were  to  have  by  the  Messias,  the  first  lamb  being  the  sacrifice 
of  that  deliverance,  and  the  succeeding  lambs  the  memorials 
of  it ;  so,  in  order  to  this  new  and  greater  deliverance,  Christ 
1  Cor.v.  7.  himself  was  our  e  passover,  that  was  sacrificed  for  us  he  was 
John  i.  29.  the  '  Lamb  of  God'  that  was  both  to  '  take  awav  the  sins  of 
the  world,'  and  was  to  '  lead  captivity  captive ;'  to  bring  us 
out  of  the  bondage  of  sin  and  Satan  into  the  obedience  of  his 
gospel. 

Compare  He  therefore  chose  the  time  of  the  passover,  that  he  might 
Matt. xxvi. then  offered  up  for  us;  and  did  institute  this  memorial  of 
Mark  xiv.  it  while  he  was  celebrating  the  Jewish  pascha  with  his  dis- 

22.  ciples,  who  were  so  much  accustomed  to  the  forms  and 
Luke  xxii.  phraSes  of  that  supper,  in  which  every  master  of  a  family  did 
1  Cor.  xi.  officiate  among  his  household,  that  it  was  very  natural  to  them 

23.  to  understand  all  that  our  Saviour  said  or  did  according  to 
those  forms  with  which  they  were  acquainted. 

There  were  after  supper,  upon  a  new  covering  of  the  table, 
loaves  of  unleavened  bread,  and  cups  of  wine  set  on  it ;  in 
which,  though  the  bread  was  very  unacceptable,  yet  they 
drank  liberally  of  the  wine :  Christ  took  a  portion  of  that 
bread,  and  brake  it,  and  gave  it  to  his  disciples,  and  said, 
'  This  is  my  body  which  is  broken  for  vou  :  Do  this  in  remem- 
brance of  me.'  He  did  not  say  only,  £  This  is  my  body,'  but 
'  This  is  my  bodv  broken ;'  so  that  his  body  must  be  under- 
stood to  be  there  in  its  broken  state,  if  the  words  are  to  be 
expounded  literallv.  And  no  reason  can  be  assigned  why  the 
word  broken  should  be  so  separated  from  body ;  or  that  the 
bread  should  be  literally  his  body,  and  not  literally  his  body 
broken  :  the  whole  period  must  be  either  literally  true,  or  must 
be  understood  mystically.  And  if  anv  will  say,  that  his  body 
cannot  be  there,  but  in  the  same  state  in  which  it  is  now  in 
heaven ;  and  since  it  is  not  now  broken,  nor  is  the  blood  shed 
or  separated  from  the  body  there,  therefore  the  words  must  be 
understood  thus ;  •'  This  is  my  body  which  is  to  be  broken.' 
But  from  thence  we  argue,  that  since  all  is  one  period,  it  must 
be  all  understood  in  the  same  manner ;  and  since  it  is  impos- 
sible that  broken  and  shed  can  be  understood  literally  of  the 
body  and  blood,  that  therefore  the  whole  is  to  be  mystically 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


405 


understood :  and  this  appears  more  evident,  since  the  dis-  ART 
ciples,  who  were  naturally  slow  at  understanding  the  easiest  XX VIM, 
mysteries  that  he  opened  to  them,  must  naturally  have  under-  ' 
stood  those  words  as  they  did  the  other  words  of  the  paschal 
supper,  '  This  is  the  Lord's  passover  that  is,  this  is  the 
memorial  of  it:  and  that  the  rather,  since  Christ  added  these 
words,  1  Do  this  in  remembrance  of  me.'  If  they  had  under- 
stood them  in  any  other  sense,  that  must  have  surprised  them, 
and  naturally  have  led  them  to  ask  him  many  questions  : 
which  we  find  them  doing  upon  occasions  that  were  much 
less  surprising,  as  appears  by  the  questions  in  the  14th  of  St. 
John,  that  discourse  coming  probably  immediately  after  this 
institution  :  whereas  no  question  was  asked  upon  this  :  so  it  is 
reasonable  to  conclude  that  they  could  understand  these 
words,  '  This  is  my  body,'  no  other  way,  but  as  they  under- 
stood that  of  the  lamb,  k  This  is  the  Lord's  passover.'  And 
by  consequence,  as  their  celebrating  the  pascha  was  a  constant 
memorial  of  the  deliverance  out  of  Egypt,  and  was  a  symbo- 
lical action  by  which  they  had  a  title  to  the  blessings  of  the 
covenant  that  Moses  made  with  their  fathers  ;  it  was  natural 
for  them  to  conclude,  that  after  Christ  had  made  himself  to 
be  truly  that,  which  the  first  lamb  was  in  a  type,  the  true 
sacrifice  of  a  greater  and  better  passover ;  they  were  to  com- 
memorate it,  and  to  communicate  in  the  benefits  and  effects  of 
it,  by  continuing  that  action  of  taking,  blessing,  breaking,  and 
distributing  of  bread :  which  was  to  be  the  memorial  and  the 
communion  of  his  death  in  all  succeeding  ages. 

This  will  yet  appear  more  evident  from  the  second  part  of 
this  institution  :  he  took  the  cup  and  blessed  it,  and  gave  it 
to  them,  saying,  '  This  cup  is  the  new  testament,'  or  new 
covenant,  '  in  my  blood  :  drink  ye  all  of  it.'  Or,  as  the  other 
gospels  report  it,  '  This  is  my  blood  of  the  new  testament, 
which  is  shed  for  many  for  the  remission  of  sins.'  As  Moses 
had  enjoined  the  sprinkling  of  the  blood  of  the  lamb,  so  he 
himself  sprinkled  both  the  book  of  the  law  and  all  the  people 
with  the  blood  of  calves  and  of  goats,  saying,  '  This  is  the  Heb.ix.20. 
blood  of  the  testament  (or  covenant)  which  God  hath  enjoined 
you.'  The  blood  of  the  paschal  lamb  was  the  token  of  that 
covenant  which  God  made  then  with  them. 

The  Jews  were  under  a  very  strict  prohibition  of  eating  no 
blood  at  all :  but  it  seems  by  the  Psalms,  that  when  they  paid  psal.  cxvi. 
their  vows  unto  God,  they  took  in  their  hands  '  a  cup  of  sal- 
vation,' that  is,  of  an  acknowledgment  of  their  salvation,  and 
so  were  to  rejoice  before  the  Lord. 

These  being  the  laws  and  customs  of  the  Jews,  they  could 
not  without  horror  have  heard  Christ,  when  he  gave  them  the 
cup,  say,  '  This  is  my  blood  :'  the  prohibition  of  blood  was 
given  in  such  severe  terms ;  as  that  £  God  would  set  his  face  Levit.  vii. 
against  him  that  did  eat  blood,  and  cut  him  off  from  among  26.\2'* 

*  °  xvn.  14. 


406 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  his  people.'*  And  this  was  so  often  repeated  in  the  books  of 
XXVlll.  Moses,  that  besides  the  natural  horror  which  humanity  gives 
at  the  mention  of  drinking  a  man's  blood,  it  was  a  special 
part  of  their  religion  to  make  no  use  of  blood :  yet  after  all 
this,  the  disciples  were  not  startled  at  it ;  which  shews  that 
they  must  have  understood  it  in  such  a  way  as  was  agreeable 
to  the  law  and  customs  of  their  country :  and  since  St.  Luke 
and  St.  Paul  report  the  words  that  our  Saviour  said  when  he 
gave  it,  differently  from  what  is  reported  by  St.  Matthew  and 
St.  Mark,  it  is  most  probable  that  he  spake  both  the  one  and 
the  other ;  that  he  first  said,  '  This  is  my  blood,'  and  then, 
as  a  clearer  explanation  of  it,  he  said,  e  This  cup  is  the  new 
testament  in  my  blood :'  the  one  being  a  more  easy  expres- 
sion, and  in  a  style  to  which  the  Jews  had  been  more  accus- 
tomed. They  knew  that  the  blood  of  the  lamb  was  sprinkled  ; 
and  by  their  so  doing  they  entered  into  a  covenant  with  God : 
and  though  the  blood  was  never  to  be  sprinkled  after  the  first 
passover ;  yet  it  was  to  be  poured  out  before  the  Lord,  in 
remembrance  of  that  sprinkling  in  Egypt :  in  remembrance  of 
that  deliverance,  they  drank  of  the  cup  of  blessing  and  salva- 
tion, and  rejoiced  before  the  Lord.  So  that  they  could  not 
understand  our  Saviour  otherwise,  than  that  the  cup  so  blessed 
was  to  be  to  them  the  assurance  of  a  new  testament  or  covenant, 
which  was  to  be  established  by  the  blood  of  Christ;  and 
which  was  to  be  shed  :  in  lieu  of  which  they  were  to  drink 
this  '  cup  of  blessing'  and  praise. 

According  to  their  customs  and  phrases,  the  disciples  could 
understand  our  Saviour's  words  in  this  sense,  and  in  no  other. 
So  that  if  he  had  intended  that  they  should  have  understood 
him  otherwise,  he  must  have  expressed  himself  in  another 
manner ;  and  must  have  enlarged  upon  it,  to  have  corrected 
those  notions,  into  which  it  was  otherwise  most  natural  for 
Jews  to  have  fallen.  Here  is  also  to  be  remembered  that 
which  was  formerly  observed  upon  the  word  broken,  that  if 
the  words  are  to  be  expounded  literally,  then  if  the  cup  is  lite- 
rally '  the  blood  of  Christ,'  it  must  be  his  blood  shed,  poured 
out  of  his  veins,  and  separated  from  his  body.  And  if  it  is 
impossible  to  understand  it  so,  we  conclude  that  we  are  in  the 

*  '  Transubstantiation  is  built  on  this  error ;  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  did, 
on  the  night  of  his  instituting-  this  sacrament,  eat  his  own  flesh,  and  drink  his  own 
blood,  and  give  both  to  his  disciples.  And  this  makes  our  Lord  a  transgressor  of 
the  law  of  Gon,  which  forbids  any  man  to  eat  blood,  Levit.  xvii.  14,  "  For  it  is  the 
life  of  all  flesh ;  the  blood  of  it  is  for  the  life  thereof :  therefore  I  said  unto  the 
children  of  Israel,  ye  shall  eat  the  blood  of  no  manner  of  flesh  :  for  the  life 
of  all  flesh  is  the  blood  thereof:  whosoever  eateth  it  shall  be  cut  off."  Perhaps 
you  will  say,  that  our  Lord  was  not  bound  by  this  law,  or  that  he  had  power  to 
set  it  aside.  He  was  bound  by  it  inasmuch  as  he  was  the  man  Christ  Jesus  ;  for 
it  is  written  in  Gal.  iv.  4,  that  he  was,  "  made  under  the  law."  And  although  he 
had  power  to  set  aside  the  law,  yet  he  did  not  do  so,  for  he  himself  says  in  Matt, 
v.  17,  "  Think  not  that  I  am  come  to  destroy  the  law,  or  the  prophets  :  /  am  not 
come  to  destroy,  but  to  fulfil."  The  decree  of  the  Apostles.  Acts  xv.  29,  also  binds 
the  Christians  to  abstain  from  blood.'    P<J^e's  Letters  to  a  Romish  Priest.  [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


407 


right  to  understand  the  whole  period  in  a  mystical  and  figu-  ART 
rative  sense.  And  therefore  since  a  man  born  and  bred  a  XXVI1' 
Jew,  and  more  particularly  accustomed  to  the  paschal  cere- 
monies, could  not  have  understood  our  Saviour's  words, 
chiefly  at  the  time  of  that  festivity,  otherwise  than  of  a  new 
covenant  that  he  was  to  make,  in  which  li is  '  body  was  to  be 
broken,'  and  his  '  blood  shed'  for  the  '  remission  of  sins  ;'  and 
that  he  was  to  substitute  bread  and  wine,  to  be  the  lasting 
memorials  of  it;  in  the  repeating  of  which,  his  disciples  were 
to  renew  their  covenant  with  God,  and  to  claim  a  share  in  the 
blessings  of  it ;  this,  I  say,  was  the  sense  that  must  naturally 
have  occurred  to  a  Jew ;  upon  all  this,  we  must  conclude, 
that  this  is  the  true  sense  of  these  words ;  or,  that  otherwise 
our  Saviour  must  have  enlarged  more  upon  them,  and  ex- 
pressed his  meaning  more  particularly.  Since  therefore  he 
said  no  more  than  what,  according  to  the  ideas  and  customs 
of  the  Jews,  must  have  been  understood  as  has  been  explained, 
we  must  conclude,  that  it,  and  it  only,  is  the  true  sense  of 
them. 

But  we  must  next  consider  the  importance  of  a  long  dis- 
course of  our  Saviour's,  set  down  by  St.  John,  which  seems  John  vi. 
such  a  preparation  of  his  apostles  to  understand  this  insti-  32>  33- 
tution  literally,  that  the  weight  of  this  argument  must  turn 
upon  the  meaning  of  that  discourse.  The  design  of  that  was 
to  shew,  that  the  doctrine  of  Christ  was  more  excellent  than 
the  law  of  Moses ;  that  though  Moses  gave  the  Israelites 
manna  from  heaven  to  nourish  their  bodies,  yet  notwithstand- 
ing that  'they  died  in  the  wilderness  :'  but  Christ  was  to  give 
his  followers  such  food  that  it  should  give  them  life ;  so  that 
if  they  'did  eat  of  it,  they  should  never  die:'  where  it  is 
apparent,  that  the  bread  and  nourishment  must  be  such  as 
the  life  was ;  and  that  being  eternal  and  spiritual,  the  bread 
must  be  so  understood :  for  it  is  clearly  expressed  how  that 
food  was  to  be  received ;  '  he  that  believeth  on  me  hath  ever-  ver.  40. 
lasting  life.' 

Since  then  he  had  formerly  said,  that  the  bread  which  he 
was  to  give,  should  make  them  '  live  for  ever ;'  and  since  here 
it  is  said,  that  this  life  is  given  by  faith ;  then  this  bread  must 
be  his  doctrine  :  for,  this  is  that  which  faith  receives.  And 
when  the  Jews  desired  him  to  give  them  evermore  of  that 
bread,  he  answered,  '  I  am  the  bread  of  life :  he  that  comes  to  ver.  47, 48, 
me  shall  never  hunger;  and  he  that  believeth  on  me  shall 
never  thirst.' 

In  these  words  he  tells  them  that  they  received  that  bread 
by  coming  to  him,  and  by  believing  on  him.  Christ  calls 
himself  that  bread,  and  says,  that  a  'man  must  eat  thereof;' 
which  is  plainly  a  figure :  and  if  figures  are  confessed  to  be  in 
some  parts  of  their  discourse,  there  is  no  reason  to  deny  that 
they  run  quite  through  it.  Christ  says,  that  this  e  bread  was 
his  flesh,  which  he  was  to  give  for  the  life  of  the  world ;' 


408 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  which  can  only  be  meant  of  his  offering  himself  up  upon  the 
XXVIIL  cross  for  the  sins  of  the  world.    The  Jews  murmured  at  this, 

and  said,  '  How  can  this  man  give  us  his  flesh  to  eat  ?'  To 
John  vi.  which  our  Saviour  answers,  that  '  except  they  did  eat  the 
53, 54, 55.  flesh  and  drink  the  blood  of  the  Son  of  man,  they  had  no  life 

in  them.' 

Now  if  these  words  are  to  be  understood  of  a  literal  eating 
of  his  flesh  in  the  sacrament,  then  no  man  can  be  saved  that 
does  not  receive  it :  it  was  a  natural  consequence  of  the 
expounding  these  words  of  the  sacrament  to  give  it  to  children, 
since  it  is  so  expressly  said,  that  life  is  not  to  be  had  without 
it.  But  the  words  that  come  next  carry  this  matter  further  ; 
s  Whoso  eateth  my  flesh,  and  drinketh  my  blood,  hath  eternal 
life.'  It  is  plain  that  Christ  is  here  speaking  of  that,  without 
which  no  man  can  have  life,  and  by  which  all  who  received  it 
have  lift :  if  therefore  this  is  to  be  expounded  of  the  sacrament, 
none  can  be  damned  that  does  receive  it,  and  none  can  be 
saved  that  receives  it  not. 

Therefore  since  eternal  life  does  always  follow  the  '  eating 
of  Christ's  flesh,'  and  the  'drinking  his  blood,'  and  cannot  be 
had  without  it;  then  this  must  be  meant  of  an  internal  and 
spiritual  feeding  on  him :  for,  as  none  are  saved  without  that, 
so  all  are  saved  that  have  it.  This  is  yet  clearer  from  the 
words  that  follow,  '  my  flesh  is  meat  indeed,  and  my  blood  is 
drink  indeed  :'  it  may  well  be  inferred,  that  Christ's  flesh  is 
eaten  in  the  same  sense,  in  which  he  says  it  is  meat :  now  cer- 
tainly it  is  not  literally  meat ;  for  none  do  say  that  the  body 
is  nourished  by  it;  and  yet  there  is  somewhat  emphatical  in 
this,  since  the  word  indeed  is  not  added  in  vain,  but  to  give 
weight  to  the  expression, 
ver.  56.  It  is  also  said,  '  he  that  eats  my  flesh,  and  drinks  my  blood, 
dwells  in  me,  and  I  in  him.'  Here  the  description  seems  to 
be  made  of  that  eating  and  drinking  of  his  flesh  and  blood ; 
that  it  is  such  as  the  mutual  indwelling  of  Christ  and  believers 
is.  Now  that  is  certainly  only  internal  and  spiritual,  and  not 
carnal  or  literal :  and  therefore  such  also  must  the  eating  and 
drinking  be. 

All  this  seems  to  be  very  fully  confirmed  from  the  con- 
clusion of  that  discourse,  which  ought  to  be  considered  as  the 
key  to  it  all;  for  when  the  Jews  were  offended  at  the  hardness 
ver.  63.  of  Christ's  discourse,  he  said, '  It  is  the  spirit  that  quickeneth ; 
the  flesh  profiteth  nothing :  the  words  I  speak  unto  you,  they 
are  spirit,  and  they  are  life:'  which  do  plainly  import,  that 
his  former  discourse  was  to  be  understood  in  a  spiritual  sense, 
that  it  was  a  divine  Spirit  that  quickened  them,  or  gave  them 
that  eternal  life,  of  which  he  had  been  speaking ;  and  that  the 
flesh,  his  natural  body,  was  not  the  conveyer  of  it. 

All  that  is  confirmed  by  the  sense  in  which  we  find  eating 
and  drinking  frequently  used  in  the  scriptures,  according  to 
what  is  observed  by  Jewish  writers ;  they  stand  for  wisdom, 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


409 


learning,  and  all  intellectual  apprehensions, through  which  the  ART. 
soul  of  man  is  preserved,  by  the  perfection  that  is  in  them,  as  XXU11- 
the  body  is  preserved  by  food :  So,  '  Buy  and  eat :  eat  fat 
things ;  drink  of  wine  well  refined.' 

Maimonides  also  observes,  that  whensoever  eating  and  More  Ne- 
drinking  are  mentioned  in  the  Book  of  Proverbs,  they  are  to  vochira- 
be  understood  of  wisdom  and  the  law:  and  after  he  has 
brought  several  places  of  scripture  to  this  purpose,  he  con- 
cludes, that  because  this  acceptation  of  eating  occurs  so  often, 
and  is  so  manifest,  as  if  it  were  the  primary  and  most  proper 
sense  of  the  word;  therefore  hunger  and  thirst  stand  for  a  pri- 
vation of  wisdom  and  understanding.    And  the  Chaldee  para- 
phrast  turns  these  words,  '  ye  shall  draw  water  out  of  the  Isa.  xu.  3 
wells  of  salvation;'  thus,  'ye  shall  receive  a  new  doctrine  with 
joy  from  some  select  persons.' 

Since  then  the  figure  of  eating  and  drinking  was  used  among 
the  Jews,  for  receiving  and  imbibing  a  doctrine ;  it  was  no 
wonder  if  our  Saviour  pursued  it  in  a  discourse,  in  which 
there  are  several  hints  given  to  shew  us  that  it  ought  to  be 
so  understood. 

It  is  further  observable,  that  our  Saviour  did  frequently 
follow  that  common  way  of  instruction  among  the  eastern 
nations,  by  figures,  that  to  us  would  seem  strong  and  bold. 
These  were  much  used  in  those  parts  to  excite  the  attention 
of  the  hearers  ;  and  they  are  not  always  to  be  severely  ex- 
pounded according  to  the  full  extent  that  the  words  will  bear. 
The  parable  of  the  unjust  judge,  of  the  unjust  steward,  of  the 
ten  virgins,  of  plucking  out  the  right  eye,  and  cutting  off  the 
right  hand  or  foot,  and  several  others,  might  be  instanced. 
Our  Saviour  in  these  considered  the  genius  of  those  to  whom 
he  spoke  :  so  that  these  figures  must  be  restrained  only  to 
that  particular,  for  which  he  meant  them  ;  and  must  not  be 
stretched  to  every  thing  to  which  the  words  may  be  carried. 
We  find  our  Saviour  compares  himself  to  a  great  many  things; 
to  a  vine,  a  door,  and  a  way :  and  therefore  when  the  scope  of 
a  discourse  does  plainly  run  in  a  figure,  we  are  not  to  go  and 
descant  on  every  word  of  it;  much  less  may  any  pretend  to 
say,  that  some  parts  of  it  are  to  be  understood  literally, 
and  some  parts  figuratively. 

For  instance,  if  that  chapter  of  St.  John  is  to  be  understood 
literally,  then  Christ's  flesh  and  blood  must  be  the  nourishment 
of  our  bodies,  so  as  to  be  meat  indeed;  and  that  we  shall 
'  never  hunger  any  more,  and  never  die  after5  we  have  eat  of 
it.  If  therefore  all  do  confess  that  those  expressions  are 
to  be  understood  figuratively,  then  we  have  the  same  reason 
to  conclude  that  the  whole  is  a  figure  :  for  it  is  as  rea- 
sonable for  us  to  make  all  of  it  a  figure,  as  it  is  for  them 
to  make  those  parts  of  it  a  figure  which  they  cannot  con- 
veniently expound  in  a  literal  sense.  From  all  which  it  is 
abundantly  clear  that  nothing  can  be  drawn  from  that  dis- 


410 


AX  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  course  of  our  Saviour's,  to  make  it  reasonable  to  believe  that 
K  XV  III.  the  words  of  the  institution  of  this  sacrament  ought  to  be 
literallv  understood :  on  the  contrarv,  our  Saviour  himself 
calls  the  wine,  after  those  words  had  been  used  by  him,  the 
'fruit  of  the  vine,'  which  is  as  strict  a  form  of  speech  as  can 
well  be  imagined,  to  make  us  understand  that  the  nature  of 
the  wine  was  not  altered :  and  when  St.  Paul  treats  of  it 
in  those  two  chapters,  in  which  all  that  is  left  us  besides  the 
history  of  the  institution  concerning  the  sacrament  is  to 
be  found,  he  calls  it  five  times  bread,  and  never  once  the 
Cor-  *•  body  of  Christ.  In  one  place  he  calls  it  the  '  communion 
of  the  bodv.  as  the  cup  is  the  communion  of  the  blood  of 
Christ.'  Which  is  rather  a  saying,  that  it  is  in  some  sort, 
and  after  a  manner,  the  body  and  the  blood  of  Christ,  than 
that  it  is  so  strictlv  speaking. 

If  this  sacrament  had  been  that  mysterious  and  uncon- 
ceivable thing  which  it  has  been  since  believed  to  be,  we 
cannot  imagine  but  that  the  books  of  the  New  Testament, 
the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  and  their  Epistles,  should  have 
contained  fuller  explanations  of  it,  and  larger  instructions 
about  it. 

There  is  enough  indeed  said  in  them  to  support  the  plain 
and  natural  sense  that  we  give  to  this  institution ;  and  be- 
cause no  more  is  said,  and  the  design  of  it  is  plainly  declared 
to  be  to  remember  Christ's  death,  and  to  1  shew  it  forth  till 
he  come,'  we  reckon  that  by  this  natural  simplicity,  in  which 
this  matter  is  delivered  to  us,  we  are  very  much  confirmed  in 
that  plain  and  easv  signification,  which  we  put  upon  our 
Saviour's  words.  Plain  things  need  not  be  insisted  on :  but 
if  the  most  sublime  and  wonderful  thing  in  the  world  seems 
to  be  delivered  in  words  that  yet  are  capable  of  a  lower  and 
plainer  sense,  then  unless  there  is  a  concurrence  of  other  cir- 
cumstances, to  force  us  to  that  higher  meaning  of  them,  we 
ought  not  to  go  into  it ;  for  simple  things  prove  themselves  : 
whereas  the  more  extraordinary  that  any  thing  is,  it  requires 
a  fulness  and  evidence  in  the  proof,  proportioned  to  the 
uneasiness  of  conceiving  or  believing  it. 

We  do  therefore  understand  our  Saviour's  institution  thus, 
that  as  he  was  to  give  '  his  body  to  be  broken'  and  his  '  blood 
to  he  shed  for  our  sins,'  so  he  intended  that  this  his  death 
and  suffering  should  be  still  commemorated  by  all  such  as 
look  for  '  remission  of  sins'  by  it,  not  only  in  their  thoughts 
and  devotions,  but  in  a  visible  representation :  which  he  ap- 
pointed should  be  done  in  symbols,  that  should  be  both  very- 
plain  and  simple,  and  yet  very  expressive  of  that  which  he 
intended  should  be  remembered  by  them. 

Bread  is  the  plainest  food  that  the  body  of  man  can  receive, 
and  trine  was  the  common  nourishing  liquor  of  that  country ; 
so  he  made  choice  of  these  materials,  and  in  them  appointed 
a  representation  and  remembrance  to  be  made  of  his  body 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


411 


Sroken,  and  of  his  blood  shed ;  that  is,  of  his  death  and  suffer-    A  RT. 
ings  till  his  second  corning :  and  he  obliged  his  followers  to  XXVIIt 
repeat  this  frequently.    In  the  doing  of  it  according  to  his 
institution,  they  profess  the  belief  of  his  death,  for  the  remis- 
sion of  their  sins,  and  that  they  look  for  his  second  coming. 

This  does  also  import,  that  as  bread  and  wine  are  the 
simplest  of  bodily  nourishments,  so  his  death  is  that  which 
restores  the  souls  of  those  that  do  believe  in  him  :  as  bread 
and  wine  convey  a  vital  nourishment  to  the  body,  so  the 
sacrifice  of  his  death  conveys  somewhat  to  the  soul  that  is 
vital,  that  fortifies  and  exalts  it.  And  as  water  in  baptism 
is  a  natural  emblem  of  the  purity  of  the  Christian  religion, 
bread  and  wine  in  the  eucharist  are  the  emblems  of  somewhat 
that  is  derived  to  us,  that  raises  our  faculties,  and  fortifies  all 
our  powers. 

St.  Paul  does  very  plainly  tell  us,  that  e  unworthy  receivers,'  1  Cor.  xi. 
that  did  neither  examine  nor  discern  themselves,  nor  yet  dis-  27,  29, 
cern  the  Lord's  body,  '  were  guilty  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
the  Lord,  and  did  eat  and  drink  their  own  damnation  that 
is,  such  as  do  receive  it  without  truly  believing  the  Christian 
religion,  without  a  grateful  acknowledgment  of  Christ's  death 
and  sufferings,  without  feeling  that  they  are  walking  suitably 
to  this  religion  that  they  profess,  and  without  that  decency  and 
charity,  which  becomes  so  holy  an  action ;  but  that  receive 
the  bread  and  wine  only  as  bare  bodily  nourishments,  without 
considering  that  Christ  has  instituted  them  to  be  the  memo- 
rials of  his  death ;  such  persons  are  guilty  of  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ :  that  is,  they  are  guilty  either  of  a  profana- 
tion of  the  sacrament  of  his  body  and  blood,  or  they  do  in  a 
manner  crucify  him  again,  and  put  him  to  an  open  shame ; 
when  they  are  so  faulty  as  the  Corinthians  were,  in  observing 
this  holy  institution  with  so  little  reverence,  and  with  such 
scandalous  disorders,  as  those  were  for  which  he  reproached 
them. 

Of  such  as  did  thus  profane  this  institution,  he  says  further, 
that  they  do  eat  and  drink  their  own  damnation,  or  judgment ; 
that  is,  punishment :  for  the  word  rendered  damnation  signifies 
sometimes  only  temporary  punishments. 

So  it  is  said,  that  'judgment  (the  word  is  the  same)  must  1  Pet-  iv« 
begin  at  the  house  of  God :'  God  had  sent  such  judgments  17' 
upon  the  Corinthians  for  those  disorderly  practices  of  theirs, 
that  some  had  fallen  sick,  and  others  had  died,  perhaps  by 
reason  of  their  drinking  to  excess  in  those  feasts :  but  as 
God's  judgments  had  come  upon  them ;  so  the  words  that 
follow  shew  that  these  judgments  were  only  chastisements, 
in  order  to  the  delivering  them  from  the  condemnation  under 
which  the  world  lies.  It  being  said,  that  '  when  we  are 
judged,  we  are  chastened  of  the  Lord,  that  we  should  not  be 
condemned  with  the  world.'  Therefore  though  God  may  very 
justly  and  even  in  great  mercy  punish  men  who  profane  this 


412 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   holy  ordinance;  vet  it  is  an  unreasonable  terror,  and  con- 
•  trary  to  the  nature  of  the  gospel  covenant,  to  carry  this  si> 
far,  as  to  think  that  it  is  an  unpardonable  sin ;  which  is  punished 
with  eternal  damnation. 

We  have  now  seen  the  ill  effects  of  unworthy  receiving,  and 
from  hence  according  to  that  gradation,  that  is  to  be  observed 
in  the  mercy  of  God  in  the  gospel,  that  it  not  only  holds  a 
proportion  with  his  justice,  but  'rejoiceth  over  it,'  we  may 
well  conclude  that  the  good  effects  upon  the  worthy  receiving 
of  it  are  equal  if  not  superior  to  the  bad  effects  upon  the  un- 
worthy receiving  of  it :  and  that  the  nourishment  which  the 
types,  the  bread  and  the  wine,  give  the  body,  are  answered  in 
the  effects,  that  the  thing  signified  by  them  has  upon  the 
soul. 

In  explaining  this  there  is  some  diversity :  some  teach  that 
this  memorial  of  the  death  of  Christ,  when  seriously  and  de- 
voutly gone  about,  when  it  animates  our  faith,  increases  our 
repentance,  and  inflames  our  love  and  zeal,  and  so  unites  us 
to  God  and  to  our  brethren ;  that,  I  say,  when  these  follow 
it,  which  it  naturally  excites  in  all  holy  and  good  minds,  then 
they  draw  down  the  returns  of  prayer,  and  a  further  increase 
of  grace  in  us ;  according  to  the  nature  and  promises  of  the 
new  covenant :  and  in  this  they  put  the  virtue  and  efficacy  of 
this  sacrament. 

But  others  think  that  all  this  belongs  only  to  the  inward 
acts  of  the  mind,  and  is  not  sacramental :  and  therefore  they 
think  that  the  eucharist  is  a  federal  act,  in  which  as  on  the 
one  hand  we  renew  our  baptismal  covenant  with  God,  so  on 
the  other  hand  we  receive  in  the  sacrament  a  visible  con- 
signation, as  in  a  tradition  by  a  symbol  or  pledge,  of  the 
blessings  of  the  new  covenant,  which  they  think  is  somewhat 
superadded  to  those  returns  of  our  prayers,  or  of  other  in- 
ward acts. 

This  they  think  answers  the  nourishment  which  the  body 
receives  from  the  symbols  of  bread  and  wine;  and  stands  in 
opposition  to  that  of  the  unworthy  receivers  being  guilty  of 
the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord;  and  their  eating  and  drink- 
ing that  which  will  bring  some  judgment  upon  themselves. 
l^Cor.  x.  "phis  they  also  found  on  these  words  of  St.  Paul, '  The  cup  of 
blessing  that  we  bless,  is  it  not  the  communion  of  the  blood 
of  Christ  ?  the  bread  which  we  break,  is  it  not  the  commu- 
nion of  the  body  of  Christ  V 

St.  Paul  considers  the  bread  which  was  offered  by  the  peo- 
ple as  an  emblem  of  their  unity,  that  as  there  was  one  loaf,  so 
they  were  one  body ;  and  that  they  were  all  partakers  of  that 
one  loaf :  from  hence  it  is  inferred,  that  since  the  word  ren- 
dered communion  signifies  a  communication  in  fellowship,  or 
partnership,  that  therefore  the  meaning  of  it  is,  that  in  the 
sacrament  there  is  a  distribution  made  in  that  symbolical 
action  of  the  death  of  Christ,  and  of  the  benefits  and  effects 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


413 


ot  it.    '  The  communion  of  the  Holy  Ghost'  is  a  common    A  R  T. 
sharing  in  the  effusion  of  the  Spirit;  the  same  is  meant  by  xxx  "'* 
that,  '  if  there  is  any  fellowship  of  the  Spirit ;'  that  is,  if  we  2  Cor  X111> 
do  all  partake  of  the  same  Spirit,  we  are  said  to  have  a  '  fel-  14. 
lowship  in  the  sufferings  of  Christ,'  in  which  every  one  must  £hjj-  "•  ^ 
take  his  share.    '  The  communication,'  or  fellowship,  £  of  the  i>hi.]!iii!*ii>.' 
mystery  of  the  gospel,'  was  its  being  shared  equally  among 
both  Jews  and  Gentiles  ;  and  the  fellowship  in  which  the  first 
converts  to  Christianity  lived,  was  their  liberal  distribution 
to  one  another,  they  holding  all  things  in  common.    In  these 
and  some  other  places  it  is  certain,  that  communion  signifies 
somewhat  that  is  more  real  and  effectual,  than  merely  men's 
owning  themselves  to  be  joined  together  in  a  society  ;  which  it 
is  true  it  does  also  often  signify :  and  therefore  they  conclude, 
that  as  in  bargains  or  covenants,  the  ancient  method  of  them 
before  writings  were  invented  was  the  mutual  delivering  of 
some  pledges,  which  were  the  symbols  of  that  faith,  which  was 
so  plighted,  instead  of  which  the  sealing  and  delivering  of 
writings  is  now  used  among  us ;  so  our  Saviour  instituted 
this  in  compliance  with  our  frailty,  to  give  us  an  outward  and 
sensible  pledge  of  his  entering  into  covenant  with  us,  of  whicli 
the  bread  and  wine  are  constituted  the  symbols. 

Others  think,  that  by  the  communion  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ  can  only  be  meant  the  joint  owning  of  Christ  and  of 
his  death,  in  the  receiving  the  sacrament;  and  that  no  com- 
munication nor  partnership  can  be  inferred  from  it :  because 
St.  Paul  brings  it  in  to  shew  the  Corinthians  how  detestable 
a  thing  it  was  for  a  Christian  to  join  in  the  idols'  feasts  ;  that 
it  was  to  be  a  '  partaker  with  devils  :'  so  they  think  that  the 
fellowship  or  communion  of  Christians  in  the  sacrament  must 
be  of  the  same  nature  with  the  '  fellowship  of  devils'  in  acts 
of  idolatry :  which  consisted  only  in  their  associating  them- 
selves with  those  that  worshipped  idols  ;  for  that  upon  the 
matter  was  the  worshipping  of  devils :  and  this  seems  to  be 
confirmed  by  that  which  is  said  of  the  Jews,  that  they  '  who  is  20* 
did  eat  of  the  sacrifices  were  partakers  of  the  altar ;'  which  it 
seems  can  signify  no  more  but  that  they  professed  that  reli- 
gion of  which  the  altar  was  the  chief  instrument ;  the  sacrifices 
being  offered  there. 

To  all  this  it  may  be  replied,  that  it  is  reasonable  enough 
to  believe,  that  according  to  the  power  which  God  suffered 
the  Devil  to  exercise  over  the  idolatrous  world,  there  might 
be  some  enchantment  in  the  sacrifices  offered  to  idols,  and 
that  the  Devil  might  have  some  power  over  those  that  did 
partake  of  them :  and  in  order  to  this,  St.  Paul  removed  an 
objection  that  might  have  been  made,  that  there  could  be  no 
harm  in  their  joining  to  the  idol  feasts ;  for  '  an  idol  was  no- 
thing ;'  and  so  that  which  was  offered  to  an  idol  could  contract 
no  defilement  from  the  idol,  it  being  nothing.  Now  if  the 
meaning  of  their  being  '  partakers  with  devils'  imports  only 


414 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.   their  joining  themselves  in  acts  of  fellowship  with  idolaters. 

XXVIII.  then  the  sin  of  this  would  have  easily  appeared,  without  such 
a  reinforcing  of  the  matter ;  for  though  an  idol  was  nothing, 
yet  it  was  still  a  great  sin  to  join  in  the  acts  that  were  meant 
to  be  the  worship  of  this  nothing ;  this  was  a  dishonouring  of 
God,  and  a  debasing  of  man.  But  St.  Paul  seems  to  carry 
the  argument  further ;  that  how  true  soever  it  was  that  the 
idol  was  nothing,  that  is,  a  dead  and  lifeless  thing,  that  had  no 
virtue  nor  operation,  and  that  by  consequence  could  derive 
nothing  to  the  sacrifice  that  was  offered  to  it ;  yet  since  those 
idols  were  the  instruments  by  which  the  Devil  kept  the  world 
in  subjection  to  him,  all  such  as  did  partake  in  their  sacrifices 
might  come  under  the  effects  of  that  magic,  that  might  be 
exerted  about  their  temples  or  sacrifices  :  by  which  the  credit 
of  idolatry  was  much  kept  up. 

And  though  every  Christian  had  a  sure  defence  against  the 
powers  of  darkness,  as  long  as  he  continued  true  to  his  reli- 
gion, yet  if  he  went  out  of  that  protection  into  the  empire  of 
the  Devil,  and  joined  in  the  acts  that  were  as  a  homage  to 
him,  he  then  fell  within  the  reach  of  the  Devil,  and  might 
justly  fear  his  being  brought  into  a  partnership  of  those 
magical  possessions  or  temptations  that  might  be  suffered  to 
fall  upon  such  Christians,  as  should  associate  themselves  in 
so  detestable  a  service. 

lCor.x.18.  In  the  same  sense  it  was  also  said,  '  that  all  the  Israelites 
who  did  eat  of  the  sacrifices  were  partakers  of  the  altar :'  that 
is,  that  all  of  them  who  joined  in  the  acts  of  that  religion,  such 
as  the  offering  their  peace-offerings,  for  of  those  of  that  kind 
they  might  only  eat,  all  these  were  '  partakers  of  the  altar 
that  is,  of  all  the  blessings  of  their  religion,  of  all  the  expia- 
tions, the  burnt-offerings  and  sin-offerings,  that  were  offered 
on  the  altar,  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  congregation :  for  that 
as  a  great  stock  went  in  a  common  dividend  among  such  as 
observed  the  precepts  of  that  law,  and  joined  in  the  acts  of 
worship  prescribed  by  it :  thus  it  appears  that  such  as  joined 
in  the  acts  of  idolatry  became  partakers  of  all  that  influence 
that  devils  might  have  over  those  sacrifices  ;  and  all  that 
continued  in  the  observances  of  the  Mosaical  law,  had  thereby 
a  partnership  in  the  expiations  of  the  altar  :  so  likewise  all 
Christians  who  receive  this  sacrament  worthily,  h'dxe  by  their 
so  doing  a  share  in  that  which  is  represented  by  it,  the  death 
of  Christ,  and  the  expiation  and  other  benefits  that  follow  it. 

This  seemed  necessary  to  be  fully  explained  :  for  this  matter, 
how  plain  soever  in  itself,  has  been  made  very  dark,  by  the 
ways  in  which  some  have  pretended  to  open  it.  With  this  I 
conclude  all  that  belongs  to  the  first  part  of  the  Article,  and 
that  which  was  first  to  be  explained  of  our  doctrine  concerning 
the  sacrament :  by  which  we  assert  a  real  presence  of  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ :  but  not  of  his  body  as  it  is  now  glorified 
in  heaven,  but  of  his  body  as  it  was  broken  on  the  cross,  w-hen 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


415 


his  f  blood  was  shed'  and  separated  from  it :  that  is,  his  ART. 
death,  with  the  merit  and  effects  of  it,  are  in  a  visible  and  XXVII] 
federal  act  offered  in  this  sacrament  to  all  worthy  believers. 

By  real  we  understand  true,  in  opposition  both  to  fiction 
and  imagination :  and  to  those  shadows  that  were  in  the 
Mosaical  dispensation,  in  which  the  manna,  the  rock,  the 
brazen  serpent,  but  most  eminently  the  cloud  of  glory, 
were  the  types  and  shadows  of  the  Messias  that  was  to  come : 
with  whom  came  '  grace  and  truth ;'  that  is,  a  most  wonderful 
manifestation  of  the  mercy  or  grace  of  God,  and  a  verifying 
of  the  promises  made  under  the  Law :  in  this  sense  we  acknow- 
ledge a  real  presence  of  Christ  in  the  sacrament :  though  we 
are  convinced  that  our  first  reformers  judged  right  concerning 
the  use  of  the  phrase  real  presence,  that  it  were  better  to  be 
let  fall  than  to  be  continued,  since  the  use  of  it,  and  that  idea 
which  does  naturally  arise  from  the  common  acceptation  of 
it,  may  stick  deeper,  and  feed  superstition  more,  than  all 
those  larger  explanations  that  are  given  to  it  can  be  able  to 
cure. 

But  howsoever  in  this  sense  it  is  innocent  of  itself,  and  may 
be  lawfully  used ;  though  perhaps  it  were  more  cautiously 
done  not  to  use  it,  since  advantages  have  been  taken  from 
it  to  urge  it  further  than  we  intend  it ;  and  since  it  has  been 
a  snare  to  some. 

I  go  in  the  next  place  to  explain  the  doctrine  of  the  church 
of  Rome  concerning  this  sacrament.  Tran substantiation  does 
express  it  in  one  word :  but  that  a  full  idea  may  be  given 
of  this  part  of  their  doctrine,  I  shall  open  it  in  all  its  branches 
and  consequences. 

The  matter  of  this  sacrament  is  not  bread  and  wine :  for 
they  are  annihilated  when  the  sacrament  is  made.  They  are 
only  the  remote  matter,  out  of  which  it  is  made  :  but  when 
the  sacrament  is  made,  they  cease  to  be ;  and  instead  of  them 
their  outward  appearances  or  accidents  do  only  remain:  which 
though  they  are  no  substances,  yet  are  supposed  to  have  a 
nature  and  essence  of  their  own,  separable  from  matter :  and 
these  appearances,  with  the  body  of  Christ  under  them,  are 
the  matter  of  the  sacrament. 

Now  though  the  natural  and  visible  body  of  Christ  could 
not  be  the  sacrament  of  his  body,  yet  they  think  his  real  body, 
being  thus  veiled  under  the  appearances  of  bread  and  wine, 
may  be  the  sacrament  of  his  glorified  body. 

Yet,  it  seeming  somewhat  strange  to  make  a  true  body  the 
sacrament  of  itself,  they  would  willingly  put  the  sacrament  in 
the  appearances  ;  but  that  would  sound  very  harsh,  to  make 
accidents  which  are  not  matter  to  be  the  matter  of  the  sacra- 
ment :  therefore  since  these  words,  This  is  my  body,  must  be 
literally  understood,  the  matter  must  be  the  true  body  of 
Christ ;  so  that  ChrisVs  body  is  the  sacrament  of  his  body. 

Christ's  body,  though  now  in  heaven,  is,  as  they  think, 


416 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  presented  in  even-  place  where  a  true  consecration  is  made. 
j-j^  And  though  it  is  in  heaven  in  an  extended  state,  as  all  other 
bodies  are,  yet  they  think  that  extension  may  be  separated 
from  matter,  as  well  as  the  other  appearances  or  accidents  are 
believed  to  be  separated  from  it.  And  Avhereas  our  souls  are 
believed  to  be  so  in  our  bodies,  that  though  the  whole  soul  is 
in  the  whole  body,  yet  all  the  soul  is  believed  to  be  in  even- 
part  of  it :  but  so,  that  if  any  part  of  the  body  is  separated 
from  the  rest,  the  soul  is  not  divided,  being  one  single  sub- 
stance, but  retires  back  into  the  rest  of  the  body  :  they 
apprehend  that  Christ's  body  is  present  after  the  manner  of  a 
spirit,  without  extension,  or  the  filling  of  space ;  so  that  the 
space  which  the  appearances  possess  is  still  a  vacuum,  or 
only  filled  by  the  accidents:  for  a  bodv  without  extension, 
as  they  suppose  Christ's  body  to  be,  can  never  fill  up  an 
extension. 

Christ's  body  in  the  sacrament  is  denominated  one;  yet 
still,  as  the  species  are  broken  and  divided,  so  many  new  bo- 
dies are  divided  from  one  another :  every  crumb  of  bread  and 
drop  of  wine  that  is  separated  from  the  whole,  is  a  new  body, 
and  yet  without  a  new  miracle,  all  being  done  in  consequence 
of  the  first  great  one  that  was  all  at  once  wrought. 

The  body  of  Christ  continues  in  this  state  as  long  as  the 
accidents  remain  in  theirs ;  but  how  it  should  alter  is  not  easy 
to  apprehend:  the  corruption  of  all  other  accidents  arises  f rum 
a  change  in  the  common  substance,  out  of  which  new  acci- 
dents do  arise,  while  the  old  ones  vanish ;  but  accidents 
without  a  subject  may  seem  more  fixed  and  stable :  yet  they 
are  not  so,  but  are  as  subject  to  corruption  as  other  accidents 
are :  howsoever,  as  long  as  the  alteration  is  not  total ;  though 
the  hread  should  be  both  mustv  and  mouldy,  and  the  wine 
both  uead  and  sour,  yet  as  long  as  the  bread  and  wine  are  still 
so  far  preserved,  or  rather  that  their  appearances  subsist,  so 
long  the  body  of  Christ  remains :  but  when  they  are  so  far 
altered  that  they  seem  to  be  no  more  bread  and  wine,  and 
that  they  are  corrupted  either  in  part  or  in  whole,  Christ's 
body  is  withdrawn,  either  in  part  or  in  whole. 

It  is  a  great  miracle  to  make  the  accidents  of  bread  and 
wine  subsist  without  a  subject ;  yet  the  new  accidents  that 
arise  upon  these  accidents,  such  as  mouldiness  or  sourness, 
come  on  without  a  miracle,  but  they  do  not  know  how. 
When  the  main  accidents  are  destroyed,  then  the  presence 
of  Christ  ceases :  and  a  new  miracle  must  be  supposed  to 
produce  new  matter,  for  the  filling  up  of  that  space  which 
the  substance  of  bread  and  wine  did  formerly  fill ;  and  which 
was  all  this  while  possessed  by  the  accidents.  So  much  of  the 
matter  of  this  sacrament. 

The  form  of  it  is  in  the  words  of  consecration,  which 
though  they  sound  declarative,  as  if  the  thing  were  already 
done  ;  '  This  is  my  body/  and  1  This  is  my  blood  f  yet  they 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  417 


believe  them  to  be  productive.  But  whereas  the  common  ART. 
notion  of  the  form  of  a  sacrament  is,  that  it  sanctifies  and  ap-  XXVIII. 
plies  the  matter ;  here  the  former  matter  is  so  far  from  being 
consecrated  by  it,  that  it  is  annihilated,  and  new  matter  is 
not  sanctified,  but  brought  thither  or  produced :  and  whereas 
whensoever  we  say  of  any  thing,  this  is,  we  suppose  that  the 
thing  is,  as  we  say  it  is,  before  we  say  it;  yet  here  all  the 
while  that  this  is  a  saying  till  the  last  syllable  is  pronounced, 
it  is  not  that  which  it  is  said  to  be,  but  in  the  minute  in  which 
the  last  syllable  is  uttered,  then  the  change  is  made :  and  of 
this  they  are  so  firmly  persuaded,  that  they  do  presently  pay 
all  that  adoration  to  it,  that  they  would  pay  to  the  person  of 
Jesus  Christ  if  he  were  visibly  present:  though  the  whole 
virtue  of  the  consecration  depends  on  the  intention  of  a  priest: 
so  that  he  with  a  cross  intention  hinders  all  this  series  of  mi- 
racles, as  he  fetches  it  all  on,  by  letting  his  intention  go  along 
with  it.* 

•  The  adoration  of  the  Eucharist  is  thus  decreed  by  the  council  of  Trent . 
'  De  cultu  et  veneration?  hutc  sanctissimo  Sacramento  exhibenda. 

'  Null  us  itaque  dubitandi  locus  relinquitur,  quin  omnes  Christi  fideles  pro  more 
in  catholica  ecclesia  semper  recepto  latriae  cultum,  qui  vero  Deo  debetur,  buic  sanc- 
tissimo sacramento  in  veneratione  exhibeant :  neque  cnim  ideo  minus  est  adoran- 
dum,  quod  fuerit  a  Christo  Domino,  ut  sumatur,  institutum :  nam  ilium  eundem 
Deum  praesentem  in  eo  adesse  credimus,  qucm  Pater  aeternus  introducens  in  orbem 
terrarum,  dicit :  Et  adorent  eum  omnes  angcli  Dei.'   Sessio  xiii.  cap.  5. 

'  Si  quis  dixerit,  in  sancto  encharistiae  sacramento  Christum  unigenitum  Dei 
filium  non  esse  cultu  latriae,  etiam  externo,  adorandum,  atque  ideo  nec  festiva  pecu- 
liari  cclebritatc  venerandum,  neque  in  proces.-ionibus  secundum  laudabilem  et 
universalem  ecclesiae  sanctae  ritum  et  consuetudinem,  solemnitur  ^ircumgestandum, 
vel  non  publice,  ut  adoretur,  populo  proponendum,  et  ejus  adoratores  esse  idolo- 
latras  :  anathema  sit.'    Sessio  xiii.  canon  6. 

The  novelty  and  danger  of  this  adoration  is  clearly  and  forcibly  stated  in  the 
following  : 

'  Now  touching  the  adoration  of  the  sacrament,  Mr.  Harding  is  not  able  to  shew, 
neither  any  commandment  of  Christ,  nor  any  word  or  example  of  the  Apostles,  or 
ancient  Fathers  concerning  the  same.  It  is  a  thing  very  lately  devised  by  pope 
Honorius,  about  the  year  of  our  Lord  1226.  Afterward  increased  by  the  new 
solemn  feast  of  Corpus  Christi  day  by  pope  Urbanus,  anno  1264.  And  last  of  all 
confirmed  for  ever  by  multitudes  of  pardons  in  the  council  of  Vienna  by  pope  Cle- 
ment V.  anno  1310.  The  church  of  Asia  and  Graecia  never  received  it  until  this 
day.  The  matter  is  great,  and  cannot  be  attempted  without  great  danger.  To 
give  the  honour  of  God  to  a  creature,  that  is  no  God,  it  is  manifest  idolatry.  And 
all  idolaters,  as  St.  John  saith,  shall  have  their  portion  in  the  lake  burning  with  fire, 
and  brimstone,  which  is  the  second  death.' 

'  The  greatest  doctors  of  that  side  say,  that,  unless  transubstantiation  be  con- 
cluded, the  people  cannot  freely  worship  the  sacrament,  without  occasion  of 
idolatry.  Now  it  is  known  that  transubstantiation  is  a  new  fantasy,  newly  de- 
vised in  the  council  of  Lateran,  (a.i>.  1215)  in  Rome.  And  Doctor  Tonstal  saith, 
that  before  that  time  it  was  free  and  lawful  for  any  man  to  hold  the  contrary. 
Wherefore  it  is  likely,  that  before  that  time,  there  was  no  such  adoration.  Other- 
wise, it  must  needs  have  been  with  great  danger  of  idolatry.  But  after  that,  as  it 
is  said  before,  pope  Honorius  took  order  and  gave  commandment,  that  the  people 
should  adore  :  pope  Urbanus  added  thereto  a  new  solemn  feast  of  Corpus  Christi 
day  :  and  pope  Clement  confirmed  the  same  with  great  store  of  pardons.  This  is 
the  antiquity  and  petite  degree  of  this  kind  of  adoration.  The  great  danger  and 
horror  of  idolatry  that  hereof  riseth,  Mr.  Harding  thinketh  may  easily  be  solved  by 
the  example  of  Rachel,  and  Leah :  and  thus  he  bringeth  in  God's  mystical  pro- 
vidence for  defence  of  open  error:  and  thus  instead  of  Rachel  to  take  Leah,  and  to 
honour  a  creature  instead  of  God. 

'  Wherein  it  shall  be  necessary  briefly  to  touch,  how  many  ways,  even  by  their 

2  K 


418 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  If  it  may  be  said  of  some  doctrines,  that  the  bare  exposing 
^XVIIJ-  them  is  a  most  effectual  confutation  of  them ;  certainly  that 
is  more  applicable  to  this,  than  to  any  other  that  can  be  ima- 
gined:  for  though  I  have  in  stating  it  considered  some  of  tlie 
most  important  difficulties,  which  are  seen  and  confessed  by 
the  schoolmen  themselves,  who  have  poised  all  these  with 
much  exactness  and  subtilty ;  yet  I  have  passed  over  a  great 
many  more,  with  which  those  that  deal  in  school-divinity  will 
find  enough  to  exercise  both  their  thoughts  and  their  patience. 
They  run  out  in  many  subtilties,  concerning  the  accidents 
both  primary  and  secondary;  concerning  the  ubication,  the 
production  and  reproduction  of  bodies ;  concerning  the  pene- 
trability of  matter,  and  the  organization  of  a  penetrable  body ; 
concerning  the  way  of  the  destruction  of  the  species ;  con- 
cerning the  words  of  consecration  ;  concerning  the  water  that 
is  mixed  with  the  wine,  whether  it  is  first  changed  by  natural 
causes  into  wine ;  and  since  nothing  but  wine  is  transubstan- 
tiated, what  becomes  of  such  particles  of  water  that  are  not 
turned  into  wine  ?  What  is  the  grace  produced  by  the  sacra- 
ment, what  is  the  effect  of  the  presence  of  Christ  so  long  as 
he  is  in  the  body  of  the  communicant ;  what  is  got  by  his  pre- 
sence, and  what  is  lost  by  his  absence  ?  In  a  word,  let  a  man 
read  the  shortest  body  of  school-divinity  that  he  can  find,  and 
he  will  see  in  it  a  vast  number  of  other  difficulties  in  this 
matter,  of  which  their  own  authors  are  aware,  which  I  have 
quite  passed  over.    For  when  this  doctrine  fell  into  the  hands 


own  doctrine,  the  poor  simple  people  may  be  deceived,  and  yield  the  honour  of 
God  to  that  thing,  that  in  their  own  judgment  is  no  God.  Thus  therefore  they 
say,  if  the  priest  chance  to  forget  to  put  wine  into  the  cup,  and  so  pass  over  the 
consecration  without  wine :  or,  if  the  bread  be  made  of  any  other  than  wheaten 
flour,  which  may  possibly  and  easily  happen  :  or,  if  there  be  so  much  water  in 
quantity,  that  it  overcome  and  alter  the  nature  of  the  wine:  or,  if  the  wine  be 
changed  into  vinegar,  and  therefore  cannot  serve  to  consecration  :  or,  if  there  be 
thirteen  cakes  upon  the  table,  and  the  priest  for  his  consecration  determine  only 
upon  twelve,  in  which  case  they  say  not  one  of  them  all  is  consecrated :  or,  if  the 
priest  dissemble,  or  leave  out  the  words  of  consecration :  or,  if  he  forget  it,  or 
mind  it  not,  or  think  not  of  it :  In  every  one  of  these,  and  other  like  defects,  there 
is  nothing  consecrate,  and  therefore  the  people  in  these  cases,  honouring  the  sacra- 
ment, by  their  own  doctrine  giveth  the  glory  of  God  to  a  creature :  which  is 
undoubted  idolatry.  And  that  the  folly  thereof  may  the  better  appear,  one  of 
them  writeth  thus :  "  Quod  si  Sacerdos,"  &c.  If  the  priest  having  before  him 
sundry  cakes  at  the  time  of  consecration,  do  mind  only  and  precisely  to  consecrate 
that  only  cake  that  he  holdeth  in  his  hand,  some  say,  the  rest  be  not  consecrate : 
but  say  thou,  as  Duns  saith,  they  be  all  consecrate :  yea,  further  he  saith.  If  the 
priest  do  precisely  determine  to  consecrate  only  the  one  half  part  of  the  cake,  and 
not  likewise  the  other  half,  that  then,  the  cake  being  whole,  that  one  part  only  is 
consecrate,  and  not  the  other.  Pope  Gregory  saith,  If  the  priest  be  a  known 
adulterer,  or  fornicator,  and  continue  still  in  the  same,  that  his  blessing  shall  be 
turned  into  cursing  :  and  that  the  people  knowing  his  life,  and  nevertheless  hearing 
his  mass,  commit  idolatry. 

'  In  this  case  standeth  the  simple  people :  so  many  ways  and  so  easily  they  may 
be  deceived.  For  notwithstanding  they  may,  in  some  part,  know  the  priest's  life 
and  open  dealing,  yet  how  can  they  be  assured  of  his  secret  words,  of  his  intention, 
of  his  mind,  and  of  his  will  ?  or,  if  they  cannot,  how  can  they  safely  adore  the 
sacrament,  without  doub;  and  danger  of  idolatry?'  Jewel. — [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


419 


of  nice  and  exact  men,  they  were  soon  sensible  of  all  tlie  con-  ART. 
sequences  that  must  needs  follow  upon  it,  and  have  pursued  XXVIH 
all  these  with  a  closeness  far  beyond  any  thing  that  is  to  be 
found  among  the  writers  of  our  side. 

But  that  they  might  have  a  salvo  for  every  difficulty,  they 
framed  a  new  model  of  philosophy ;  new  theories  were  in- 
vented, of  substances  and  accidents,  of  matter  and  of  spirits, 
of  extension,  ubication,  and  impenetrability ;  and  by  the  new 
definitions  and  maxims  to  which  they  accustomed  men  in  the 
study  of  philosophy,  they  prepared  them  to  swallow  down  all 
this  more  easily,  when  they  should  come  to  the  study  of 
divinity. 

The  infallibility  of  the  church  that  had  expressly  defined  it, 
was  to  bear  a  great  part  of  the  burden  ;  if  the  church  was  in- 
fallible, and  if  they  were  that  church,  then  it  could  be  no 
longer  doubted  of.  In  dark  ages  miracles  and  visions  came 
in  abundantly  to  support  it :  in  ages  of  more  light,  the  infinite 
power  of  God,  the  words  of  the  institution,  it  being  the  testa- 
ment of  our  Saviour  then  dying,  and  soon  after  confirmed 
with  his  blood,  were  things  of  great  pomp,  and  such  as  were 
apt  to  strike  men  that  could  not  distinguish  between  the 
shows  and  the  strength  of  arguments.  But  when  all  our 
senses,  all  our  ideas  of  tilings,  rise  up  so  strongly  against 
every  part  of  this  chain  of  wonders,  we  ought  at  least  to 
expect  proofs  suitable  to  the  difficulty  of  believing  such  a 
flat  contradiction  to  our  reasons,  as  well  as  to  our  senses. 

We  have  no  other  notion  of  accidents,  but  that  they  are 
the  different  shapes  or  modes  of  matter ;  and  that  they  have 
no  being  distinct  from  the  body  in  which  they  appear :  we 
have  no  other  notion  of  a  body  but  that  it  is  an  extended  sub- 
stance, made  up  of  impenetrable  parts,  one  without  another  ; 
every  one  of  which  fills  its  proper  space :  we  have  no  other 
notion  of  a  body's  being  in  a  place  but  that  it  fills  it,  and  is  so 
in  it  as  that  it  can  be  nowhere  else  at  the  same  time:  and 
though  we  can  very  easily  apprehend  that  an  infinite  power 
can  both  create  and  annihilate  beings  at  pleasure ;  yet  we 
cannot  apprehend  that  God  does  change  the  essences  of 
things,  and  so  make  them  to  be  contrary  to  that  nature  and 
sort  of  being  of  which  he  has  made  them. 

Another  argument  against  transubstantiation  is  this ;  God 
has  made  us  capable  to  know  and  serve  him :  and,  in  order  to 
that,  he  has  put  some  senses  in  us,  which  are  the  conveyances 
of  many  subtile  motions  to  our  brains,  that  give  us  apprehen- 
sions of  the  objects  which  by  those  motions  are  represented 
to  us. 

When  those  motions  are  lively,  and  the  object  is  in  a  due 
distance ;  when  we  feel  that  neither  our  organs  nor  our  facul- 
ties are  under  any  disorder,  and  when  the  impression  is  clear 
and  strong,  we  are  determined  by  it;  we  cannot  help  being 

2e2 


420 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  so.  When  we  see  the  sun  risen,  and  all  is  bright  about  us,  it 
vill.  js  not  possible  for  us  to  think  that  it  is  dark  night;  no  autho- 
rity can  impose  it  on  us  ;  we  are  not  so  far  the  masters  of  our 
own  thoughts,  as  to  force  ourselves  to  think  it,  though  we 
would ;  for  God  has  made  us  of  such  a  nature,  that  we  are 
determined  by  such  an  evidence,  and  cannot  contradict  it. 
When  an  object  is  at  too  great  a  distance,  we  may  mistake ;  a 
weakness  or  an  ill  disposition  in  our  sight  may  misrepresent 
it ;  and  a  false  medium,  water,  a  cloud,  or  a  glass,  may  give  it 
a  tincture  or  cast,  so  that  we  may  see  cause  to  correct  our 
first  apprehensions,  in  some  sensations  :  but  when  we  have 
duly  examined  every  thing,  when  we  have  corrected  one  sense 
by  another,  we  grow  at  last  to  be  so  sure,  by  the  constitution 
of  that  nature  that  God  has  given  us,  that  we  cannot  doubt, 
much  less  believe,  in  contradiction  to  the  express  evidence  of 
our  senses. 

It  is  by  this  evidence  only  that  God  convinces  the  world  of 
the  authority  of  those  whom  he  sends  to  speak  in  his  name ; 
he  gives  them  a  power  to  work  miracles,  which  is  an  appeal 
to  the  senses  of  mankind ;  and  it  is  the  highest  appeal  that 
can  be  made ;  for  those  who  stood  out  against  the  conviction 
of  Christ's  miracles,  had  no  cloak  for  their  sins.  It  is  the  ut- 
most conviction  that  God  offers,  or  that  man  can  pretend  to  : 
from  all  which  we  must  infer  this,  that  either  our  senses  in 
their  clearest  apprehensions,  or  rather  representations  of 
things,  must  be  infallible,  or  we  must  throw  up  all  faith  and 
certainty ;  since  it  is  not  possible  for  us  to  receive  the  evi- 
dence that  is  given  us  of  any  thing  but  by  our  senses ;  and 
since  we  do  naturally  acquiesce  in  that  evidence,  we  must 
acknowledge  that  God  has  so  made  us,  that  this  is  his  voice 
in  us;  because  it  is  the  voice  of  those  faculties  that  he  has  put 
in  us ;  and  is  the  only  way  by  which  we  can  find  out  truth, 
and  be  led  by  it :  and  if  our  faculties  fail  us  in  any  one  thing, 
so  that  God  should  reveal  to  us  any  thing,  that  did  plainly 
contradict  our  faculties,  he  should  thereby  give  us  a  right 
to  disbelieve  them  for  ever. 

If  they  can  mistake  when  they  bring  any  object  to  us  with 
the  fullest  evidence  that  they  can  give,  we  can  never  depend 
upon  them,  nor  be  certain  of  any  thing,  because  they  shew  it. 
Nay,  we  are  not  and  cannot  be  bound  to  believe  that,  nor  any 
other  revelation  that  God  may  make  to  convince  us.  We 
can  only  receive  a  revelation  by  hearing  or  reading,  by  our 
ears  or  our  eyes.  So  if  any  part  of  this  revelation  destroys 
the  certainty  of  the  evidence,  that  our  senses,  our  eyes,  or 
our  ears,  give  us,  it  destroys  itself :  for  we  cannot  be  bound  to 
believe  it  upon  the  evidence  of  our  senses,  if  this  is  a  part  of 
it,  that  our  senses  are  not  to  be  trusted.  Nor  will  this  matter 
be  healed,  by  saying,  that  certainly  we  must  believe  God 
more  than  our  senses :  and  therefore,  if  he  has  revealed  any 
thing  to  us,  that  is  contrary  to  their  evidence,  we  must  as  to 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


421 


that  particular  believe  God  before  our  senses  ;  but  that  as  to  A  R  T. 
all  other  things  where  we  have  not  an  express  revelation  to  XXVIII. 
the  contrary,  we  must  still  believe  our  senses. 

There  is  a  difference  to  be  made  between  that  feeble  evi- 
dence that  our  senses  give  us  of  remote  objects,  or  those  loose 
inferences  that  we  may  make  from  a  slight  view  of  things, 
and  the  full  evidence  that  sense  gives  us ;  as  when  we  see  and 
smell  to,  we  handle  and  taste  the  same  object :  this  is  the  voice 
of  God  to  us ;  he  has  made  us  so  that  we  are  determined  by 
it :  and  as  we  should  not  believe  a  prophet  that  wrought  ever 
so  many  miracles,  if  he  should  contradict  any  part  of  that 
which  God  had  already  revealed ;  so  we  cannot  be  bound  to 
believe  a  revelation  contrary  to  our  sense ;  because  that  were 
to  believe  God  in  contradiction  to  himself ;  which  is  impos- 
sible to  be  true.  For  we  should  believe  that  revelation  cer- 
tainly upon  an  evidence,  which  itself  tells  us  is  not  certain ; 
and  this  is  a  contradiction.  We  believe  our  senses  upon  this 
foundation,  because  we  reckon  there  is  an  intrinsic  certainty 
in  their  evidence  ;  we  do  not  believe  them  as  we  believe 
another  man,  upon  a  moral  presumption  of  his  truth  and  sin- 
cerity ;  but  we  believe  them,  because  such  is  the  nature  of  the 
union  of  our  souls  and  bodies,  which  is  the  work  of  God,  that 
upon  the  full  impressions  that  are  made  upon  the  senses,  the 
soul  does  necessarily  produce,  or  rather  feel  those  thoughts 
and  sensations  arise  with  a  full  evidence,  that  correspond  to 
the  motions  of  sensible  objects,  upon  the  organs  of  sense. 
The  soul  has  a  sagacity  to  examine  these  sensations,  to  correct 
one  sense  by  another ;  but  when  she  has  used  all  the  means 
she  can,  and  the  evidence  is  still  clear,  she  is  persuaded,  and 
cannot  help  being  so  ;  she  naturally  takes  all  this  to  be  true, 
because  of  the  necessary  connection  that  she  feels  between 
such  sensations,  and  her  assent  to  them.  Now,  if  she  should 
find  that  she  could  be  mistaken  in  this,  even  though  she 
should  know  this,  by  a  divine  revelation,  all  the  intrinsic 
certainty  of  the  evidence  of  sense,  and  that  connection  be- 
tween those  sensations  and  her  assent  to  them,  should  be 
hereby  dissolved. 

To  all  this  another  objection  may  be  made  from  the  myste- 
ries of  the  Christian  religion :  which  contradict  our  reason, 
and  yet  we  are  bound  to  believe  them  ;  although  reason  is  a 
faculty  much  superior  to  sense.  But  all  this  is  a  mistake  ; 
we  cannot  be  bound  to  believe  any  thing  that  contradicts  our 
reason  ;  for  the  evidence  of  reason  as  well  as  that  of  sense  is 
the  voice  of  God  to  us.  But  as  great  difference  is  to  be  made 
between  a  feeble  evidence  that  sense  gives  us  of  an  object  that 
is  at  a  distance  from  us,  or  that  appears  to  us  through  a  false 
medium  ;  such  as  a  concave  or  a  convex  glass  ;  and  the  full 
evidence  of  an  object  that  is  before  us,  and  that  is  clearly 
apprehended  by  us :  so  there  is  a  great  difference  to  be  made 
between  our  reasonings  upon  difficulties  that  we  can  neither 


422 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  understand  nor  resolve,  and  our  reasonings  upon  clear  prin- 
XXVIII.  ciples.  The  one  may  be  false,  and  the  other  must  he  true: 
we  are  sure  that  a  thing  cannot  be  one  and  three  in  the  same 
respect ;  our  reason  assures  us  of  this,  and  we  do  and  must 
believe  it ;  but  we  know  that  in  different  respects  the  same 
thing  may  be  one  and  three.  And  since  we  cannot  know  all 
the  possibilities  of  those  different  respects,  we  must  believe 
upon  the  authority  of  God  revealing  it,  that  the  same  thing 
is  both  one  and  three ;  though  if  a  revelation  should  affirm 
that  the  same  thing  were  one  and  three  in  the  same  respect,  we 
should  not,  and  indeed  could  not,  believe  it. 

This  argument  deserves  to  be  fully  opened;  for  we  are  sure 
either  it  is  true,  or  we  cannot  be  sure  that  any  thing  else 
whatsoever  is  true.  In  confirmation  of  this  we  ought  also  to 
consider  the  nature  and  ends  of  miracles.  They  put  nature 
out  of  its  channel,  and  reverse  its  fixed  laws  and  motions ; 
and  the  end  of  God's  giving  men  a  power  to  work  them,  is, 
that  by  them  the  world  may  be  convinced,  that  such  persons 
are  commissionated  by  him,  to  deliver  his  pleasure  to  them  in 
some  particulars.  And  as  it  could  not  become  the  infinite 
wisdom  of  the  great  Creator,  to  change  the  order  of  nature 
(which  is  his  own  workmanship)  upon  slight  grounds;  so  we 
cannot  suppose  that  he  should  work  a  chain  of  extraordinary 
miracles  to  no  purpose.  It  is  not  to  give  credit  to  a  revela- 
tion that  he  is  making ;  for  the  senses  do  not  perceive  it ;  on 
the  contrary,  they  do  reject  and  contradict  it :  and  the  revela- 
tion, instead  of  getting  credit  from  it,  is  loaded  by  it,  as 
introducing  that  which  destroys  all  credit  and  certainty. 

In  other  miracles  our  senses  are  appealed  to ;  but  here 
they  must  be  appealed  from;  nor  is  there  any  spiritual  end 
served  in  working  this  miracle :  for  it  is  acknowledged,  that 
the  effects  of  this  sacrament  are  given  upon  our  due  coming 
to  it,  independent  upon  the  corporal  presence :  so  that  the 
grace  of  the  sacrament  does  not  always  accompany  it,  since 
unworthy  receivers,  though,  according  to  the  Romish  doc- 
trine, they  receive  the  true  body  of  Christ,  yet  they  do  not 
receive  grace  with  it :  and  the  grace  that  is  given  in  it  to  the 
worthy  receivers,  stays  with  them  after  that,  by  the  destruc- 
tion of  the  species  of  the  bread  and  wine,  the  body  of  Christ 
is  withdrawn.  So  that  it  is  acknowledged,  that  the  spiritual 
effect  of  the  sacrament  does  not  depend  upon  the  corporal 
presence. 

Here  then  it  is  supposed,  that  God  is  every  day  working 
a  great  many  miracles,  in  a  vast  number  of  different  places ; 
and  that  of  so  extraordinary  a  nature,  that  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, they  are  far  beyond  all  the  other  wonders,  even  of 
omnipotence;  and  yet  all  this  is  to  no  end,  that  we  can  ap- 
prehend ;  neither  to  any  sensible  and  visible  end,  nor  to  any 
internal  and  spiritual  one.  This  must  needs  seem  an  amaz- 
ing thing,  that  God  should  work  such  a  miracle  on  our 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


423 


behalf,  and  yet  should  not  acquaint  us  with  any  end  for  ART. 
which  he  should  work  it.  XXVIIL 

To  conclude  this  whole  argument,  we  have  one  great  ad- 
vantage  in  this  matter,  that  our  doctrine  concerning  the 
sacrament,  of  a  mystical  presence  of  Christ  in  the  symbols, 
and  of  the  effects  of  it  on  the  worthy  and  unworthy  re- 
ceivers, is  all  acknowledged  by  the  church  of  Rome;  but 
they  have  added  to  this  the  wonder  of  the  corporal  presence : 
so  that  we  need  bring  no  proofs  to  them  at  least,  for  that 
which  we  teach  concerning  it;  since  it  is  all  confessed  by 
them.  But  as  to  that  which  they  have  added,  it  is  not  ne- 
cessary for  us  to  give  proofs  against  it ;  it  is  enough  for  us,  if 
we  shew  that  all  the  proofs  that  they  bring  for  it  are  weak 
and  unconcluding.  They  must  be  very  demonstrative,  if  it  is 
expected,  that,  upon  the  authority  and  evidence  of  them,  we 
should  be  bound  to  believe  a  thing  which  they  themselves 
confess  to  be  contrary  both  to  our  sense  and  reason.  We 
cannot  by  the  laws  of  reasoning  be  bound  to  give  arguments 
against  it;  it  is  enough  if  we  can  shew  that  neither  the  words 
of  the  institution,  nor  the  discourse  in  the  sixth  of  St.  John, 
do  necessarily  infer  it;  and  if  we  shew  that  those  passages 
can  well  bear  another  sense,  which  is  agreeable  both  to  the 
words  themselves,  and  to  the  style  of  the  scriptures,  and  more 
particularly  to  the  phraseology  to  which  the  Jews  were  ac- 
customed, upon  the  occasion  on  which  this  was  instituted ; 
and  if  the  words  can  well  bear  the  sense  that  we  give  them, 
then  the  other  advantages  that  are  in  it,  of  its  being  simple 
and  natural,  of  its  being  suitable  to  the  design  of  a  sacra- 
ment, and  of  its  having  no  hard  consequences  of  any  sort 
depending  upon  it ;  then,  I  say,  by  all  the  rules  of  expound- 
ing scripture,  we  do  justly  infer,  that  our  sense  of  those  words 
ought  to  be  preferred. 

This  is  according  to  a  rule  that  St.  Augustin  gives  to  judge  Lib.  Hi.  de 
what  expressions  in  scripture  are  figurative,  and  what  not;  '  If  D°ct. 
any  place  seems  to  command  a  crime  or  horrid  action,  it  is  ctms-c-16- 
figurative :  and  for  an  instance  of  this  he  cites  those  words, 
"  Except  ye  eat  the  flesh  and  drink  the  blood  of  the  Son  of 
man,  you  have  no  life  in  you:"  which  seems  to  command  a 
crime  and  a  horrid  action ;  and  therefore  it  is  a  figure  com- 
manding us  to  communicate  in  the  passion  of  our  Lord,  and 
to  lay  up  in  our  memory  with  delight  and  profit,  that  his 
flesh  was  crucified  and  wounded  for  us.'    As  this  was  given 
for  a  rule  by  the  great  doctor  of  the  Latin  church,  so  the 
same  maxim  had  been  delivered  almost  two  ages  before  him, 
by  the  great  doctor  of  the  Greek  church,  Origen,  who  says,  Horn.  7.  in 
'  that  the  understanding  our  Saviour's  words  of  eating  his  Levit. 
flesh,  and  drinking  his  blood,  according  to  the  letter,  is  a 
letter  that  kills.'    These  passages  I  cite  by  an  anticipation, 
before  I  enter  upon  the  inquiry  into  the  sense  of  the  ancient 
church,  concerning  this  matter;  because  they  belong  to  the 


424 


AX  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   words  of  the  institution,  at  least  to  the  discourse  in  St.  John : 
Xx\  III.  nQW  jf  tne  sense         we  gjve  t0  these  words  is  made  good, 
we  need  be  at  no  more  pains  to  prove  that  they  are  capable 
of  no  other  sense  ;  since  this  must  prove  that  to  be  the  only 
true  sense  of  them. 

So  that  for  all  the  arguments  that  have  been  brought  by  us 
against  this  doctrine,  arising  out  of  the  fruitfulness  of  the 
matter,  we  were  not  bound  to  use  them :  for,  our  doctrine 
being  confessed  by  them,  it  wants  no  proof;  and  we  cannot 
be  bound  to  prove  a  negative.  Therefore  though  the  copious- 
ness of  this  matter  has  afforded  us  many  arguments  for  the 
negative,  yet  that  was  not  necessary :  for  as  a  negative  always 
proves  itself;  so  that  holds  more  especially  here,  where  that 
which  is  denied  is  accompanied  with  so  many  and  so  strange 
absurdities,  as  do  follow  from  this  doctrine. 

The  last  topic  in  this  matter  is  the  sense  that  the  ancient 
church  had  of  it:  for,  as  we  certainly  have  both  the  scriptures 
and  the  evidence  of  our  senses  and  reason  of  our  side,  so 
that  will  be  much  fortified,  if  it  appears  that  no  such  doctrine 
was  received  in  the  first  and  best  ages ;  and  that  it  came  in 
not  all  at  once,  but  by  degrees.  I  shall  first  urge  this  matter 
by  some  general  presumptions;  and  then  I  shall  go  to  plain 
proofs.  But  though  the  presumptions  shall  be  put  only  as 
presumptions;  yet  if  they  appear  to  be  violent,  so  that  a  man 
cannot  hold  giving  his  assent  to  the  conclusion  that  follows 
from  them,  then  though  they  are  put  in  the  form  of  presump- 
tive arguments,  yet  that  will  not  hinder  them  from  being 
considered  as  concluding  ones. 

By  the  stating  this  doctrine  it  has  appeared  how  many 
difficulties  there  are  involved  in  it :  these  are  difficulties  that 
are  obvious  and  soon  seen :  they  are  not  found  out  by  deep 
inquirv  and  much  speculation:  they  are  soon  felt,  and  are 
very  hardly  avoided:  and  ever  since  the  time  that  this  doc- 
trine has  been  received  by  the  Roman  church,  these  have 
been  much  insisted  on ;  explanations  have  been  offered  to 
them  all ;  and  the  whole  principles  of  natural  philosophy  have 
been  cast  into  a  new  mould,  that  they  might  ply  to  this  doc- 
trine :  at  least  those,  who  have  studied  their  philosophy  in 
that  system,  have  had  such  notions  put  in  them,  while  their 
minds  were  yet  tender  and  capable  of  any  impressions,  that 
they  have  been  thereby  prepared  to  this  doctrine  before  they 
came  to  it,  by  a  train  of  philosophical  terms  and  distinctions, 
so  that  they  were  not  much  alarmed  at  it,  when  it  came  to 
be  set  before  them. 

They  are  accustomed  to  think  that  ubication,  or  the  being 
in  a  place,  is  but  an  accident  to  a  substance :  so  that  the 
same  body's  being  in  more  places,  is  only  its  having  a  few 
more  of  those  accidents  produced  in  it  by  God :  they  are 
accustomed  to  think  that  accidents  are  beings  different  from 
matter :  like  a  sort  of  clothing  to  it,  which  do  indeed  require 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


425 


the  having  of  a  substance  for  their  subject:  but  yet  since  ART. 
they  are  believed  to  have  a  being  of  their  own,  God  may  x  x  ^  111 
make  them  subsist :  as  the  skin  of  a  man  may  stand  out  in 
its  proper  shape  and  colour,  though  there  were  nothing  but 
air  or  vacuity  within  it. 

They  are  accustomed  to  think,  that  as  an  accident  may  be 
without  its  proper  substance,  so  substance  may  be  without  its 
proper  accidents ;  and  they  do  reckon  extension  and  impene- 
trability, that  is,  a  body's  so  filling  a  space,  that  no  other 
body  can  be  in  the  same  space  with  it,  among  its  accidents : 
so  that  a  body  composed  of  organs  and  of  large  dimensions, 
may  be  not  only  all  crowded  within  one  wafer,  but  an  entire 
distinct  body  may  be  in  every  separable  part  of  this  wafer;  at 
least  in  every  piece  that  carries  in  it  the  appearance  of  bread. 

These,  besides  many  other  lesser  subtilties,  are  the  evident 
results  of  this  doctrine :  and  it  was  a  natural  effect  of  its 
being  received,  that  their  philosophy  should  be  so  transformed 
as  to  agree  to  it,  and  to  prepare  men  for  it. 

Now  to  apply  this  to  the  matter  we  are  upon,  we  find  none 
of  these  subtilties  among  the  ancients.  They  seem  to  appre- 
hend none  of  those  difficulties,  nor  do  they  take  any  pains  to 
solve  or  clear  them.  They  had  a  philosophical  genius,  and 
shewed  it  in  all  other  things :  they  disputed  very  nicely  con- 
cerning the  attributes  of  God,  concerning  his  essence,  and 
the  Persons  of  the  Trinity :  they  saw  the  difficulties  concern- 
ing the  incarnation  of  the  Eternal  Word,  and  Christ's  being 
both  God  and  man :  they  treat  of  original  sin,  of  the  power 
of  grace,  and  of  the  decrees  of  God. 

They  explained  the  resurrection  of  our  bodies,  and  the 
different  states  of  the  blessed  and  the  damned. 

They  saw  the  difficulties  in  all  these  heads,  and  were  very 
copious  in  their  explanations  of  them :  and  they  may  be 
rather  thought  by  some  too  full,  than  too  sparing,  in  the  can- 
vassing of  difficulties  ;  but  all  those  were  mere  speculative 
matters,  in  which  the  difficulty  was  not  so  soon  seen  as  on 
this  subject:  yet  they  found  these  out,  and  pursued  them 
with  that  subtilty  that  shewed  they  were  not  at  all  displeased, 
when  occasions  were  offered  them  to  shew  their  skill  in  an- 
swering difficulties  :  which,  to  name  no  more,  appears  very 
evidently  to  be  St.  Augustin's  character.  Yet  neither  he  nor 
any  of  the  other  fathers  seem  to  have  been  sensible  of  the 
difficulties  in  this  matter. 

They  neither  state  them  nor  answer  them  ;  nor  do  they  use 
those  reserves  when  they  speak  of  philosophical  matters,  that 
men  must  have  used  who  were  possessed  of  this  doctrine  :  for 
a  man  cannot  hold  it  without  bringing  himself  to  think  and 
speak  otherwise  upon  all  natural  things  than  the  rest  of  man- 
kind do. 

They  are  so  far  from  this,  that,  on  the  contrary,  they  deliver 


4 


i 


426 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  themselves  in  a  way  that  shews  they  had  no  such  apprehen- 
i XVIII.  SU)ns  0f  things. 

They  thought  that  all  creatures  were  limited  to  one  place : 
and  from  thence  they  argued  against  the  heathens,  who  be- 
lieved that  their  deities  were  in  every  one  of  those  statues 
which  they  consecrated  to  them. 

From  this  head  they  proved  the  divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost ; 
because  he  wrought  in  many  different  places  at  once :  which 
he  could  not  do  if  he  were  only  a  creature. 

They  affirm,  that  Christ  can  be  no  more  on  earth,  since  he 
is  now  in  heaven,  and  that  he  can  be  but  in  one  place. 

They  say,  that  which  hath  no  bounds  nor  figure,  and  that 
can  neither  be  touched  nor  seen,  cannot  be  a  body:  that  bodies 
are  extended  in  some  place,  and  cannot  exist  after  the  manner 
of  spirits. 

They  argue  against  the  eternity  of  matter,  from  this,  that 
nothing  could  be  produced,  that  had  a  being  before  it  was 
produced ;  and  on  all  occasions  they  ajopeal  to  the  testimony 
of  our  senses  as  infallible. 

They  say,  that  to  believe  otherwise  tended  to  reverse  the 
whole  state  of  life,  and  order  of  nature,  and  to  reproach  the 
providence  of  God ;  since  it  must  be  said,  that  he  has  given 
the  knowledge  of  all  his  works  to  liars  and  deceivers,  if  our 
senses  may  be  false :  that  we  must  doubt  of  our  faith,  if  the 
testimony  of  hearing,  seeing,  and  feeling,  could  deceive  us. 

And  in  their  contests  with  the  Marcionites  and  others,  con- 
cerning the  truth  of  Christ's  body,  they  appeal  always  to  the 
testimony  of  the  senses  as  infallible  ;  and  even  treating  of  the 
sacrament,  they  say,  without  limitation  or  exception,  that  it 
was  bread,  as  their  eyes  witnessed,  and  true  wine  that  Christ 
did  consecrate  to  be  the  memorial  of  his  body  and  blood ;  and 
they  tell  us  in  this  very  particular,  that  we  ought  not  to  doubt 
of  the  testimony  of  our  senses. 

Another  presumptive  proof,  that  the  ancients  knew  nothing 
of  this  doctrine,  is,  that  the  heathens  and  the  Jews,  who 
charged  them,  and  their  doctrine,  with  every  thing  that  they 
could  invent  to  make  both  it  and  them  odious  and  ridiculous, 
could  never  have  passed  over  this,  in  which  both  sense  and 
reason  seemed  to  be  so  evidently  on  their  side. 

They  reproach  the  Christians  for  believing  a  God  that  was 
born,  a  God  of  flesh  that  was  crucified  and  buried :  they 
laughed  at  their  belief  of  a  judgment  to  come,  of  endless 
flames,  of  a  heavenly  paradise,  and  of  the  resurrection  of  the 
body.  Those  who  writ  the  first  apologies  for  the  Christian 
religion,  Justin  Martyr,  Tertullian,  Origen,  Arnobius,  and 
Minutius  Felix,  have  given  us  a  large  account  of  the  blas- 
phemies both  of  Jews  and  Gentiles,  against  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity. 

Cyril  of  Alexandria  has  given  us  Julian's  objections  in  his 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


427 


own  words ;  who  having  been  not  only  initiated  into  the  A  RT. 
Christian  religion,  but  having  read  the  scriptures  in  the  AA 
churches,  and  being  a  philosophical  and  inquisitive  man,  must 
have  been  well  instructed  concerning  the  doctrine  and  the 
sacraments  of  this  religion :  and  his  relation  to  the  emperor 
Constantine  must  have  made  the  Christians  concerned  to  take 
more  than  ordinary  pains  on  him.  When  he  made  apostacy 
from  the  faith,  he  reproached  the  Christians  with  the  doctrine 
of  baptism,  and  laughed  at  them  for  thinking  that  there  was 
an  ablution  and  sanctification  in  it,  conceiving  it  a  thing 
impossible  that  water  should  wash  or  cleanse  a  soul:  yet 
neither  he  nor  Porphyry,  nor  Celsus  before  them,  did  charge 
this  religion  with  the  absurdities  of  transubstantiation. 

It  is  reasonable  to  believe,  that  if  the  Christians  of  that 
time  had  any  such  doctrine  among  them,  it  must  have  been 
known.  Every  Christian  must  have  known  in  what  sense 
those  words,  '  This  is  my  body,'  and  '  This  is  my  blood,'  were 
understood  among  them.  All  the  apostates  from  Christianity 
must  have  known  it,  and  must  have  published  it,  to  excuse  or 
hide  the  shame  of  their  apostacy ;  since  apostates  are  apt  to 
spread  lies  of  them  whom  they  forsake,  but  not  to  conceal 
such  truths  as  are  to  their  prejudice.  Julian  must  have 
known  it;  and  if  he  had  known  it,  his  judgment  was  too  true, 
and  his  malice  to  the  Christian  religion  too  quick,  to  overlook 
or  neglect  the  advantages  which  this  part  of  their  doctrine 
gave  him.  Nor  can  this  be  carried  oft'  by  saying,  that  the 
eating  of  human  flesh  and  the  Thyestean  suppers,  which  were 
objected  to  the  Christians,  relate  to  this :  when  the  fathers 
answer  that,  they  tell  the  heathens  that  it  was  a  downright 
calumny  and  lie :  and  do  not  offer  any  explanations  or  dis- 
tinctions taken  from  their  doctrine  of  the  sacrament,  to  clear 
them  from  the  mistake  and  malice  of  this  calumny.  The  truth 
is,  the  execrable  practices  of  the  Gnostics,  who  were  called 
Christians,  gave  the  rise  to  those  as  well  as  to  many  other 
calumnies  :  but  they  were  not  at  all  founded  on  the  doctrine 
of  the  eucharist,  which  is  never  once  mentioned  as  the  occa- 
sion of  this  accusation. 

Another  presumption,  from  which  we  conclude  that  the  an- 
cients knew  nothing  of  this  doctrine,  is,  that  we  find  heresies 
and  disputes  arising  concerning  all  the  other  points  of  religion: 
there  were  very  few  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  religion, 
and  not  any  of  the  mysteries  of  the  faith,  that  did  not  fall 
under  great  objections  :  but  there  was  not  any  one  heresy 
raised  upon  this  head  :  men  were  never  so  meek  and  tame  as 
easily  to  believe  things,  when  there  appeared  strong  evidence, 
or  at  least  great  presumptions,  against  them.  In  these  last 
eight  or  nine  centuries,  since  this  doctrine  was  received,  there 
has  been  a  perpetual  opposition  made  to  it,  even  in  dark  and 
unlearned  ages ;  in  which  implicit  faith  and  blind  obedience 
have  carried  a  great  sway.    And  (hough  the  secular  arm  has 


428 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


•  been  employed  with  great  and  unrelenting  severities  to  ex- 
_J  tirpate  all  that  have  opposed  it ;  yet  all  the  while  many  rave 
stood  out  against  it,  and  have  suffered  much  and  long  for 
their  rejecting  it.  Now  it  is  not  to  be  imagined  that  sucn 
an  opposition  should  have  been  made  to  this  doctrine,  during 
the  nine  hundred  years  last  past,  and  that  for  the  former  eight 
hundred  years  there  should  have  been  no  disputes  at  all  con- 
cerning it :  and  that  while  all  other  things  were  so  much 
questioned,  that  several  fathers  writ,  and  councils  were  called, 
to  settle  the  belief  of  them,  yet  that  for  about  eight  hundred 
years,  this  was  the  single  point  that  went  down  so  easily,  that 
no  treatise  was  all  that  while  writ  to  prove  it,  nor  council  held 
to  establish  it. 

Certainly  the  reason  of  this  will  appear  to  be  much  rather, 
that  since  there  have  been  contests  upon  this  point  these  last 
nine  ages,  and  that  there  were  none  the  first  eight,  this 
doctrine  was  not  known  during  those  first  ages;  and  that  the 
great  silence  about  it  for  so  long  a  time,  is  a  very  strong 
presumption,  that  in  all  that  time  this  doctrine  was  not 
thought  of. 

The  last  of  those  considerations  that  I  shall  offer,  which 
are  of  the  nature  of  presumptive  proofs,  is,  that  there  are  a 
great  many  rites  and  other  practices,  that  have  arisen  out  of 
this  doctrine  as  its  natural  consequences,  which  were  not 
thought  of  for  a  great  many  ages ;  but  that  have  gone  on  by 
a  perpetual  progress,  and  have  increased  very  fruitfully,  ever 
since  this  doctrine  was  received.  Such  are  the  elevation,  ado- 
ration, and  processions,  together  with  the  doctrine  of  conco- 
mitance, and  a  vast  number  of  rites  and  rubrics ;  the  first 
occasions  and  beginnings  of  which  are  well  known.  These 
did  all  arise  from  this  doctrine,  it  being  natural,  especially  in 
the  ages  of  ignorance  and  superstition,  for  men  upon  the  sup- 
position of  Christ's  being  corporally  present,  to  run  out  into 
all  possible  inventions  of  pomp  and  magnificence  about  this 
sacrament;  and  it  is  very  reasonable  to  think,  since  these 
things  are  of  so  late  and  so  certain  a  date,  that  the  doctrine 
upon  which  they  are  founded  is  not  much  ancienter. 

The  great  simplicity  of  the  primitive  forms,  not  only  as 
they  are  reported  by  Justin  Martyr  and  Tertullian  in  the  ages 
of  the  poverty  and  persecutions  of  the  church,  but  as  they  are 
represented  to  us  in  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  by  Cyril 
of  Jerusalem,  the  Constitutions,  and  the  pretended  Areo- 
pagite,  have  nothing  of  that  air  that  appears  in  the  latter  ages. 
The  sacrament  was  then  given  in  both  kinds ;  it  was  put  in 
the  hands  of  the  faithful ;  they  reserved  some  portions  of  it : 
it  was  given  to  children  for  many  ages:  the  laity  and  even 
boys  were  employed  to  carry  it  to  dying  penitents ;  what 
remained  of  it  was  burnt  in  some  places,  and  consumed  by 
the  clergy,  and  by  children  in  other  places,  the  making  cata- 
plasms of  it,  the  mixing  the  wine  with  ink,  to  sign  the 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


429 


condemnation  of  heretics,  are  very  clear  presumptions  that  ART. 
tms  doctrine  was  not  then  known.  XXVIIL. 

But  above  all,  their  not  adoring  the  sacrament,  which  is  not 
done  to  this  day  in  the  Greek  church,  and  of  which  there  is 
no  mention  made  by  all  those  who  writ  of  the  offices  of  the 
church  in  the  eighth  and  ninth  centuries  so  copiously ;  this, 
I  say,  of  their  not  adoring  it,  is  perhaps  more  than  a  pre- 
sumption, that  this  doctrine  was  not  then  thought  on.  But 
since  it  was  established,  all  the  old  forms  and  rituals  have 
been  altered,  and  the  adoring  the  sacrament  is  now  become 
the  main  act  of  devotion  and  of  religious  worship,  among 
them.  One  ancient  form  is  indeed  still  continued,  which  is 
of  the  strongest  kind  of  presumptions  that  this  doctrine  came 
in  much  later  than  some  other  superstitions  which  we  con- 
demn in  that  church.  In  the  masses  that  are  appointed 
on  saints-days,  there  are  some  collects  in  which  it  is  said,  that 
the  sacrifice  is  offered  up  in  honour  to  the  saint ;  and  it  is 
prayed,  that  it  may  become  the  more  valuable  and  acceptable, 
by  the  merits  and  intercessions  of  the  saint.  Now  when  a 
practice  will  well  agree  with  one  opinion,  but  not  at  all  with 
another,  we  have  all  possible  reason  to  presume  at  least,  that 
at  first  it  came  in  under  that  opinion,  with  which  it  will  agree, 
and  not  under  another  which  cannot  consist  with  it.  Our 
opinion  is,  that  the  sacrament  is  a  federal  act  of  our  Chris- 
tianity, in  which  we  offer  up  our  highest  devotions  to  God 
through  Christ,  and  receive  the  largest  returns  from  him :  it 
is  indeed  a  superstitious  conceit  to  celebrate  this  to  the 
honour  of  a  saint;  but  howsoever  upon  the  supposition  of 
saints  hearing  our  prayers,  and  interceding  for  us,  there  is 
still  good  sense  in  this :  but  if  it  is  believed  that  Christ  is 
corporally  present,  and  that  he  is  offered  up  in  it,  it  is  against 
all  sense,  and  it  approaches  to  blasphemy,  to  do  this  to  the 
honour  of  a  saint,  and  much  more  to  desire  that  this,  which  is 
of  infinite  value,  and  is  the  foundation  of  all  God's  blessings  to 
us,  should  receive  any  addition  or  increase  in  its  value  or 
acceptation  from  the  merits  or  intercession  of  saints.  So  this, 
though  a  late  practice,  yet  does  fully  evince,  that  the  doc- 
trine of  the  corporal  presence  was  not  yet  thought  on,  when 
it  was  first  brought  into  the  office. 

So  far  I  have  gone  upon  the  presumptions  that  may  be 
offered  to  prove  that  this  doctrine  was  not  known  to  the  an- 
cients. They  are  not  only  just  and  lawful  presumptions,  but 
they  are  so  strong  and  violent,  that  when  they  are  well 
considered,  they  force  an  assent  to  that  which  we  infer  from 
them.  I  go  next  to  the  more  plain  and  direct  proofs  that  we 
find  of  the  opinion  of  the  ancients  in  this  matter. 

They  call  the  elements  bread  and  wine  after  the  conse- 
cration.   Justin  Martyr  calls  them  bread  and  wine,  and  a  Apolog.  2 
nourishment  which  nourished :  he  indeed  says  it  is  not  common 
bread  and  wine ;  which  shews  that  he  thought  it  was  still  so 


430 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   in  substance;  and  he  illustrates  the  sanctification  of  the  e!e- 
xx%  11L  ments  by  the  incarnation  of  Christ,  in  which  the  human 
nature  did  not  lose  or  change  its  substance  by  its  union  -wren 
the  divine  :  so  the  bread  and  the  wine  do  not,  according  to 
that  explanation,  lose  their  proper  substance,  when  they 
become  the  flesh  and  blood  of  Christ. 
Har  e  34     Ireneeus  calls  it  that  bread  over  which  thanks  are  given,  and 
'  says,  it  is  no  more  common  bread,  but  the  eucharist  consisting 
of  two  things,  an  earthly  and  a  heavenly. 

Tertullian  arguing  against  the  Marcionites,  who  held  two 
gods,  and  that  the  Creator  of  this  earth  was  the  bad  god;  but 
that  Christ  was  contrary  to  him  ;  urges  against  them  this, 
Lib.  i.  adv.  that  Christ  made  use  of  the  creatures :  and  says,  he  did  not 
secT.^011'  reject  bread  by  which  he  represents  his  own  body  ;  and  in  an- 
Lib.  iii.  other  place  he  says,  Christ  calls  bread  his  body,  that  from 
adv.  iMar-  thence  vou  may  understand  that  he  nave  the  figure  of  his  body 
V2         to  the  bread. 

Lib.  viii.       Origen  says,  We  eat  of  the  loaves  that  are  set  before  us; 

comra Cel-  which  by  prayer  are  become  a  certain  holy  body,  that  sanctifies 
those  who  use  them  with  a  sound  purpose. 

Ep.  69.  St.  Cyprian  says,  Christ  calls  the  bread  that  was  compounded 
of  many  grains,  his  body;  and  the  wine  that  is  pressed  out  of 
many  grapes,  his  blood,  to  shew  the  union  of  his  people.  And 

Ep.  63.  in  another  place,  writing  against  those  who  used  only  water, 
but  no  wine,  in  the  eucharist,  he  says,  We  cannot  see  the  blood 
by  which  we  are  redeemed,  when  wine  is  not  in  the  chalice ;  by 
which  the  blood  of  Christ  is  shewed. 

In  Ancho-     Epiphanius  being  to  prove  that  man  may  be  said  to  be 

ret0-  made  after  the  image  of  God,  though  he  is  not  like  him,  urges 
this,  That  the  bread  is  not  like  Christ,  neither  in  his  invisible 
Deity,  nor  in  his  incarnate  likeness,  for  it  is  round  and  with- 
out feeling  as  to  its  virtue. 

In  orat.  de     Gregory  Nyssen  says,  The  bread  in  the  beginning  is  common ; 

Christ!  after  the  mystery  has  consecrated  it,  it  is  said  to  be,  and  is, 

the  body  of  Christ :  to  this  he  compares  the  sanctification  of 
the  mystical  oil,  of  the  water  in  baptism,  and  the  stones  of  an 
altar,  or  church,  dedicated  to  God. 

De  Bene-      St.  Ambrose  calls  it  still  bread:  and  says,  this  bread  is  made 

Patriarch.  ^e  food  °f  ^e  sa^nts' 

c.  9.  St.  Chrysostom  on  these  words,  the  bread  that  we  break, 

Hom.  24.  says,  What  is  the  bread  ?  The  body  of  Christ :    What  are 

Co?' ad  theV  made  t0  be  who  take  U  ?  The  bodV  °f  Christ-  Which 
shews  that  he  considered  the  bread  as  being  so  the  body  of 
Christ,  as  the  worthy  receivers  became  his  body;  which  is 
done,  not  by  a  change  of  substance,  but  by  a  sanctification  of 
their  natures. 

Matte  26  ^erome  saysJ  Christ  took  bread,  that  as  Melchisedec  had 

in  the  figure  offered  bread  and  wine,  he  might  also  represent  the 
truth  (that  is  in  opposition  to  the  figure)  of  his  body  and  blood. 
St.  Augxtstin  does  very  largely  compare  the  sacraments 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


431 


being  called  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  with  those  other  ART. 
places  in  which  the  church  is  called  his  body,  and  all  Chris-  XXVI11 
tians  are  his  members :  which  shews  that  he  thought  the  one  cit.  apud 
was  to  be  understood  mystically  as  well  as  the  other.  He  calls  Fulgent, 
the  eucharist  frequently  our  daily  bread,  and  the  sacrament  of  rte  BaP" 
bread  and  wine.    All  these  call  the  eucharist  bread  and  wine 
in  express  words  :  but  when  they  call  it  Christ's  body  and 
blood ,  they  call  it  so  after  a  sort,  or  that  it  is  said  to  be, 
or  with  some  other  mollifying  expression. 

St.  Augustin  says  this  plainly,  After  some  sort  the  sacra-  Aug.  Ep. 
ment  of  the  body  of  Christ  is  his  body,  and  the  sacrament  o/"23.  ad  Bo- 
his  blood  is  the  blood  of  Christ;  he  carried  himself  in  his  own  2 
hands  in  some  sort,  when  he  said,  This  is  my  body.  in  psa'1.33. 

St.  Chrysostom  says,  The  bread  is  thought  worthy  to  be  Chrys.  Ep. 
called  the  body  of  our  Lord:  and  in  another  place,  reckoning  ad  Cssar. 
up  the  improper  senses  of  the  word  flesh,  he  says,  the  scrip-  comm. 
tures  used  to  call  the  mysteries  (that  is,  the  sacrament)  by  the  in  Ep.  ad 
name  of  flesh,  and  sometimes  the  whole  church  is  said  to  be  Gal- c- 5- 
the  :j  )dy  of  Christ. 

So  Tertullian  says,  Christ  calls  the  bread  his  body,  and  Tertul.  lib. 
names  the  bread  by  his  body.  Marc  s"  ct 

The  fathers  do  not  only  call  the  consecrated  elements  50. 
bread  and  wine ;  they  do  also  affirm,  that  they  retain  their 
proper  nature  and  substance,  and  are  the  same  thing  as  to 
their  nature  that  they  were  before.  And  the  occasion  upon 
which  the  passages,  that  I  go  next  to  mention,  are  used  by 
them,  does  prove  this  matter  beyond  contradiction. 

Apollinaris  did  broach  that  heresy  which  was  afterwards 
put  in  full  form  by  Eutyches  ;  and  that  had  so  great  a  party 
to  support  it,  that  as  they  had  one  general  council  (a  pre- 
tended one  at  least)  to  favour  them,  so  they  were  condemned 
by  another.  Their  error  was,  that  the  human  nature  of  Christ 
was  swallowed  up  by  the  divine,  if  not  while  he  was  here  on 
earth,  yet  at  least  after  his  ascension  to  heaven.  This  error 
was  confuted  by  several  writers  who  lived  very  wide  one  from 
another,  and  at  a  distance  of  above  a  hundred  years  one  from 
another.  St.  Chrysostom  at  Constantinople,  Theodoret  in 
Asia,  Ephrem  patriarch  of  Antioch,  and  Gelasius  bishop  of 
Rome.  All  those  write  to  prove  that  the  human  nature  did 
still  remain  in  Christ,  not  changed,  nor  swallowed  up,  but 
only  sanctified  by  the  divine  nature  that  was  united  to  it. 
They  do  all  fall  into  one  argument,  which  very  probably  those 
who  came  after  St.  Chrysostom  took  from  him :  so  that 
though  both  Theodoret  and  Gelasius's  words  are  much  fuller,  Epist.  ad 
yet  because  the  argument  is  the  same  with  that  which  St.  Ca:sanuro« 
Chrysostom  had  urged  against  Apollinaris,  I  shall  first  set 
down  his  words.  He  brings  an  illustration  from  the  doctrine 
of  the  sacrament,  to  shew  that  the  human  nature  was  not  de- 
stroyed by  its  union  with  the  divine ;  and  has  upon  that  these 


432 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  words,  As  before  the  bread  is  sanctified,  we  call  it  bread ;  but 
XXN when  the  divine  grace  has  sanctified  it  by  the  means  of  the 
priest,  it  is  freed  from  the  name  of  bread,  and  is  thought  wor- 
thy of  the  name  of  the  Lord's  body,  though  the  nature  of  bread 
remain  in  ic :  and  yet  it  is  not  said  there  are  two  bodies,  but 
one  body  of  the  Son:  so  the  divine  nature  being  joined  to  the 
body,  both  these  make  one  Son  and  one  Person. 
In  Phot.       Ephrem  of  Antioch  says,  The  body  of  Christ  received  by  the 
Bibl.Cod.  faithful  does  not  depart  from  its  sensible  substance:  so  baptism, 
says  he,  does  not  lose  its  own  sensible  substance,  and  does  not 
lose  that  tvhich  it  was  before. 
Dial.  l.        Theodoret  says,  Christ  does  honour  the  symbols  with  the 
et  2.  cont.  name  0f  his  hoily  and  blood ;  not  changing  the  nature,  but 
y  '    adding  grace  to  nature.    In  another  place  pursuing  the  same 
argument,  he  says,  The  mystical  symbols  after  the  sanctifica- 
tion  do  not  depart  from  their  own  nature :  for  they  continue  in 
their  former  substance,  figure,  and  form,  and  are  visible  and 
palpable  as  they  were  before ;  but  they  are  understood  to  be 
that  which  they  are  made. 
Lib.  de        Pope  Gelasius  says,  The  sacraments  of  the  body  and  blood 
ImCihrist  of  Christ  are  a  divine  thing ;  for  which  reason  we  become  by 
'  them  partakers  of  the  divine  nature :  and  yet  the  substance  of 
bread  and  wine  does  not  cease  to  exist :  and  the  image  and 
likeness  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ  are  celebrated  in  holy 
mysteries.    Upon  all  these  places  being  compared  with  the 
design  with  which  they  were  written,  which  was  to  prove  that 
Christ's  human  nature  did  still  subsist,  unchanged,  and  not 
swallowed  up  by  its  union  with  the  divinity,  some  reflections 
are  very  obvious :  first,  if  the  corporal  presence  of  Christ  in 
the  sacrament  had  been  then  received  in  the  church,  the  na- 
tural and  unavoidable  argument  in  this  matter,  which  must 
put  an  end  to  it,  with  all  that  believed  such  corporal  presence, 
was  this :  Christ  has  certainly  a  natural  body  still,  because 
the  bread  and  the  wine  are  turned  to  it ;  and  they  cannot  be 
turned  to  that  which  is  not.    In  their  writings  they  argued 
against  the  possibility  of  a  substantial  change  of  a  human 
nature  into  the  divine ;  but  that  could  not  have  been  urged 
by  men  who  believed  a  substantial  mutation  to  be  made  in 
the  sacrament ;  for  then  the  Eutychians  might  have  retorted 
the  argument  with  great  advantage  upon  them. 

The  Eutychians  did  make  use  of  some  expressions,  that 
were  used  by  some  in  the  church,  which  seemed  to  import 
that  they  did  argue  from  the  sacrament,  as  Theodoret  repre- 
sents their  objections.  But  to  that  he  answers  as  we  have 
seen,  denying  that  any  such  substantial  change  was  made. 
The  design  of  those  fathers  was  to  prove,  that  things  might 
be  united  together,  and  continue  so  united,  without  a  change 
of  their  substances,  and  that  this  was  true  in  the  two  natures 
in  the  person  of  Christ:  and  to  make  this  more  sensible,  they 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


433 


bring  in  the  matter  of  the  sacrament,  as  a  thing  known  and  ART. 
confessed :  for  in  their  arguing  upon  it  they  do  suppose  it  as  XXV111- 
a  thing  out  of  dispute. 

Now,  according  to  the  Roman  doctrine,  this  had  been  a 
very  odd  sort  of  an  argument,  to  prove  that  Christ's  human 
nature  was  not  swallowed  up  of  the  divine ;  because  the 
mysteries  or  elements  in  the  sacrament  are  changed  into  the 
substance  of  Christ's  body,  only  they  retain  the  outward  ap- 
pearances of  bread  and  wine. 

To  this  an  Eutychian  might  readily  have  answered,  that 
then  the  human  nature  might  be  believed  to  be  destroyed : 
and  though  Christ  had  appeared  in  that  likeness,  he  retained 
only  the  accidents  of  human  nature ;  but  that  the  human 
nature  itself  was  destroyed,  as  the  bread  and  the  wine  were 
destroyed  in  the  eucharist. 

This  had  been  a  very  absurd  way  of  arguing  in  the  fathers, 
and  had  indeed  delivered  up  the  cause  to  the  Eutychians : 
whereas  those  fathers  make  it  an  argument  against  them,  to 
prove,  that  notwithstanding  an  union  of  two  beings,  and  such 
an  union  as  did  communicate  a  sanctification  from  the  one  to 
the  other,  yet  the  two  natures  might  remain  still  distin- 
guished ;  and  that  it  was  so  in  the  eucharist ;  therefore  it 
might  be  so  in  the  person  of  Christ.  This  seems  to  be  so 
evident  an  indication  of  the  doctrine  of  the  whole  church  in 
the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries,  when  so  many  of  the  most  emi- 
nent writers  of  those  ages  do  urge  it  so  home  as  an  argument 
in  so  great  a  point,  that  we  can  scarce  think  it  possible  for 
any  man  to  consider  it  fully  without  being  determined  by  it. 
And  so  far  we  have  considered  the  authorities  from  the 
fathers,  to  shew  that  they  believed  that  the  substance  of 
bread  and  wine  did  still  remain  in  the  sacrament. 

Another  head  of  proof  is,  that  they  affirm,  that  our  bodies 
are  nourished  by  the  sacrament ;  which  shews  very  plainly, 
that  they  had  no  notion  of  a  change  of  substance  made  in  it. 

Justin  Martyr  calls  the  eucharist,  That  food  by  which  our  Apol.l. 
flesh  and  blood,  through  its  transmutation  into  them,  are  nou- 
rished. 

Ireneeus  makes  this  an  argument  for  the  resurrection  of  our 
bodies,  that  they  are  fed  by  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ : 
When  the  cup  and  the  bread  receives  the  word  of  God,  it  be-  Lib.  v.  adv. 
comes  the  eucharist  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ,  by  which  H«res. 
the  substance  of  our  flesh  is  increased  and  subsists :  and  he  c'  4' 
adds,  that  the  flesh  is  nourished  by  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  and  is  made  his  member. 

Tertullian  says,  The  flesh  is  fed  with  the  body  and  blood  of  De  Resur- 
Christ.  rect-  Cam. 

Origen  explains  this  very  largely  on  those  words  of  Christ, sect'  6' 
It  is  not  that  which  enters  within  a  man,  that  defiles  the  man :  in  Matt.  e. 
he  says,  if  every  thing  that  goes  into  the  belly  is  cast  into  the  15. 
draught,  then  that  food  which  is  sanctified  by  the  word  of  God, 


434 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  and  by  prayer,  goes  also  into  the  belly,  as  to  that  which  is  ma- 
XXVIII.  terial  in  it,  and  goes  from  thence  into  the  draught.    And  a 

"  little  after  he  adds,  It  is  not  the  matter  of  the  bread,  but  the 
word  that  is  pronounced  over  it,  which  profits  him  that  eats  it, 
in  such  a  way  us  is  not  unworthy  of  the  Lord. 
Toucan  ™6     ^e  bishops  °^  Spain,  in  a  council  that  sat  at  Toledo  in  the 

'  seventh  century,  condemned  those  that  began  to  consecrate 
round  wafers,  and  did  not  offer  one  entire  loaf  in  the  eucha- 
rist,  and  appointed,  for  so  much  of  the  bread  as  remained 
after  the  communion,  that  either  it  should  be  put  in  some 
bag,  or  if  it  was  needful  to  eat  it  up,  that  it  might  t  ot  oppress 
the  belly  of  him  that  took  it  with  an  overcharging  I  rden,  and 
that  it  might  not  go  into  the  digestion ;  they  fancy  ng  that  a 
lesser  quantity  made  no  digestion,  and  producet'  no  ex- 
crement. 

In  the  ninth  century  both  Rabanus  Maurus  and  leribald 
believed,  that  the  sacrament  was  so  digested,  that  seme  part 
of  it  turned  to  excrement,  which  was  also  held  by  divers 
writers  of  the  Greek  church,  whom  their  adversaries  called, 
by  way  of  reproach,  stercoranists.     Others  indeed  of  the 
ancients  did  think  that  no  part  of  the  sacrament  became  ex- 
crement, but  that  it  was  spread  through  the  whole  substance 
of  the  communicant,  for  the  good  of  body  and  soul.  Both 
Cyril.  Ca-  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  St.  Chrysostom,  and  John  Damascene, 
5  CChrys-St' fel1  mto  tnis  conceit ;  but  still  they  thought  that  it  was 
ost.  Sermo  changed  into  the  substance  of  our  bodies,  and  so  nourished 
de  Pceni-  them  without  any  excrement  coming  from  any  part  of  it. 
diarist  Da-     '^ne  ^atners  do  Call  the  consecrated  elements  the  figires, 
mas.  lib. iv.  the  signs,  the  symbols,  the  types,  and  antitypes,  the  comme- 
de  Ortho.  moration,  the  representation,  the  mysteries,  and  the  sacra- 
fide,  c.  13.  men(S}  Gf  f-^g  DOCiy  and  blood ;  which  does  evidently  demon- 
strate, that  they  could  not  think  that  they  were  the  very  sub- 
Lib.iv.adv.  stance  of  his  bodv  and  blood.    Tertullian,  when  he  is  proving 
Marcum.  Christ  had  a  true  body,  and  was  not  a  phantasm,  argues 

thus,  He  made  bread  to  be  his  body,  saying,  This  is  my  body ; 
that  is,  the  figure  of  my  body :  from  which  he  argues,  that 
since  his  body  had  that  for  its  figure,  it  was  a  true  body ;  for 
an  empty  thing,  such  as  a  phantasm  is,  cannot  have  a  figure. 
It  is  from  hence  clear,  that  it  was  not  then  believed  that 
Christ's  body  was  literally  in  the  sacrament ;  for  otherwise 
the  argument  would  have  been  much  clearer  and  shorter ; 
Christ  lias  a  true  body,  because  we  believe  that  the  sacrament 
is  truly  his  body ;  than  to  go  and  prove  it  so  far  about,  as  to 
say  a  phantasm  has  no  figure  :  but  the  sacrament  is  the 
figure  of  Christ's  body,  therefore  it  is  no  phantasm. 
Ennarat.  St.  Austin  says,  He  commended  and  gave  to  his  disciples  the 
mPsal.  ™-jigUre  0f  ]iis  body  and  blood.  And  when  the  Manicheans  ob- 
jected to  him,  that  blood  is  called  in  the  Old  Testament  the 
life  or  soul,  contrary  to  what  is  said  in  the  New ;  he  answers, 
that  blood  was  not  the  soul  or  life,  but  only  the  sign  of  it ; 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


435 


and  that  the  sign  sometimes  hears  the  name  of  that  of  which  it  ART. 
is  the  sign  :  so  says  he,  Christ  did  not  doubt  to  say,  This  is  my  XXVIH- 
body,  when  he  was  giving  the  sign  of  his  body.    Now  that  had  Lib  cont> 
been  a  very  bad  argument,  if  the  bread  was  truly  the  body  of  Adimant. 
Christ ;  it  had  proved  that  the  sign  must  be  one  with  the  c- 12, 
thing  signified. 

The  whole  ancient  liturgies,  and  all  the  Greek  fathers,  do  so 
frequently  use  the  words  type,  antitype,  sign,  and  mystery,  that 
this  is  not  so  much  as  denied ;  it  is  their  constant  style.  Now 
it  is  apparent  that  a  thing  cannot  be  the  type  and  symbol  of 
itself.    And  though  they  had  more  frequent  occasions  to 
speak  of  the  eucharist,  than  either  of  baptism  or  the  chrism  ; 
yet  as  they  called  the  water  and  the  oil,  types  and  mysteries, 
so  they  bestowed  the  same  descriptions  on  the  elements  in 
the  eucharist ;  and  as  they  have  many  strong  expressions  con- 
cerning thewater  and  the  oi/,that  cannot  be  literally  understood: 
so  upon  the  same  grounds  it  will  appear  reasonable,  to  give 
the  same  exposition  to  some  high  expressions  that  they  fell 
into  concerning  this  sacrament.    Facundus  has  some  very 
full  discourses  to  this  purpose :  he  is  proving  that  Christ  may  Defen. 
be  called  the  adopted  Son  of  God,  as  well  as  he  is  truly  his  Cone. 
Son;  and  that  because  he  was  baptized.    The  sacrament  o/'pg3'^ 
adoption,  that  is  baptism,  may  be  called  baptism;  as  the  sacra- 
ment of  his  body  and  blood,  which  is  in  the  consecrated 
bread  and  cup,  is  called  his  body  and  blood:  not  that  the 
bread  is  properly  his  body,  or  the  cup  properly  his  blood ;  but 
because  they  contain  in  them  the  mystery  of  Ids  body  and  blood. 
St.  Austin  says,  That  sacraments  must  have  some  resemblance 
of  those  things  of  which  they  are  the  sacraments  :  so  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  body  of  Christ  is  after  some  manner  his  body  ;  and 
the  sacrament  of  his  blood  is  after  some  manner  his  blood.  And 
speaking  of  the  eucharist  as  a  sacrifice  of  praise,  he  says,  The  Ep.23.  ad 
flesh  and  blood  of  this  sacrifice  was  promised  before  the  coming  ^onifac. 
of  Christ,  by  the  sacrifices  that  were  the  types  of  it.    In  the 
passion  the  sacrifice  was  truly  offered ;  and  after  his  ascension 
it  is  celebrated  by  the  sacrament  of  the  remembrance  of  it. 
And  when  he  speaks  of  the  murmuring  of  the  Jews,  upon  our 
Saviour's  speaking  of  giving  his  flesh  to  them,  to  eat  it;  he 
adds,  They  foolishly  and  carnally  thought,  that  he  was  to  cut  Lib.  xx. 
off  some  parcels  of  his  body,  to  be  given  to  them  :  but  he  shews  c°n-  Faust. 
that  there  ivas  a  sacrament  hid  there.  And  he  thus  paraphrases  S,  . 

.  _.  ,      .        _  1       i  hnnar.  in 

that  passage.  Ihe  words  that  1  have  spoken  to  you,  they  are  PsaUcviii. 
spirit  and  life  :  understand  spiritually  that  which  I  have  said ;  5. 
for  it  is  not  this  body  ivhich  you  see,  that  you  are  to  eat,  or  to 
driu/c  this  blood  which  they  shall  shed,  who  crucify  me.  But 
I  have  recommended  a  sacrament  to  you,  which  being  spiritually 
understood,  shall  quicken  you :  and  though  it  be  necessary  that 
it  be  celebrated  visibly,  yet  it  must  be.  understood  invisibly. 

Primasius  compares  the  sacrament  to  a  pledge,  which  a  Comm.  ia 
dying  man  leaves  to  any  one  whom  he  loved.    But  that  which  1  Ep-  »<* 

2  F  2  Cor• 


436 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.    is  more  important  than  the  quotation  of  any  of  the  words  of 
XX VIII.  the  fathers  is,  that  the  author  of  the  books  of  the  sacrament, 
Lib  jv  de  which  pass  under  the  name  of  St.  Ambrose,  though  it  is 
Sacram.    generally  agreed  that  those  books  were  writ  some  ages  after 
c-  5-       his  death,  gives  us  the  prayer  of  consecration,  as  it  was  used 
in  his  time :  he  calls  it  the  heavenly  words,  and  sets  it  down. 
The  offices  of  the  church  are  a  clearer  evidence  of  the  doctrine 
of  that  church  than  all  the  discourses  that  can  be  made  by 
any  doctor  in  it ;  the  one  is  the  language  of  the  whole  body, 
whereas  the  other  are  only  the  private  reasonings  of  particular 
men :  and,  of  all  the  parts  of  the  office,  the  prayer  of  consecra- 
tion is  that  which  does  most  certainly  set  out  to  us  the  sense 
of  that  church  that  used  it.    But  that  which  makes  this 
remark  the  more  important  is,  that  the  prayer,  as  set  down 
by  this  pretended  St.  Ambrose,  is  very  near  the  same  with 
that  which  is  now  in  the  canon  of  the  mass ;  only  there  is  one 
very  important  variation,  which  will  best  appear  by  setting 
both  down. 

Ut  supra.  That  of  St.  Ambrose  is,  Fac  nobis  hanc  oblationem,  ascrip- 
tam,  rationabilem,  accept abilem,  quod  est  figura  corporis  et 
sanguinis  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi,  qui  pridie  quam  patere- 
tur,  fyc.  That  in  the  canon  of  the  mass  is,  Quam  oblationem 
tu  Deus  in  omnibus  qua  sumas  benedictam,  ascriptam,  ratam, 
rationabilem,  acceptabilemque  faccre  digneris:  ut  nobis  corpus  et 
sanguis  fiat  dilectissimi  Filii  tui  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi. 

We  do  plainly  see  so  great  a  resemblance  of  the  latter  to 
the  former  of  these  two  prayers,  that  we  may  well  conclude, 
that  the  one  was  begun  in  the  other ;  but  at  the  same  time 
we  observe  an  essential  difference.  In  the  former  this  sacrifice 
is  called  the  figure  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  Whereas 
in  the  latter  it  is  prayed,  that  it  may  become  to  us  the  body  and 
blood  of  Christ.  As  long  as  the  former  was  the  prayer  of 
consecration,  it  is  not  possible  for  us  to  imagine,  that  the 
doctrine  of  the  corporal  presence  could  be  received ;  for  that 
which  was  believed  to  be  the  true  body  and  blood  of  Christ, 
could  not  be  called,  especially  in  such  a  part  of  the  office,  the 
figure  of  his  body  and  blood;  and  therefore  the  change  that 
was  made  in  this  prayer  was  an  evident  proof  of  a  change  in 
the  doctrine ;  and  if  we  could  tell  in  what  age  that  was  done, 
we  might  then  upon  greater  certainty  fix  the  time  in  whicb 
this  change  was  made,  or  at  least  in  which  the  inc  nsistency 
of  that  prayer  with  this  doctrine  was  observed. 

I  have  now  set  down  a  great  variety  of  proofs  reduced 
under  different  heads;  from  which  it  appears  evide  tly  that 
the  fathers  did  not  believe  this  doctrine,  but  that  they  did 
affirm  the  contrary  very  expressly.  This  sacrament  continued 
to  be  so  long  considered  as  the  figure  or  image  of  Christ's 
body,  that  the  seventh  general  council,  which  met  at  Constan- 
tinople in  the  year  754,  and  consisted  of  above  three  hundred 
and  thirty  bishops,  when  it  condemned  the  worship  of  images, 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


437 


affirmed  that  this  was  the  only  image  that  we  might  lawfully  A  RT. 
have  of  Christ;  and  that  he  had  appointed  us  to  offer  this  XXVIIi 
image  of  his  body,  to  wit,  the  substance  of  the  bread.  That 
was  indeed  contradicted  with  much  confidence  by  the  second 
council  of  Nice,  in  which,  in  opposition  to  what  appears  to 
this  day  in  all  the  Greek  liturgies,  and  the  Greek  fathers,  they 
do  positively  deny  that  the  sacrament  was  ever  called  the 
image  of  Christ :  and  they  affirm  it  to  be  the  trice  body  of 
Christ. 

In  conclusion,  I  shall  next  shew  how  this  doctrine  crept 
into  the  church ;  for  this  seems  plausible,  that  a  doctrine  of 
this  nature  could  never  have  got  into  the  church  in  any  age, 
if  those  of  the  age  that  admitted  it  had  not  known  that  it  had 
been  the  doctrine  of  the  former  age,  and  so  upwards  to  the 
age  of  the  apostles.  It  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  that  very 
early  both  Justin  Martyr  and  Irenaeus  thought,  that  there  was 
such  a  sanctification  of  the  elements,  that  there  was  a  divine 
virti.e  in  them  :  and  in  those  very  passages  which  we  have 
urged  from  the  arguings  of  the  fathers  against  the  Eutychians, 
(hough  they  do  plainly  prove  that  they  believed  that  the  sub- 
stance of  bread  and  wine  did  still  remain;  yet  they  do  suppose 
an  union  of  the  elements  to  the  body  of  Christ,  like  that  of 
the  human  nature's  being  united  to  the  divine.  Here  a  foun- 
dation was  laid  for  all  the  superstructure  that  was  afterwards 
raised  upon  it.  For  though  the  liturgies  and  public  offices 
continued  long  in  the  first  simplicity,  yet  the  fathers,  who  did 
very  much  study  eloquence,  chiefly  the  Greek  fathers,  carried 
this  matter  very  far  in  their  sermons  and  homilies.  They  did 
only  apprehend  the  profanation  of  the  sacrament,  from  the 
unworthiness  of  those  who  came  to  it ;  and  being  much  set 
on  the  begetting  a  due  reverence  for  so  holy  an  action,  and  a 
seriousness  in  the  perfoimance  of  it,  they  urged  all  the  topics 
that  sublime  figures  or  warm  expressions  could  help  them 
with :  and  with  this  exalted  eloquence  of  theirs  we  must 
likewise  observe  the  state  that  the  world  fell  in  in  the  fifth 
century ;  vast  ?\varms  out  of  the  north  overrun  the  Roman 
empire,  and  by  a  long  continued  succession  of  new  invaders 
all  was  sacked  and  ruined.  In  the  west,  the  Goths  were  fol- 
lowed by  the  Vandals,  the  Alans,  the  Gepides,  the  Franks, 
the  Sweves,  the  Huns,  and  the  Lombards,  some  of  these 
nations  ;  and  in  the  conclusion  the  Saracens  and  Turks  in  the 
oast  made  havoc  of  all  that  was  polite  or  learned ;  by  which 
we  lost  the  chief  writings  of  the  first  and  best  times ;  but  in- 
stead of  these,  many  spurious  ones  were  afterwards  produced, 
and  they  passed  easily  in  dark  and  ignorant  ages.  All  fell 
under  much  oppression  and  misery,  and  Europe  was  so  over- 
run with  barbarity  and  ignorance,  that  it  cannot  be  easily 
apprehended,  but  by  such  as  have  been  at  the  pains  to  go 
through  one  of  the  ungratefullest  pieces  of  study  that  can  be 
well  imagined,  and  have  read  the  productions  of  those  ages. 


438 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  The  understanding  the  scriptures,  or  languages,  or  history, 
iXVin.  was  n0{.  s0  mUch  as  thought  on.  Some  affected  homilies  or 
descan tings  on  the  rituals  of  the  church,  full  of  many  very 
odd  speculations  about  them,  are  among  the  best  of  the  writ- 
ings of  those  times.  They  were  easily  imposed  on  by  any 
new  forgery ;  witness  the  reception  and  authority  that  was 
given  to  the  Decretal  Epistles  of  the  popes  of  the  first  three 
centuries ;  which  for  many  ages  maintained  its  credit,  though 
it  was  plainly  a  forgery  of  the  eighth  century,  and  was  con- 
trived with  so  little  art,  that  there  is  not  in  them  colour 
enough  to  excuse  the  ignorance  of  those  that  were  deceived 
by  it.  As  it  is  an  easy  thing  to  mislead  ignorant  multitudes, 
so  there  is  somewhat  in  incredible  opinions  and  stories,  that 
is  suited  to  such  a  state  of  mankind :  and  as  men  are  apt  to 
fancy  that  they  see  sprights,  especially  in  the  night,  so  the 
more  of  darkness  and  unconceivableness  that  there  is  in  an 
opinion,  it  is  the  more  properly  calculated  for  such  times. 
The  ages  that  succeeded  were  not  only  times  of  ignorance,  but 
they  were  also  times  of  much  corruption.  The  writers  of  the 
fourth  and  fifth  centuries  give  us  dismal  representations  of  the 
corruptions  of  their  times;  and  the  scandalous  unconstancy 
of  the  councils  of  those  ages,  is  too  evident  a  proof  of  what 
we  find  said  by  the  good  men  of  those  clays :  but  things 
fell  lower  and  lower  in  the  succeeding  ages.  It  is  an  amazing 
thing,  that  in  the  very  office  of  consecrating  bishops,  examina- 
tions are  ordered  concerning  those  crimes,  the  very  mention 
of  which  give  horror ;  De  Coitu  cum  Musculo  et  cum  Quadru- 
pedibus. 

The  popes  more  particularly  were  such  a  succession  of  men, 
that,  as  their  own  historians  have  described  them,  nothing  in 
any  history  can  be  produced  that  is  like  them.  The  characters 
they  give  them  are  so  monstrous,  that  nothing  under  the  au- 
thority of  unquestioned  writers,  and  the  evidence  of  the  facts 
themselves,  could  make  them  credible.* 

But  that  which  makes  the  introduction  of  this  doctrine 
appear  the  more  probable  is,  that  we  plainly  see  the  whole 
body  of  the  clergy  was  every  where  so  influenced  by  the 
management  of  the  popes,  that  they  generally  entered  into 
combinations  to  subject  the  temporalty  to  the  spiritualty: 
and  therefore  every  opinion  that  tended  to  render  the  persons 
of  the  clergy  sacred,  and  to  raise  their  character  high,  was 
sure  to  receive  the  best  entertainment,  and  the  greatest 
encouragement  possible.  Nothing  could  carry  this  so  far  as 
an  opinion  that  represented  the  priest  as  having  a  character 
by  which,  with  a  few  words,  he  could  make  a  god.  The 
opinion  of  transubstantiation  was  such  an  engine,  that  it  being 
once  set  on  foot,  could  not  but  meet  with  a  favourable 
reception  from  those  who  were  then  seeking  all  possible 


•  See  note,  page  253. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


439 


colours  to  give  credit  to  their  authority,  and  to  advance  it.  A  R  T. 
The  numbers  of  the  clergy  were  then  so  great,  and  their  con-  XXVIIL 
trivances  were  so  well  suited  to  the  credulity  and  superstition 
of  those  times,  that,  by  visions  and  wonderful  stories  con- 
fidently vouched,  they  could  easily  infuse  any  thing  into  weak 
and  giddy  multitudes.  Besides,  that  the  genius  of  those 
times  led  them  much  to  the  love  of  pomp  and  show ;  they  had 
lost  the  true  power  and  beauty  of  religion,  and  were  willing, 
by  outward  appearances,  to  balance  and  compensate  for  their 
great  defects. 

But  besides  all  those  general  considerations,  which  such  as 
are  acquainted  with  the  history  of  those  ages  know  do  belong 
to  them  in  a  much  higher  degree  than  is  here  set  forth ;  there 
are  some  specialties  that  relate  to  this  doctrine  in  particular, 
which  will  make  the  introduction  of  it  appear  the  more  prac- 
/icable.  This  had  never  been  condemned  in  any  former  age  : 
for  as  none  condemn  errors  by  anticipation  or  prophecy ;  so 
the  promoters  of  it  had  this  advantage,  that  no  formal  decision 
had  been  made  against  them.  It  did  also  in  the  outward 
sound  agree  with  the  words  of  the  institution,  and  the  phrases 
generally  used,  of  the  elements  being  changed  into  the  body 
and  blood  of  Christ:  outward  sound  and  appearance  was 
enough  in  ignorant  ages  to  hide  the  change  that  was  made. 
The  step  that  is  made  from  believing  any  thing  in  general, 
with  an  indistinct  and  confused  apprehension,  to  a  determined 
way  of  explaining  it,  is  not  hard  to  be  brought  about. 

The  people  in  general  believed  that  Christ  was  in  the  sacra- 
ment, and  that  the  elements  were  his  body  and  blood,  without 
troubling  themselves  to  examine  in  what  manner  all  this  was 
done  :  so  it  was  no  great  step  in  a  dark  age  to  put  a  particular 
explanation  of  this  upon  them  :  and  this  change  being  brought 
in  without  any  visible  alterations  made  in  the  worship,  it  must 
needs  have  passed  with  the  world  the  more  easily  :  for  in  all 
times  visible  rites  are  more  minded  by  the  people  than  specu- 
lative points,  which  they  consider  very  little.  No  alterations 
were  at  first  made  in  the  worship ;  the  adoration  of  the  host, 
and  the  processions  invented  to  honour  it,  came  afterwards. 

Honorius  the  1 1  Id,  who  first  appointed  the  adoration,  does 
not  pretend  to  found  it  on  ancient  practice :  only  he  com- 
mands the  priests  to  tell  the  people  to  do  it :  and  he  at  first 
enjoined  only  an  inclination  of  the  head  to  the  sacrament. 
But  his  successor,  Gregory  the  IXth,  did  more  resolutely  Greg.  De- 
command  it,  and  ordered  a  bell  to  be  rung:  at  the  consecration  1«t.hb.ni. 

•  •  ™  tit.  41. I '  3  I!  ■ 

and  elevation,  to  give  notice  of  it,  that  so  all  those  who  10. 
heard  it  might  kneel  and  join  their  hands,  and  so  worship 
the  host. 

The  first  controversy  about  the  manner  of  the  presence 
aros e  incidentally  upon  the  controversy  of  images  :  the  council 
at  Constantinople  decreed,  that  the  sacrament  was  the  image 
of  Christ,  in  which  the  substance  of  bread  and  wine  remaimd. 


440 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  RT.  Those  of  Nice,  how  furiously  soever  they  fell  upon  them  for 
..XVIII.  callmg  the  sacrament  the  image  of  Christ,  yet  do  no  where 
hlame  them  for  saying  that  the  substance  of  bread  and  wine 
remained  in  it :  for  indeed  the  opinion  of  Damascene,  and  of 
most  of  the  Greek  church,  was,  that  there  was  an  assumption 
of  the  bread  and  wine  into  an  union  with  the  body  of  Christ. 
The  council  of  Constantinople  Drought  in  their  decision 
occasionally,  that  being  considered  as  the  settled  doctrine  of 
the  church ;  whereas  those  of  Nice  did  visibly  innovate  and 
falsify  the  tradition  :  for  they  affirm,  as  Damascene  had  done 
before  them,  that  the  elements  were  called  antitypes  of 
Christ's  body,  only  before  they  were  consecrated,  but  not  after 
it:  which  they  say  none  of  the  fathers  had  done.  This  is  so 
notoriously  false,  that  no  man  can  pretend  now  to  justify 
them  in  it,  since  there  are  above  twenty  of  the  fathers  that 
were  before  them,  who  in  plain  words  call  the  elements  after 
consecration,  the  figure  and  antitype  of  Christ's  body :  here  then 
was  the  tradition  and  practice  of  the  church  falsified,  which  is 
no  small  prejudice  against  those  that  support  the  doctrine,  as 
well  as  against  the  credit  of  that  council. 

About  thirty  years  after  that  council,  Paschase  Radbert. 
abbot  of  Corby  in  France,  did  very  plainly  assert  the  corporal 
presence  in  the  eucharist :  he  is  acknowledged  both  by  Bel- 
larmine  and  Sirmondus  to  be  the  first  writer  that  did  on 
purpose  advance  and  explain  that  doctrine  :  he  himself  values 
his  pains  in  that  matter ;  and  as  he  laments  the  slowness  of 
some  in  believing  it,  so  he  pretends  that  he  had  moved  many 
to  assent  to  it.  But  he  confesses,  that  some  blamed  him  for 
ascribing  a  sense  to  the  words  of  Christ  that  was  not  con- 
sonant to  truth.  There  was  but  one  book  writ  in  that  age  to 
second  him ;  the  name  of  the  author  was  lost,  till  Mabillon 
discovered  that  it  was  writ  by  one  Herigerus,  abbot  of  Cob. 
But  all  the  eminent  men  and  the  great  writers  of  that  time 
wrote  plainly  against  this  doctrine,  and  affirmed,  that  the 
bread  and  wine  remained  in  the  sacrament,  and  did  nourish 
our  bodies  as  other  meats  do.  Those  were  Rabanus  Maurus, 
archbishop  of  Mentz  ;  Amalarius,  archbishop  of  Triers ; 
Heribald,  bishop  of  Auxerre  ;  Bertram,  or  Ratramne  ;  John 
Scot  Erigena ;  Walafridus  Strabus ;  Floras,  and  Christian 
Druthmar.  Three  of  these  set  themselves  on  purpose  to 
refute  Paschase. 

Rabanus  Maurus,  in  an  epistle  to  abbot  Egilon,  wrote 
against  Paschase  for  saying,  that  it  was  that  body  that  was 
born  of  the  Virgin,  that  was  crucified  and  raised  up  again, 
which  was  daily  offered  up.  And  though  that  book  is  lost, 
yet  as  he  himself  refers  his  reader  to  it  in  his  Penitential,  so 
we  have  an  account  given  of  it  by  the  anonymous  defender  of 
Paschase. 

Ratramne  was  commanded  by  Charles  the  Bald,  then  em- 
peror, to  write  upon  that  subject ;  which  he  in  the  beginning 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  441 


of  his  book  promises  to  do,  not  trusting  to  his  own  sense,  ART. 
but  following  the  steps  of  the  holy  fathers.    He  tells  us,  that  XXV HI. 
there  were  different  opinions  about  it :  some  believing  that  ~ 
the  body  of  Christ  was  there  without  a  figure :  others  saying 
that  it  was  there  in  a  figure,  or  mystery  .-  upon  which  he  ap- 
prehended that  a  great  schism  must  follow.    His  book  is 
very  short,  and  very  plain :  he  asserts  our  doctrine  as  ex- 
pressly as  we  ourselves  can  do :  he  delivers  it  in  the  same 
words,  and  proves  it  by  many  of  the  same  arguments  and  au- 
thorities, that  we  bring. 

Raban  and   Ratramne  were,  without  dispute,  reckoned 
among  the  first  men  of  that  age. 

John  Scot  was  also  commanded  by  the  same  emperor  to 
write  on  the  same  subject :  he  was  one  of  the  most  learned 
and  the  most  ingenious  men  of  the  age ;  and  was  in  great 
esteem  both  with  the  emperor,  and  with  our  king  Alfred. 
He  was  reckoned  both  a  saint  and  a  martyr.  He  did  formerly 
refute  Paschase's  doctrine,  and  assert  ours.  His  book  is  in- 
deed lost;  but  a  full  account  of  it  is  given  us  by  other  writers 
of  that  time.  And  it  is  a  great  evidence,  that  his  opinion  in 
this  matter  was  not  then  thought  to  be  contrary  to  the  general 
sense  of  the  church  in  that  age :  for  he  having  writ  against 
St.  Austin's  doctrine  concerning  predestination,  there  was  a 
very  severe  censure  of  him  and  of  his  writings  published 
under  the  name  of  the  church  of  Lyons :  in  which  they  do 
not  once  reflect  on  him  for  his  opinions  touching  the  eu- 
charist.  It  appears  from  this,  that  their  doctrine  concerning 
the  sacrament  was  then  generally  received ;  since  both  Ra- 
tramne and  he,  though  they  differed  extremely  in  the  point  of 
predestination,  yet  both  agreed  in  this.  It  is  probable  that 
the  Saxon  homily,*  that  was  read  in  England  on  Easter-day, 
was  taken  from  Scot's  book;  which  does  fully  reject  the 
corporal  presence.  This  is  enough  to  shew  that  Paschase's 
opinion  was  an  innovation  broached  in  the  ninth  century,  and 
was  opposed  by  all  the  great  men  of  that  age. 

The  tenth  century  was  the  blackest  and  most  ignorant  of 
all  the  ages  of  the  church :  there  is  not  one  writer  in  that  age 
that  gives  us  any  clear  account  of  the  doctrine  of  the  church : 
such  remote  hints  as  occur  do  still  savour  of  Ratramne's  doc- 

*  '  Throughout  the  whole  of  this  Homily,  the  bread  and  wine  are  stated  to  be 
understood  ghostly  and  spiritually,  as  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ.  Quoting 
1  Cor.  x.  They  ate  the  same  spiritual  meat,  and  drank  the  same  spiritual  drink,  it  is 
said,  "  Neither  was  that  stone  then  from  which  the  water  ran  bodehj  Christ,  hut  it 
signified  Chris',  because  that  heavenly  meat  that  fed  them  forty  years,  and  that 
water  which  from  the  stone  did  flow,  had  signification  of  Christes  bodye  and  his 
bioude,  that  now  be  offered  daylye  in  Codes  church  :  it  was  the  same  which  we 
now  otfer  not  booely  6iit  ghostly.  Moyses  and  Aaron  saw  that  the  heavenly 
meat  was  visible  and  corruptible;  and  they  understood  it  spiritually  and  received  it 
spiritually.  The  Saviour  saith,  He  that  eateth  my  Jleshe  and  drinketh  my  blood 
hath  everlasting  lyfe  ■■  and  He  bade  them  eat,  not  that  body  which  he  was  going 
about  with,  nor  that  blood  to  drink  which  he  shed  for  us  ;  but  he  meant  by  that 


442 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  trine.  All  men  were  then  asleep,  and  so  it  was  a  fit  time  for 
XXVIfI-  the  tares  that  Paschase  had  sown  to  grow  up  in  it.  The 
popes  of  that  age  were  such  a  succession  of  monsters,  that 
Baronius  cannot  forbear  to  make  the  saddest  exclamations 
possible  against  their  debaucheries,  their  cruelties,  and  their 
other  vices.  About  the  middle  of  the  eleventh  century,  after 
this  dispute  had  slept  almost  two  hundred  years,  it  was 
again  revived. 

Bruno  bishop  of  Angiers,  and  Berengarius  his  archdeacon, 
maintained  the  doctrine  of  Ratramne.  Little  mention  is  made 
of  the  bishop  ;  but  the  archdeacon  is  spoken  of  as  a  man  of 
great  piety ;  so  that  he  passed  for  a  saint,  and  was  a  man  of 
such  learning,  that  when  he  was  brought  before  pope  Nicolaus, 
no  man  could  resist  him.  He  writ  against  Paschase,  and  had 
many  followers :  the  historians  of  that  age  tell  us  that  his 
doctrine  had  overspread  all  France.  The  books  writ  against 
him  by  Lanfranc  and  others  are  filled  with  an  impudent  cor- 
rupting of  all  antiquity.  Many  councils  were  held  upon  this 
matter;  and  these,  together  with  the  terrors  of  burning, 
which  was  then  beginning  to  be  the  common  punishment  of 
heresy,  made  him  renounce  his  opinion :  but  he  returned  to 
it  again ;  yet  he  afterwards  renounced  it :  though  Lanfranc 
reproached  him,  that  it  was  not  the  love  of  truth,  but  the 
fear  of  death,  that  brought  him  to  it.  And  his  final  retract- 
ing of  that  renouncing  of  his  opinion  is  lately  found  in 
France,  as  I  have  been  credibly  informed.  Thus  this  opinion, 
that  in  the  ninth  century  was  generally  received,  and  was 
condemned  by  neither  pope  nor  council,  was  become  so 
odious  in  the  eleventh  century,  that  none  durst  own  it :  and 
he  who  had  the  courage  to  own  it,  yet  was  not  resolute 
enough  to  stand  to  it:  for  about  this  time  the  doctrine  of 
extirpating  heretics,  and  of  deposing  such  princes  as  were  de- 
fective in  that  matter,  was  universally  put  in  practice  :  great 
bodies  of  men  began  to  separate  from  the  Roman  communion 
in  the  southern  parts  of  France ;  and  one  of  the  chief  points 
of  their  doctrine  was  their  believing  that  Christ  was  not  cor- 
porally present  in  the  eucharist ;  and  that  he  was  there  only 
in  a  figure  or  mystery.    But  now  that  the  contrary  doctrine 

word  the  holy  Eucharist,  which  spiritually  is  His  body  and  ITis  hlood.  . 

In  the  old  law  faithful  men  offered  God  divers  sacrifices 
that  had  for  signification  of  Christes  body  ;  certainly  this  Eucharist,  which  we  do 
now  hallow  at  God's  altar  is  a  remembrance  of  Christ's  body,  which  he  offered 
for  us:  and  of  His  blood  which  He  shed  for  us."' 

For  these  extracts  the  Editor  is  indebted  to  Dr.  Adam  Clarke,  who,  in  his  '  Dis- 
course on  the  nature  and  design  of  the  Eucharist,'  quotes  them  from  a  very  rare 
work,  intituled  '  A  Testimonie  of  Antiquitie,  shewing  the  auncient  fayth  in  the 
Church  of  England,  touching  the  Sacrament  of  the  Body  and  Bloude  of  the 
Lorde  here  publikely  preached,  and  also  receaved  in  the  Saxons'  tyme,  above  600 
years  ago.  Imprinted  at  London,  by  John  Day.'  18mo.  without  date,  but  known 
to  have  been  printed  in  1567.  At  the  conclusion  is  an  attestation  signed  by  Mat- 
thew Parker,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  Thomas  archbishop  of  York,  and  thirteen 
other  bishops — [Ed-] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


443 


was  established,  and  that  those  who  denied  it  were  adjudged  ART, 
to  be  burnt,  it  is  no  wonder  if  it  quickly  gained  ground,  when  XXVIII. 
on  the  one  hand  the  priests  saw  their  interest  in  promoting 
it,  and  all  people  felt  the  danger  of  denying  it.    The  anathe- 
mas of  the  church,  and  the  terrors  of  burning,  were  infallible 
things  to  silence  contradiction  at  least,  if  not  to  gain  assent. 

Soon  after  this  doctrine  was  received,  the  schoolmen  began 
to  refine  upon  it,  as  they  did  upon  every  thing  else.  The  *^i>.  iv. 
master  of  the  sentences  would  not  determine  how  Christ  was 
present;  whether  formally  or  substantially,  or  some  other 
way.  Some  schoolmen  thought  that  the  matter  of  bread  was 
destroyed  ;  but  that  the  form  remained,  to  be  the  form  of 
Christ's  body,  that  was  the  matter  of  it.  Others  thought 
that  the  matter  of  the  elements  remained,  and  that  the  form 
only  was  destroyed :  but  that  to  which  many  inclined,  was 
the  assumption  of  the  elements  into  an  union  with  the  body 
of  Christ,  or  a  hypostatical  union  of  the  Eternal  Word  to 
them,  by  which  they  became  as  truly  a  body  to  Christ,  as 
that  which  he  has  in  heaven:  yet  it  was  not  the  same,  but  a 
different  body. 

Stephen  bishop  of  Autun  was  the  first  that  fell  on  the  ne  Sa- 
word  transubstantiation.  Amalric,  in  the  beginning  of  the  cram.  Al- 
thirteenth  century,  denied  in  express  words  the  corporal  pre-  ,arls>c- 13, 
sence:  he  was  condemned  in  the  fourth  council  of  the  Lateran 
as  an  heretic,  and  his  body  was  ordered  to  be  taken  up  and 
burnt:  and  in  opposition  to  him  transubstantiation  was  de- 
creed. Yet  the  schoolmen  continued  to  offer  different  expla- 
nations of  this  for  a  great  while  after  that :  but  in  conclusion 
all  agreed  to  explain  it  as  was  formerly  set  forth.  It  appears, 
by  the  crude  way  in  which  it  was  at  first  explained,  that  it 
was  a  novelty ;  and  that  men  did  not  know  how  to  mould  and 
frame  it :  but  at  last  it  was  licked  into  shape ;  the  whole  phi- 
losophy being  cast  into  such  a  mould  as  agreed  with  it.  And 
therefore,  in  the  present  age,  in  which  that  philosophy  has 
lost  its  credit,  great  pains  are  taken  to  suppress  the  new  and 
freer  way  of  philosophy,  as  that  which  cannot  be  so  easily 
subdued  to  support  this  doctrine,  as  the  old  one  was.  And 
the  arts,  that  those  who  go  into  the  new  philosophy  take  to 
reconcile  their  scheme  to  this  doctrine,  shew  that  there  is 
nothing  that  subtile  and  unsincere  men  will  not  venture  on : 
for,  since  they  make  extension  to  be  of  the  essence  of  matter, 
and  think  that  accidents  are  only  the  modes  of  matter,  which 
have  no  proper  being  of  themselves,  it  is  evident,  that  a  body 
cannot  be  without  its  extension,  and  that  accidents  cannot 
subsist  without  their  subject ;  so  that  this  can  be  in  no  sort 
reconciled  to  transubstantiation :  and  therefore  they  would 
willingly  avoid  this  special  manner  of  the  presence,  and  only 
in  general  assert  that  Christ  is  corporally  present.  But  the 
decrees  of  the  Lateran  and  Trent  councils  make  it  evident, 
that  transubstantiation  is  now  a  doctrine  that  is  bound  upon 


444 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART  them  by  the  authority  of  the  church  and  of  tradition ;  and 
[XVIII.  that  tney  are  as  much  bound  to  believe  it,  as  to  believe  the 
~~  corporal  presence  itself.  Thus  the  going  off  from  the  sim- 
plicity in  which  Christ  did  deliver  the  sacrament,  and  in 
which  the  church  at  first  received  it,  into  some  sublime  ex- 
pressions about  it,  led  men  once  out  of  the  way,  and  they  still 
went  further  and  further  from  it.  Pious  and  rhetorical  figures, 
pursued  far  by  men  of  heated  imaginations  and  of  inflamed 
affections,  were  followed  with  explanations  invented  by  colder 
and  more  designing  men  afterwards,  and  so  it  increased  till  it 
grew  by  degrees  to  that  to  which  at  last  it  settled  on. 

But  after  all,  if  the  doctrine  of  the  corporal  presence  had 
rested  only  in  a  speculation,  though  we  should  have  judged 
those  who  held  it  to  be  very  bad  philosophers,  and  no  good 
critics ;  yet  we  could  have  endured  it,  if  it  had  rested  there, 
and  had  not  gone  on  to  be  a  matter  of  practice,  by  the  adora- 
tion and  processions,  with  every  thing  else  of  that  kind,  which 
followed  upon  it :  for  this  corrupted  the  worship. 

The  Lutherans  believe  a  consubstantiation,  and  that  both 
Christ's  body  and  blood,  and  the  substance  of  the  elements, 
are  together  in  the  sacrament :  that  some  explain  by  an 
ubiquity,  which  they  think  is  communicated  to  the  human 
nature  of  Christ,  by  which  his  body  is  every  where  as  well  as 
in  the  sacrament:  whereas  others  of  them  think,  that  since 
the  words  of  Christ  must  needs  be  true  in  a  literal  sense,  his 
body  and  blood  is  therefore  in  the  sacrament,  but  in,  with, 
and  under  the  bread  and  wine.  All  this  we  think  is  ill  ground- 
ed, and  is  neither  agreeable  to  the  words  of  the  institution, 
nor  to  the  nature  of  things.  A  great  deal  of  that  which  was 
formerly  set  forth  in  defence  of  our  doctrine  falls  likewise 
upon  this.  The  ubiquity  communicated  to  the  human  nature, 
as  it  seems  a  thing  in  itself  impossible,  so  it  gives  no  more  to 
the  sacrament  than  to  every  thing  else.  Christ's  body  may 
be  said  to  be  in  every  thing,  or  rather  every  thing  may 
be  said  to  be  his  body  and  blood,  as  well  as  the  elements  in 
the  sacrament.  The  impossibility  of  a  body's  being  without 
extension,  or  in  more  places  at  once,  lies  against  this,  as  well 
as  against  transubstantiation.  But  yet,  after  all,  this  is  only 
a  point  of  speculation,  nothing  follows  upon  it  in  practice,  no 
adoration  is  offered  to  the  elements  ;  and  therefore  we  judge 
that  speculative  opinions  may  be  borne  with,  when  they 
neither  fall  upon  the  fundamentals  of  Christianity,  to  give  us 
false  ideas  of  the  essential  parts  of  our  religion,  nor  affect  our 
practice ;  and  chiefly  when  the  worship  of  God  is  maintained 
in  its  purity,  for  which  we  see  God  has  expressed  so  particu- 
lar a  concern,  giving  it  the  word  which  of  all  others  raises  in 
us  the  most  sensible  and  the  strongest  ideas,  calling  it 
jealousy ;  that  we  reckon  we  ought  to  watch  over  this  with 
much  caution.  We  can  very  well  bear  with  some  opinions, 
that  we  think  ill  grounded,  as  long  as  they  are  only  matters 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


445 


cf  opinion,  and  have  no  influence  neither  on  men's  morals 
nor  their  worship.  We  still  hold  communion  with  bodies  . 
of  men,  that,  as  we  judge,  think  wrong,  but  yet  do  both  live 
well,  and  maintain  the  purity  of  the  worship  of  God.  We 
know  the  great  design  of  religion  is  to  govern  men's  lives, 
and  to  give  them  right  ideas  of  God,  and  of  the  ways  of  wor- 
shipping him.  All  opinions  that  do  not  break  in  upon  these, 
are  things  in  which  great  forbearance  is  to  be  used;  large 
allowances  are  to  be  made  for  men's  notions  in  all  other 
things;  and  therefore  we  think  that  neither  consubstantiation 
nor  transubstantiation,  how  ill  grounded  soever  we  take 
both  to  be,  ought  to  dissolve  the  union  and  communion  of 
churches :  but  it  is  quite  another  thing,  if  under  either  of 
these  opinions  an  adoration  of  the  elements  is  taught  and 
practised.* 

This  we  believe  is  plain  idolatry,  when  an  insensible  piece 
of  matter,  such  as  bread  and  wine,  has  divine  honours  paid  it: 
when  it  is  believed  to  be  God,  when  it  is  called  God,  and  is 
in  all  respects  worshipped  with  the  same  adoration  that  is 
offered  up  to  Almighty  God.  This  we  think  is  gross  idolatry. 
Many  writers  of  the  church  of  Rome  have  acknowledged,  that 
if  transubstantiation  is  not  true,  their  worship  is  a  strain  of 
idolatry  beyond  any  that  is  practised  among  the  most  depraved 
of  all  the  heathens. 

The  only  excuse  that  is  offered  in  this  matter  is,  that  since 
the  declared  object  of  worship  is  Jesus  Christ,  believed  to  be 
there  present,  then,  whether  he  is  present  or  not,  the  worship 
terminates  in  him ;  both  the  secret  acts  of  the  worshippers, 
and  the  professed  doctrine  of  the  church,  do  lodge  it  there. 
And  therefore  it  may  be  said,  that  though  he  should  not  be 
actually  present,  yet  the  act  of  adoration  being  directed  to 
him  must  be  accepted  of  God,  as  right  meant,  and  duly 
directed,  even  though  there  should  happen  to  be  a  mistake  in 
the  outward  application  of  it.f 

*  See  note,  pp.  417,  418. 

f-  This  vain  pretence  of  worshipping  on  condition  that  the  consecrated  bread  is 
Christ,  is  thus  met  and  ably  refuted  by  Bishop  Taylor  : — 

'  I  will  not  censure  the  men  that  do  it,  or  consider  concerning'  the  action  whether 
it  be  format  idolatry  or  no.  God  is  their  judge  and  mine,  and  I  beg  he  would  be 
pleased  to  have  mercy  upon  us  all ;  but  yet  they  that  are  interested,  for  their  own 
particulars,  ought  to  fear  and  consider  these  things.  1 .  That  no  man,  without  his  own 
fault,  can  mistake  a  creature  so  far,  as  to  suppose  him  to  be  a  God.  2.  That 
when  the  heathens  worshipped  the  sun  and  moon,  they  did  it  upon  their  confidence 
that  they  were  gods,  and  would  not  have  given  to  them  divine  honours,  if  they  had 
thought  otherwise.  3.  That  the  distinction  of  material  and  formal  idolatry,  though 
it  have  a  place  in  philosophy,  because  the  understanding  can  consider  an  act  with 
its  error,  and  yet  separate  the  parts  of  the  consideration  ;  yet  hath  no  place  in 
divinity,  because  in  things  of  so  great  concernment  it  cannot  but  be  supposed  highly 
agreeable  to  the  goodness  and  justice  of  God,  that  every  man  be  sufficiently 
instructed  in  his  duty  and  convenient  notices.  4.  That  no  man  in  the  world  upon 
these  grounds,  except  he  that  is  malicious  and  spiteful,  can  be  an  idolater :  for  if 
he  have  an  ignorance  great  enough  to  excuse  him,  he  can  be  no  idolater  ;  if  he 
have  not,  he  is  spiteful  and  malicious ;  and  then  all  the  heathen  are  also  excused 
as  well  a3  they.    5.  That  if  good  intent  and  ignorance  in  such  cases  can  take  off 


446 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  In  answer  to  this,  we  do  not  pretend  to  determine  how  far 
txvnI-  this  may  be  pardoned  by  God ;  whose  mercies  are  infinite, 
and  who  does  certainly  consider  chiefly  the  hearts  of  his  crea- 
tures, and  is  merciful  to  their  infirmities,  and  to  such  errors 
as  arise  out  of  their  weakness,  their  hearts  being  sincere  before 
him.  We  ought  to  consider  this  action  as  it  is  in  itself,  and 
not  according  to  men's  apprehensions  and  opinions  about  it. 
If  the  conceits  that  the  ancient  idolaters  had  both  concerning 
their  gods,  and  the  idols  that  they  worshipped,  will  excuse 
from  idolatry,  it  will  be  very  hard  to  say  that  there  were  ever 
any  idolaters  in  the  world.  Those  who  worshipped  the  sun, 
thought  that  the  great  divinity  was  lodged  there,  as  in  a 
vehicle  or  temple ;  but  yet  they  were  not  by  reason  of  that 
misconception  excused  from  being  idolaters. 

If  a  false  opinion  upon  which  a  practice  is  founded,  taken 
up  without  any  good  authority,  will  excuse  men's  sins,  it  will 
be  easy  for  them  to  find  apologies  for  every  thing.  If  the 
worship  of  the  elements  had  been  commanded  by  God,  then 
an  opinion  concerning  it  might  excuse  the  carrying  of  that  too 
far ;  but,  there  being  no  command  for  it,  no  hint  given  about 
it,  nor  any  insinuation  given  of  any  such  practice  in  the 
beginnings  of  Christianity,  an  opinion  that  men  have  taken 
up  cannot  justify  a  new  practice,  of  which  neither  the  first, 
nor  a  great  many  of  the  following  ages  knew  any  thing.  An 
opinion  cannot  justify  men's  practice  founded  upon  it,  if  that 
proves  to  be  false.  All  the  softening  that  can  be  given  it  is, 
that  it  is  a  sin  of  ignorance  ;  but  that  does  not  change  the 
nature  of  the  action,  how  far  soever  it  may  go  with  relation 
to  the  judgments  of  God :  if  the  opinion  is  rashly  taken  up 


the  crime,  then  the  persecutors  that  killed  the  apostles,  thinking  they  did  God 
good  service,  and  Saul  in  blaspheming  the  religion  and  persecuting  the  servants 
of  Jesus,  and  the  Jews  themselves  in  crucifying  the  Lord  of  life,  who  did  it  igno- 
rantly  as  did  also  their  rulers,  have  met  with  the  excuse  upon  the  same  account. 
And  therefore  it  is  not  safe  for  the  men  of  the  Roman  communion  to  take 
anodyne  medicines  and  narcotics  to  make  them  insensible  of  the  pain  ;  for  it  will 
not  cure  their  disease.  Their  doing  it  upon  the  cloak  of  error  and  ignorance,  I 
hope  will  dispose  them  to  receive  a  pardon  .  but  yet  also  that  supposes  them 
criminal ;  and  although  I  would  not  for  all  the  world  be  their  accuser,  or  the 
aggravator  of  the  crime  ;  yet  I  am  not  unwilling  to  be  the  remembrancer,  that 
themselves  may  avoid  the  danger.  For  though  Jacob  was  innocent  in  lying  with 
Leah  instead  of  Rachel,  because  he  had  no  cause  to  suspect  the  deception,  yet  if 
Penelope,  who  had  not  seen  Ulysses  in  twenty  years,  should  see  one  come  to  her 
nothing  like  Ulysses,  but  saying  he  were  her  husband,  she  should  give  but  a  poor 
account  of  her  chastity  if  she  should  actually  admit  him  to  her  bed,  only  saying,  if 
you  be  Ulysses,  or  on  supposition  that  you  are  Ulysses,  I  admit  you.  For  if  she 
certainly  admits  him,  of  whom  she  is  uncertain,  she  certainly  is  an  adultress  ; 
because  she  having  reason  to  doubt,  ought  first  to  be  satisfied  of  her  question. 
Since  therefore  besides  the  insuperable  doubts  of  the  main  article  itself,  in  the 
practice  and  particulars  there  are  acknowledged  so  many  ways  of  deception,  and 
confessed  that  the  actual  failings  are  frequent,  it  will  be  but  a  weak  excuse  to  say, 
I  worship  thee  if  thou  be  the  Son  of  God ;  and  I  do  not  worship  thee  if  thou 
beest  not  concecrated  ;  and,  in  the  mean  time,  the  Divine  worship  is  actually 
exhibited  to  what  is  set  before  us.  At  the  best  we  may  say  to  these  men,  as  our 
blessed  Saviour  to  the  woman  of  Samaria,  "  je  worship  ye  know  not  what ;  but  we 
know  what  to  worship."' — [En.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


447 


and  stiffly  maintained,  the  worship  that  is  inti-oduced  upon  it  A  R  T, 
is  aggravated  by  the  ill  foundation  that  it  is  built  upon.    We  xxv"ni 
know  God  by  his  essence  is  every  where ;  but  this  will  not  ~~ 
justify  our  worshipping  any  material  object  upon  this  pretence, 
because  God  is  in  it ;  we  ought  never  to  worship  him  towards 
any  visible  object,  unless  he  were  evidently  declaring  his 
glory  in  it ;  as  he  did  to  Moses  in  the  flaming  bush ;  to  the 
Israelites  on  mount  Sinai,  and  in  the  cloud  of  glory ;  or  to  us 
Christians  in  a  sublimer  manner  in  the  human  nature  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

But  by  this  parity  of  reason,  though  we  were  sure  that 
Christ  were  in  the  elements,  yet  since  he  is  there  invisible,  as 
God  is  by  his  essence  every  where,  we  ought  to  direct  no 
adoration  to  the  elements ;  we  ought  only  to  worship  God, 
and  his  Son  Christ  Jesus,  in  the  grateful  remembrance  of  his 
sufferings  for  us ;  which  are  therein  commemorated.  We 
ought  not  to  suffer  our  worship  to  terminate  on  the  visible 
elements;  because  if  Christ  is  in  them,  yet  he  does  not  mani- 
fest that  visibly  to  us  :  since  therefore  the  opinion  of  the 
corporal  presence,  upon  which  this  adoration  is  founded,  is 
false,  and  since  no  such  worship  is  so  much  as  mentioned, 
much  less  commanded  in  scripture  ;  and  since  there  can  scarce 
be  any  idolatry  in  the  world  so  gross,  as  that  it  shall  not 

cuse  itself  by  some  such  doctrine,  by  which  all  the  acts  of 
worship  are  made  to  terminate  finally  in  God;  we  must  con- 
clude that  this  plea  cannot  excuse  the  church  of  Rome  from 
idolatry,  even  though  their  doctrine  of  the  corporal  presence 
were  true  ;  but  much  less  if  it  is  false.  We  do  therefore  con- 
demn this  worship  as  idolatry,  without  taking  upon  us  to 
define  the  extent  of  the  mercies  of  God  towards  all  those  who 
are  involved  in  it. 

If  all  the  premises  are  true,  then  it  is  needless  to  insist 
longer  on  explaining  the  following  paragraph  of  the  Article  ; 
that  Christ's  body  is  received  in  the  sacrament  in  a  heavenly 
and  spiritual  manner,  and  that  the  mean  by  xvhich  it  is  received 
is  faith ;  for  that  is  such  a  natural  result  of  them,  that  it 
appears  evident  of  itself,  as  being  the  conclusion  that  arises 
out  of  those  premises. 

The  last  paragraph  is  against  the  reserving,  carrying  about, 
the  lifting  up,  or  the  ivorshipping,  the  sacrament.  The  point 
concerning  the  worship,  which  is  the  most  essential  of  them, 
has  been  already  considered.  As  for  the  reserving  or  carrying 
the  sacrament  about,  it  is  very  visible  that  the  institution  is, 
4  Take,  eat,'  and  '  drink  ye  all  of  it ;'  which  does  import,  that 
the  consuming  the  elements  is  a  part  of  the  institution,  and, 
by  consequence,  that  they  axe  a  sacrament  only  as  they  are 
distributed  and  received.  It  is  true,  the  practice  of  reserving 
or  sending  about  the  elements  began  very  early ;  the  state  of 
things  at  first  made  it  almost  unavoidable.  When  there 
were  yet  but  a  few  converted  to  Christianity,  and  when  there 


448 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  were  but  few  priests  to  serve  them,  they  neither  could  nor 
kXN  !n-  durst  meet  altogether,  especially  in  the  times  of  persecution  ; 
~~  so  some  parts  of  the  elements  were  sent  to  the  absent,  to 
those  in  prison,  and  particularly  to  the  sick,  as  a  symbol  of 
their  being  parts  of  the  body,  and  that  they  were  in  the  peace 
and  communion  of  the  church.  The  bread  was  sent  with  the 
wine,  and  it  was  sent  about  by  any  person  whatsoever;  some- 
ius.  Hist,  times  by  boys ;  as  appears  in  the  famous  story  of  Serapion  in 
b.vi.c.44.  i-hg  third  century.  So  that  the  condition  of  the  Christians  in 
that  time  made  that  necessary,  to  keep  them  all  in  the  sense 
of  their  obligation  to  union  and  communion  with  the  church; 
and  that  could  not  well  be  done  in  any  other  way.  But  we 
make  a  great  difference  between  this  practice,  when  taken  up 
out  of  necessity,  though  not  exactly  conform  to  the  first  insti- 
tution :  and  the  continuing  it  out  of  superstition,  when  there 
is  no  need  of  it.  Therefore  instead  of  consecrating  a  larger 
portion  of  elements  than  is  necessary  for  the  occasion,  and 
the  reserving  what  is  over  and  above ;  and  the  setting  that 
out  with  great  pomp  on  the  altar,  to  be  worshipped,  or  the 
carrying  it  about  with  a  vast  magnificence  in  a  procession 
invented  to  put  the  more  honour  on  it ;  or  the  sending  it  to 
the  sick  with  solemnity ;  we  choose  rather  to  consecrate  only 
so  much  as  may  be  judged  fit  for  the  number  of  those  who 
are  to  communicate.  And  when  the  sacrament  is  over,  we 
do,  in  imitation  of  the  practice  of  some  of  the  ancients,  con- 
sume what  is  left,  that  there  may  be  no  occasion  given  either 
to  superstition  or  irreverence.  And  for  the  sick,  or  the 
prisoners,  we  think  it  is  a  greater  mean  to  quicken  their  devo- 
tion, as  well  as  it  is  a  closer  adhering  to  the  words  of  the 
institution,  to  consecrate  in  their  presence :  for  though  we 
can  bear  with  the  practice  of  the  Greek  church,  of  reserving 
and  sending  about  the  eucharist,  when  there  is  no  idolatry 
joined  with  it;  yet  we  cannot  but  think  that  this  is  the 
continuance  of  a  practice,  which  the  state  of  the  first  ages 
introduced,  and  that  was  afterwards  kept  up,  out  of  a  too 
scrupulous  imitation  of  that  time ;  without  considering  that 
the  difference  of  the  state  of  the  Christians,  in  the  former  and 
in  the  succeeding  ages,  made  that  what  was  at  first  innocently 
practised  (since  a  real  necessity  may  well  excuse  a  want  of 
exactness  in  some  matters  that  are  only  positive)  became 
afterwards  an  occasion  of  much  superstition,  and  in  conclusion 
ended  in  idolatry.  Those  ill  effects  that  it  had  are  more  than 
is  necessary  to  justify  our  practice  in  reducing  this  strictly  to 
the  first  institution. 

As  for  the  lifting  up  of  the  eucharist,  there  is  not  a  word  of 
it  in  the  gospel ;  nor  is  it  mentioned  by  St.  Paul :  neither 
Justin  Martyr  nor  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  speak  of  it;  there  is 
nothing  concerning  it  neither  in  the  Constitutions,  nor  in  the 
Areopagite.  In  those  first  ages  all  the  elevation  that  is 
spoken  of  is,  the  lifting  up  of  their  hearts  to  God.  The 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  449 


elevation  of  the  sacrament  began  to  be  practised  in  the  sixth  ART. 
century;  for  it  is  mentioned  in  the  liturgy  called  St.  Chry-  XXVIIt- 
sostom's,  but  believed  to  be  much  later  than  his  time.    Ger-  Germ, 
man,  a  writer  of  the  Greek  church  of  the  thirteenth  century,  Const,  in 
is  the  first  that  descants  upon  it ;  he  speaks  not  of  it  as  done  j;1}60^ 
in  order  to  the  adoration  of  it,  but  makes  it  to  represent  both  Bibj.  pa'tr. 
Christ's  being  lifted  up  on  the  cross,  and  also  his  resurrection.  Iyo.  Cam. 
Ivo  of  Chartres,  who  lived  in  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  Jj^Sj"* 
is  the  first  of  all  the  Latins  that  speaks  of  it ;  but  then  it  was  Bibl.  pat. ' 
not  commonly  practised;  for  the  author  of  the  Micrologus, 
though  he  writ  at  the  same  time,  yet  does  not  mention  it, 
who  yet  is  very  minute  upon  all  particulars  relating  to  this 
sacrament.    Nor  does  Ivo  speak  of  it  as  done  in  order  to 
adoration,  but  only  as  a  form  of  shewing  it  to  the  people. 
Durand,  a  writer  of  the  thirteenth  century,  is  the  first  that  Dir.  Rat. 
speaks  of  the  elevation  as  done  in  order  to  the  adoration.    So  ® 
it  appears  that  our  church,  by  cutting  off  these  abuses,  has  sexta  parte 
restored  this  sacrament  to  its  primitive  simplicity,  according  Can. 
to  the  institution  and  the  practice  of  the  first  ages. 


8  O 


450 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART. 
XXIX. 

ARTICLE  XXIX. 

Of  the  wicked  which  eat  not  the  Body  of  Christ  in  the 
use  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

Cfie  Hick)  anH  Surf)  asi  be  bottf  of  a  itbclp  dfattfi,  although  fy*V 
ifo  tarnallp  antJ  btsStblj)  prrsss  fottfi  ti)ftr  Ccctft  (as  $t.  'Buitin 
gattft)  the  Sacrament  of  the  33oUi?  antl  Jolootr  of  Chrisit,  ytt  in 
no  totee  arc  U)cp  $artak«£i  of  Christ;  but  rather,  to  tftetr  coiu 
Stmnatton,  too  cat  anU  Drink  the  |?tgn  or  Jr>acrament  of  £fo  great 
a  Cbtng. 

This  Article  arises  naturally  out  of  the  former,  and  depends 
upon  it :  for  if  Christ's  body  is  corporally  present  in  the 
sacrament,  then  all  persons  good  or  bad,  who  receive  the 
sacrament,  do  also  receive  Christ :  on  the  other  hand,  if 
Christ  is  present  only  in  a  spiritual  manner,  and  if  the  mean 
that  receives  Christ  is  faith,  then  such  as  believe  not,  do 
not  receive  him.  So  that  to  prove  that  the  wicked  do  not 
receive  Christ's  body  and  blood,  is  upon  the  matter  the  same 
thing  with  the  proving  that  he  is  not  corporally  present;  and 
it  is  a  very  considerable  branch  of  our  argument  by  which  we 
prove  that  the  fathers  did  not  believe  the  corporal  presence, 
because  they  do  very  often  say,  that  the  wicked  do  not  receive 
Christ  in  the  sacrament. 

Here  the  same  distinction  is  to  be  made  that  was  men- 
tioned upon  the  article  of  baptism.  The  sacraments  are  to  be 
considered  either  as  they  are  acts  of  church-communion,  or 
as  they  are  federal  acts,  by  which  we  enter  into  covenant  with 
God.  With  respect  to  the  former,  the  visible  profession  that 
is  made,  and  the  action  that  is  done,  are  all  that  can  fall  under 
human  cognizance :  so  a  sacrament  must  be  held  to  be  good 
and  valid,  when,  as  to  outward  appearance,  all  things  are  done 
according  to  the  institution  :  but  as  to  the  internal  effect  and 
benefit  of  it ;  that  turns  upon  the  truth  of  the  profession  that 
is  made,  and  the  sincerity  of  those  acts  which  do  accompany 
it :  for,  if  these  are  not  seriously  and  sincerely  performed, 
God  is  dishonoured,  and  his  institution  is  profaned.  Our  Sa- 
viour has  expressly  said,  that  '  whosoever  eats  his  flesh,  and 
drinks  his  blood,  has  eternal  life.'  From  thence  we  conclude, 
that  no  man  does  truly  receive  Christ,  who  does  not  at  the 
same  time  receive  with  him  both  a  right  to  eternal  life,  and 
likewise  the  beginnings  and  earnests  of  it.  The  sacrament 
being  a  federal  act,  he  who  dishonours  God,  and  profanes 
this  institution,  by  receiving  it  unworthily,  becomes  highly 
guilty  before  God,  and  draws  down  judgments  upon  himself : 
and  as  it  is  confessed  on  all  hands,  that  the  inward  and  spi- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


451 


ritual  effects  of  the  sacrament  depend  upon  the  state  and  dis-  ART. 
position  of  him  that  communicates,  so  we,  who  own  no  other  XXIX. 
presence  but  an  inward  and  spiritual  one,  cannot  conceive  that 
the  wicked,  who  believe  not  in  Christ,  do  receive  him. 

In  this  point  several  of  the  fathers  have  delivered  them- 
selves very  plainly. 

Origen  says,  Christ  is  the  true  food,  whosoever  eats  him  shall  Comment. 
live  for  ever;  of  whom  no  wicked  person  can  eat ;  for  if  it  were  >n  Matth. 
possible  that  any  who  continues  wicked  should  eat  the  Word c"  15' 
that  was  made  flesh,  it  had  never  been  written,  Whoso  eats  tins 
bread  shall  live  for  ever.    This  comes  after  a  discourse  of  the 
sacrament,  which  he  calls  the  typical  and  symbolical  body, 
and  so  it  can  only  belong  to  it.  In  another  place  he  says,  The 
good  eat  the  living  bread,  which  came  down  from  heaven ;  but 
the.  wicked  eat  dead  bread,  which  is  death. 

Zeno,  bishop  of  Verona,  who  is  believed  to  have  lived  near  D'Achery. 
Origen's  time,  has  these  words  :  There  is  cause  to  fear  that  Spicile- 
he,  in  whom  the  Devil  dwells,  does  not  eat  the  flesh  of  our  Lord, 
nor  drink  his  blood ;  though  he  seems  to  communicate  loith  the 
faithful ;  since  our  Lord  has  said,  He  that  eats  my  flesh,  and 
drinks  my  blood,  dwells  in  me,  and  I  in  him. 

St.  Jerome  says,  Tliey  that  are  not  holy  in  body  and  spirit,  inCap.  66. 
do  neither  eat  the  flesh  of  Jesus,  nor  drink  his  blood ;  of  which  Isaia?. 
he  said,  He  that  eats  my  flesh,  and  drinks  my  blood,  hath 
eternal  life. 

St.  Augustin  expresses  himself  in  the  very  words  that  are  Tract.  26. 
cited  in  the  Article,  which  he  introduces  with  these  words  :  in  Joan. 
He  that  does  not  abide  in  Christ,  and  in  whom  Christ  does  not 
abide,  certainly  does  not  spiritually  eat  his  flesh,  nor  drink  his 
blood,  though  he  may  visibly  and  carnally  press  with  Ids  teeth 
the  sacrament  of  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ :  but  he  rather 
eats  and  drinks  the  sacrament  of  so  great  a  matter  to  his  con- 
demnation.   And  in  another  place  he  says,  Neither  are  they  l;0  xxi.da 
(speaking  of  vicious  persons)  to  be  said  to  eat  the  body  of  Civ.  Dei, 
Christ,  because  they  are  not  his  members :  to  which  he  adds, c-  25- 
He  that  says,  Wlioso  eats  my  flesh,  and  drinks  my  blood,  abides 
in  me,  and  L  in  him,  sheivs  what  it  is  not  only  in  a  sacrament, 
but  truly  to  eat  the  body  of  Christ,  and  to  drink  his  blood.  He 
has  upon  another  occasion  those  frequently  cited  words, 
speaking  of  the  difference  between  the  other  disciples  and 
Judas,  in  receiving  this  sacrament :  These  did  eat  the  bread  Tract.  54. 
that  was  the  Lord  (panem  Dominum)  ;  but  he  the  bread  of  the  in  Joan. 
Lord  against  the  Lord  (panem  Domini  contra  Dominum).  To 
all  this  a  great  deal  might  be  added,  to  shew  that  this  was  the 
doctrine  of  the  Greek  church,  even  after  Damascene's  opinion 
concerning  the  assumption  of  the  elements  into  an  union  with 
the  body  of  Christ,  was  received  among  them.    But  more 
needs  not  be  said  concerning  this,  since  it  will  be  readily 
granted,  that,  if  we  are  in  the  right  in  the  main  point  of 
denying  the  corporal  presence,  this  will  fall  with  it. 


452 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART. 
XXX. 

ARTICLE  XXX. 

Of  both  Kinds. 

Cfte  Cup  of  the  itorlr  not  to  be  tiemetJ  to  Ea»  people.  jfor  both, 
Smarts  of  ti)t  Sacrament,  by  €l)tiit'i  ©romance  anil  Command 
merit,  ought  to  be  mmt'fitre*)  to  all  Christian  fHrn  aliht. 

There  is  not  any  one  of  all  the  controversies  that  we  have 
with  the  church  of  Rome,  in  which  the  decision  seems  more 
easy  and  shorter  than  this.  The  words  of  the  institution  are 
not  only  equally  express  and  positive  as  to  both  kinds,  but 
the  diversity  with  which  that  part  that  relates  to  the  cup  is 
set  down,  seems  to  be  as  clear  a  demonstration  for  us,  as  can 
be  had  in  a  matter  of  this  kind :  and  looks  like  a  special 
direction  given,  to  warn  the  church  against  any  corruption 
that  might  arise  upon  this  head.  To  all  such  as  acknowledge 
the  immediate  union  of  the  Eternal  Word  with  the  human 
nature  of  Christ,  and  the  inspiration  by  which  the  apostles 
were  conducted,  it  must  be  of  great  weight  to  find  a  specialty 
marked  as  to  the  chalice:  of  the  cup  it  is  said,  'Drink ye  all 
of  it whereas  of  the  bread  it  is  only  said, '  Take,  eat  f  so 
we  cannot  think  the  word  all  was  set  down  without  design. 
It  is  also  said  of  the  cup,  '  and  they  all  drank  of  it ;'  which  is 
not  said  of  the  bread :  we  think  it  no  piece  of  trifling  nicety 
to  observe  this  specialty.  The  words  added  to  the  giving  the 
cup  are  very  particularly  emphatical.  'Take,  eat,  This  is  my 
body  which  is  given  for  you,'  is  not  so  full  an  expression  as, 
'  Drink  ye  all  of  this,  for  this  is  my  blood  of  the  new  tes- 
tament which  is  shed  for  many,  for  the  remission  of  sins.'  If 
the  surest  way  to  judge  of  the  extent  of  any  precept,  to  which 
a  reason  is  added,  is  to  consider  the  extent  of  the  reason,  and 
to  measure  the  extent  of  the  precept  by  that;  then  since  all 
that  do  communicate,  need  the  remission  of  sins,  and  a  share 
in  the  new  covenant,  the  reason,  that  our  Saviour  joins  to  the 
distribution  of  the  cup,  proves  that  they  ought  all  to  receive 
it.  And  if  that  discourse  in  St.  John  concerning  the  eating 
Christ's  flesh,  and  the  drinking  his  blood,  is  to  be  understood 
of  the  sacrament,  as  most  of  the  Roman  church  affirm,  then 
the  drinking  Christ's  blood  is  as  necessary  to  eternal  life  as  the 
eating  his  flesh;  by  consequence  it  is  as  necessary  to  receive 
the  cup  as  the  bread.  And  it  is  not  easy  to  apprehend  why 
it  should  still  be  necessary  to  consecrate  in  both  kinds,  and 
not  likewise  to  receive  in  both  kinds.  It  cannot  be  pretended, 
that  since  the  apostles  were  all  of  the  sacred  order,  therefore 
their  receiving  in  both  kinds  is  no  precedent  for  giving  the 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  453 


laity  the  cup  ;  for  Christ  gave  them  both  kinds,  as  they  were  ART. 
sinners  who  were  now  to  be  admitted  into  covenant  with  God  xxx' 
by  the  sacrifice  of  his  body  and  blood.    They  were  in  that 
'to  shew  forth  his  death,'  and  were  to  'take,  eat,  and  drink,  in 
remembrance  of  him.'    So  that  this  institution  was  delivered 
to  them  as  they  were  sinners,  and  not  as  they  were  priests. 
They  were  not  constituted  by  Christ  the  pastors  and  go- 
vernors of  his  Church,  till  after  his  resurrection,  when  '  he  John  xx. 
breathed  on  them,  and  laid  his  hands  on  them,  and  blessed  22. 
them.'    So  that  at  this  time  they  were  only  Christ's  disciples 
and  witnesses ;  who  had  been  once  sent  out  by  him  on  an 
extraordinary  commission;  but  had  yet  no  stated  character 
fixed  upon  them. 

To  this  it  is  said,  that  Christ,  by  saying,  '  Do  this,'  consti- 
tuted them  priests ;  so  that  they  were  no  more  of  the  laity, 
when  they  received  the  cup.  This  is  a  new  conceit  taken  up 
by  the  schoolmen  unknown  to  all  antiquity :  there  is  no  sort 
of  tradition  that  supports  this  exposition  ;  nor  is  there  any 
reason  to  imagine,  that  '  Do  this,'  signifies  any  other  than 
a  precept  to  continue  that  institution  as  a  memorial  of 
Christ's  death ;  and  '  Do  this,'  takes  in  all  that  went  before, 
the  taking,  the  giving,  as  well  as  the  blessing,  and  the  eating, 
the  bread ;  nor  is  there  any  reason  to  appropriate  this  to  the 
blessing  only,  as  if  by  this  the  consecrating  and  sacrificing 
power  were  conferred  on  the  priests.  From  all  which  we 
conclude  both  that  the  apostles  were  only  disciples  at  large, 
without  any  special  characters  conferred  on  them,  when  the 
eucharist  was  instituted,  and  that  the  eucharist  was  given  to 
them  only  as  disciples,  that  is,  as  laymen. 

The  mention  that  is  made,  in  some  places  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament, only  of  'breaking  of  bread,'  can  furnish  them  with 
no  argument ;  for  it  is  not  certain  that  these  do  relate  to  the 
sacrament ;  or  if  they  did,  it  is  not  certain  that  they  are  to  be 
understood  strictly;  for,  by  a  figure  common  to  the  eastern 
nations,  bread  stands  for  all  that  belongs  to  a  meal;  and  if 
these  places  are  applied  to  the  sacrament,  and  ought  to  be 
strictly  understood,  they  will  prove  too  much,  that  the  sacra- 
ment may  be  consecrated  in  one  kind;  and  that  the  'breaking 
of  bread,'  without  the  cup,  may  be  understood  to  be  a  com- 
plete sacrament.  But  when  St.  Paul  spoke  of  this  sacrament, 
he  does  so  distinctly  mention  the  '  drinking  the  cup'  as  well  as 
'  eating  the  bread,'  that  it  is  plain  from  him  how  the  apostles 
understood  the  words  and  intent  of  Christ,  and  how  this  sa- 
crament was  received  in  that  time. 

From  the  institution  and  command,  which  are  express  and 
positive,  we  go  next  to  consider  the  nature  of  sacramental 
actions.  They  have  no  virtue  in  them,  as  charms  tied  either 
to  elements,  or  to  words ;  they  are  only  good  because  com- 
manded. A  different  state  of  things  may  indeed  justify  an 
alteration  as  to  circumstances  :  the  daneer  of  dinping  in  cold 


454 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  climates,  may  be  a  very  good  reason  for  changing  the  form 
xxx»  of  baptism  to  sprinkling ;  and  if  climates  were  inhabited  by 
Christians  to  which  wine  could  not  be  brought,  we  should  not 
doubt  but  that  whensoever  God  makes  a  real  necessity  of  de- 
parting from  any  institution  of  his,  he  does  thereby  allow  of 
such  a  change,  as  that  necessity  must  draw  after  it :  so  we  do 
not  condemn  the  license  that  is  said  to  have  been  granted  by 
pope  Innocent  the  Eighth  to  celebrate  without  wine  in  Nor- 
way ;  nor  should  we  deny  a  man  the  sacrament  who  had  a 
natural  and  unconquerable  aversion  to  wine,  or  that  commu- 
nicated being  near  his  last  agonies,  and  that  should  have  the 
like  aversion  to  either  of  the  elements.  When  those  things 
are  real,  and  not  pretended,  mercy  is  better  than  sacrifice. 
The  punctual  observance  of  a  sacramental  institution  does 
only  oblige  us  to  the  essential  parts  of  it,  and  in  ordinary 
cases :  the  pretence  of  what  may  be  done,  or  has  been  done, 
upon  extraordinary  occasions,  can  never  justify  the  deliberate 
and  unnecessary  alteration  of  an  essential  part  of  the  sacra- 
ment. The  whole  institution  shews  very  plainly,  that  our 
Saviour  meant  that  the  cup  should  be  considered  every  whit 
as  essential  as  bread;  and  therefore  we  cannot  but  conclude 
from  the  nature  of  things,  that  since  the  sacraments  have  only 
their  effects  from  their  institution,  therefore  so  total  a  change 
of  this  sacrament  does  plainly  evacuate  the  institution,  and  by 
consequence  destroy  the  effect  of  it. 

All  reasoning  upon  this  head  is  an  arguing  against  the 
institution ;  as  if  Christ  and  his  apostles  had  not  well 
enough  considered  it;  but  that  1200  years  after  them,  a 
consequence  should  be  observed  that  till  then  had  not  been 
thought  of,  which  made  it  reasonable  to  alter  the  manner 
of  it. 

The  concomitance  is  the  great  thing  that  is  here  urged ; 
since  it  is  believed  that  Christ  is  entirely  under  each  of 
the  elements ;  and  therefore  it  is  not  necessary  that  both 
should  be  received,  because  Christ  is  fully  received  in  any 
one.  But  this  subsists  on  the  doctrine  of  transubstantia- 
tion  j  so  if  that  is  false,  then  here  upon  a  controverted 
opinion,  an  uncontroverted  piece  of  the  institution  is  altered. 
And  if  concomitance  is  a  certain  consequence  of  the  doctrine 
of  transubstantiation,  then  it  is  a  very  strong  argument 
against  the  antiquity  of  that  doctrine,  that  the  world  was  so 
long  without  the  notion  of  concomitance  ;  and  therefore,  if 
transubstantiation  had  been  sooner  received,  the  concomi- 
tance would  have  been  more  easily  observed.  The  institution 
of  the  sacrament  seems  to  be  so  laid  down,  as  rather  to  make 
us  consider  the  body  and  blood  as  in  a  state  of  separation, 
than  of  concomitance ;  the  body  being  represented  apart,  and 
the  blood  apart ;  and  the  body  as  broken,  and  the  blood  as 
shed.  Therefore  we  consider  the  design  of  the  sacrament  Ls, 
to  represent  Christ  to  us  as  dead,  and  in  his  crucified,  but 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


455 


not  in  his  glorified  state.    And  if  the  opinion  be  true,  that  ^  J' 

the  glorified  bodies  are  of  another  texture  than  that  of  flesh  

and  blood  which  seems  to  be  very  plainly  asserted  by  St. 
Paul,  in  a  discourse  intended  to  describe  the  nature  of  the 
glorified  bodies,  then  this  theory  of  concomitance  will  fail 
upon  that  account.  But  whatsoever  may  be  in  that,  an 
institution  of  Christ's  must  not  be  altered  or  violated,  upon 
the  account  of  an  inference  that  is  drawn  to  conclude  it  need- 
less. He  who  instituted  it  knew  best  what  was  most  fitting 
and  most  reasonable ;  and  we  must  choose  rather  te  acquiesce 
in  his  commands,  than  in  our  own  reasonings. 

If,  next  to  the  institution  and  the  theory  that  arises  from 
the  nature  of  a  sacrament,  we  consider  the  practice  of  the 
Christian  church  in  all  ages,  there  is  not  any  one  point  in 
which  the  tradition  of  the  church  is  more  express  and  more 
universal  than  in  this  particular,  for  above  a  thousand  years 
after  Christ.    All  the  accounts  that  we  have  of  the  ancient 
rituals,  both  in  Justin  Martyr,  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  the  Con-  Apol.  2. 
stitutions,  and  the  pretended  Areopagite,  do  expressly  men-  ^ec4h" 
tion  both  kinds  as  given  separately  in  the  sacrament.    All  Const, 
the  ancient  liturgies,  as  well  these  that  go  under  the  names  of  Apost.  L  ii. 
the  apostles,  as  those  which  are  ascribed  to  St.  Basil  and  St.  £c^.['s 
Chrysostom,  do  mention  this  very  expressly;  all  the  offices  Hiera.c.  3. 
of  the  western  church,  both  Roman  and  others ;  the  missals 
of  the  latter  ages,  I  mean  down  to  the  twelfth  century,  even 
the  Ordo  Romanus,  believed  by  some  to  be  a  work  of  the 
ninth,  and  by  others  of  the  eleventh  century,  are  express  in 
mentioning  the  distribution  of  both  kinds.    All  the  fathers, 
without  excepting  one,  do  speak  of  it  very  clearly,  as  the  uni- 
versal practice  of  their  time.    They  do  not  so  much  as  give  a 
hint  of  any  difference  about  it.    So  that,  from  Ignatius  down 
to  Thomas  Aquinas,  there  is  not  any  one  writer  that  differs 
from  the  rest  in  this  point ;  and  even  Aquinas  speaks  of  the  Aquin. 
taking  away  the  chalice  as  the  practice  only  of  some  churches;  Com.  in 
other  writers  of  his  time  had  not  heard  of  any  of  these  53?  |n ,v' 
churches ;  for  they  speak  of  both  kinds  as  the  universal  ma.  par.  9. 

practice.  quast.  80. 

But  besides  this  general  concurrence,  there  are   some art"  ' 
specialties  in  this  matter :  in  St.  Cyprian's  time  some  thought 
it  was  not  necessary  to  use  wine  in  the  sacrament;  they 
therefore  used  water  only,  and  were  from  thence  called 
Aquarii.    It  seems  they  found  that  their  morning  assemblies 
were  smelled  out  by  the  wine  used  in  the  sacrament ;  and 
Christians  might  be  known  by  the  smell  of  wine  that  was  still 
about  them ;  they  therefore  intended  to  avoid  this,  and  so 
they  had  no  wine  among  them,  which  was  a  much  weightier 
reason,  than  that  of  the  wine  sticking  upon  the  beards  of  the 
laity.    Yet  St.  Cyprian  condemned  this  very  severely,  in  a  Cyp.  Ep. 
long  epistle  writ  upon  that  occasion.    He  makes  this  the  6^e^f 
main  argument,  and  goes  over  it  frequently,  that  we  ought  to 


456 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  follow  Christ,  and  do  what  he  did :  and  he  has  those  me- 
xxx-  morable  words,  If  it  be  not  lawful  to  loose  any  one  of  the 
~  least  commands  of  Christ,  how  much  more  is  it  unlawful 
to  break  so  great  and  so  weighty  a  one ;  that  does  so  very 
nearly  relate  to  the  sacrament  of  our  Lord's  passion,  and  of 
our  redemption ;  or  by  any  human  institution  to  change  it 
into  that  which  is  quite  different  from  the  divine  institu- 
tion. This  is  so  full,  that  we  cannot  express  ourselves  more 
plainly. 

Among  the  other  profanations  of  the  Manicheans,  this  was 
one,  that  they  came  among  the  assemblies  of  the  Christians, 
and  did  receive  the  bread,  but  they  would  not  take  any 
Leo.Ser.4.  wine :  this  is  mentioned  by  pope  Leo  in  the  fifth  century; 
Decre^de  uPon  which  pope  Gelasius,  hearing  of  it  in  his  time,  appointed 
Consecr.    that  all  persons  should  either  communicate  in  the  sacrament 
dist.  2.     entirely,  or  be  entirely  excluded  from  it ;  for  that  such  a 
dividing  of  one  and  the  same  sacrament  might  not  be  done 
without  a  heinous  sacrilege. 

In  the  seventh  century  a  practice  was  begun  of  dipping 
the  bread  in  the  wine,  and  so  giving  both  kinds  together. 
Con^c  de  ^nis  was  condemned  by  the  council  of  Bracara,  as  plainly 
dist.  2.  '   contrary  to  the  gospel :   Christ  gave  his  body  and  blood  to 
his  apostles  distinctly,  the  bread  by  itself,  and  the  chalice 
by  itself.    This  is,  by  a  mistake  of  Gratian's,  put  in  the 
canon-law,  as  a  decree  of  pope  Julius  to  the  bishops  of 
Egypt.    It  is  probable,  that  it  was  thus  given  first  to  the 
sick,  and  to  infants ;  but  though  this  got  among  many  of  the 
eastern  churches,  and  was,  it  seems,  practised  in  some  parts 
of  the  west ;  yet,  in  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  pope 
Concil.     Urban  in  the  council  of  Clermont  decreed,  that  none  should 
Claramont.  communicate  without  taking  the  body  apart,  and  the  blood 
n*    '     apart,  except  upon  necessity,  and  with  caution ;  to  which 
some  copies  add,  and  that  by  reason  of  the  heresy  of  Beren- 
garius,  that  was  lately  condemned,  which  said  that  the  figure 
was  completed  by  one  of  the  kinds. 

We  need  not  examine  the  importance  or  truth  of  these  last 
words ;  it  is  enough  for  us  to  observe  the  continued  practice 
of  communicating  in  both  kinds  till  the  twelfth  century  ;  and 
even  then,  when  the  opinion  of  the  corporal  presence  begot 
a  superstition  towards  the  elements,  that  had  not  been  known 
in  former  ages,  so  that  some  drops  sticking  to  men's  beards, 
and  the  spilling  some  of  it,  its  freezing  or  becoming  sour,  grew 
to  be  more  considered  than  the  institution  of  Christ ;  yet  for 
a  while  they  used  to  suck  it  up  through  small  quills  or  pipes 
(called  fistula,  in  the  Or  do  Romanus),  which  answered  the 
objection  from  the  beards. 

In  the  twelfth  century,  the  bread  grew  to  be  given  gene- 
rally dipt  in  wine.  The  writers  of  that  time,  though  they 
justify  this  practice,  yet  they  acknowledge  it  to  be  contrary 
to  the  institution.    Ivo  of  Chartres  says,  the  people  did  com- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


457 


municate  with  dipt  bread,  not  by  authority,  but  by  necessity,  A  I}T. 
for  fear  of  spilling  the  blood  of  Christ.    Pope  Innocent  the  xxx- 
Fourth  said,  that  all  might  have  the  chalice  who  were  so 
cautious  that  nothing  of  it  should  be  spilt. 

In  the  ancient  church,  the  instance  of  Serapion  is  brought  E"Sj'^j 
to  shew  that  the  bread  alone  was  sent  to  the  sick,  which  he 
that  carried  it  was  ordered  to  moisten  before  he  gave  it  him. 
Justin  Martyr  does  plainly  insinuate  that  both  kinds  were  Just.  Mart, 
sent  to  the  absents ;  so  some  of  the  wine  might  be  sent  to  APo1,  2< 
Serapion  with  the  bread ;  and  it  is  much  more  reasonable  to 
believe  this,  than  that  the  bread  was  ordered  to  be  dipt  in 
water ;  there  being  no  such  instance  in  all  history ;  whereas 
there  are  instances  brought  to  shew  that  both  kinds  were 
carried  to  the  sick.  St.  Ambrose  received  the  bread,  but  Paulinus 
expired  before  he  received  the  cup :  this  proves  nothing  but  '^{J* 
the  weakness  of  the  cause  that  needs  such  supports.  Nor' 
can  any  argument  be  brought  from  some  words  concerning 
the  communicating  of  the  sick,  or  of  infants.  Rules  are  made 
from  ordinary,  and  not  from  extraordinary  practices.  The 
small  portions  of  the  sacrament  that  some  carried  home,  and 
reserved  to  other  occasions,  does  not  prove  that  they  com- 
municated only  in  one  kind.  They  received  in  both,  only  they 
kept  (out  of  too  much  superstition)  some  fragments  of  the 
one,  which  could  be  more  easily,  and  with  less  observation, 
saved  and  preserved,  than  of  the  other:  and  yet  there  are 
instances  that  they  carried  off  some  portions  of  both  kinds. 
The  Greek  church  communicates  during  most  of  the  days  in 
Lent,  in  bread  dipt  in  wine  ;  and  in  the  Or  do  Romanus  there  is 
mention  made  of  a  particular  communion  on  Good  Friday ; 
when  some  of  the  bread  that  had  been  formerly  consecrated  was 
put  into  a  chalice  with  unconsecrated  wine :  this  was  a  prac- 
tice that  was  grounded  on  an  opinion  that  the  unconsecrated 
wine  was  sanctified  and  consecrated  by  the  contact  of  the 
bread ;  and  though  they  used  not  a  formal  consecration,  yet 
they  used  other  prayers,  which  was  all  that  the  primitive 
church  thought  was  necessary  even  to  consecration  ;  it  being 
thought,  even  so  late  as  Gregory  the  Great's  time,  that  the 
Lord's  Prayer  was  at  first  the  prayer  of  consecration. 

These  are  all  the  colours  which  the  studies  and  the  sub- 
tilties  of  this  age  have  been  able  to  produce  for  justifying  the 
decree  of  the  council  of  Constance  ;*  that  does  acknowledge,  Cone. 

Const. 
Sess.  13 

*  The  following  is  the  decree  of  the  council  of  Constance  on  the  subject  of  half 
communion : — 

'  Cum  :n  nonnullis  mundi  partibus,  quidam  temerarie  asserere  praesumant,  po- 
pulum  Christianum  debere  sumere  eucharistiae  sacramentum,  sub  utraque  panis  et 
vini  specie  suscipere,  et  non  solum  sub  specie  panis,  scd  etiam  sub  specie  vini, 
populum  laicum  passim  communicent,  etiam  post  ccenam,  vel  alias  non  jejunum, 
ttc.  &ic.  hinc  est,  quod  hoc  presens  concilium  sacrum  generate  Constant,  in  spiritu 
sancto  legitime  congregatum,  adversus  hunc  errorem  saluti  fidelium  providere  sata- 
gens,  matura  plurium  doctorum,  tam  divini  quam  humani  juris,  deliberatione 
prsebabita,  declarat,  decernit,  et  diffinit,  quod  licet  Christus  post  ccenam  instituerit, 


458 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  that  Christ  did  institute  this  sacrament  in  both  kinds,  and 
xxx'  that  the  faithful  in  the  primitive  church  did  receive  in  both 
kinds :  yet,  a  practice  being  reasonably  brought  in  to  avoid 
some  dangers  and  scandals,  they  appoint  the  custom  to  con- 
tinue, of  consecrating  in  both  kinds,  and  of  giving  to  the 
laity  only  in  one  kind:  since  Christ  was  entire  and  truly 
under  each  kind.  They  established  this  practice,  and  ordered 
that  it  should  not  be  altered  without  the  authority  of  the 
church.  So  late  a  practice  and  so  late  a  decree  cannot  make 
void  the  command  of  Christ,  nor  be  set  in  opposition  to  such 
a  clear  and  universal  practice  to  the  contrary.  The  wars  of 
Bohemia  that  followed  upon  that  decree,  and  all  that  scene  of 
cruelty  which  was  acted  upon  John  Huss  and  Jerom  of  Prague, 
at  the  first  establishment  of  it,  shews  what  opposition  was 
made  to  it  even  in  dark  ages,  and  by  men  that  did  not  deny 
transubstantiation.  These  prove  that  plain  sense  and  clear 
authorities  are  so  strong,  even  in  dark  and  corrupt  times,  as 
not  to  be  easily  overcome.  And  this  may  be  said  concerning 
this  matter,  that  as  there  is  not  any  one  point  in  which  the 
church  of  Rome  has  acted  more  visibly  contrary  to  the  gospel 
than  in  tbis  ;  so  there  is  not  any  one  thing  that  has  raised 
higher  prejudices  against  her,  that  has  made  more  forsake  her, 
and  has  possessed  mankind  more  against  her,  than  this.  This 
has  cost  her  dearer  than  any  other. 


et  suis  discipulis  administraverit,  sub  utraque  specie  panis  et  vini,  hoc  venerabile 
sacramentura,  tamen  hoc  non  obstante,  sacrorum  canonum  auctoritas  laudabilis ;  et 
approbata  consuetudo  ecclcsiae  servavit  et  servat,  quod  hujus  modi  sacramentum 
non  debet  confici  post  ccenam,  neque  a  fidelibus  recipi  non  jejunis,  nisi  in  casu 
infirmitatis,  alterius  necessitatis,  ajure  vel  ecclesia  concesso  vel  admisso.  Et  sicut 
haec  consuetudo  ad  evitandum  aliqua  pericula  et  scandala  est  rationabiliter  intro- 
ducta,  quod  licet  in  primitiva  ecclesia  hujusraodi  sacramentum  reciperetur  a  fide- 
libus sub  utraque  specie,  poUeu  a  conficientibus  sub  utraque,  et  a  laicis  tantummodo 
sub  specie  panis,  suscipiatur,  &c.  I'nde  cum  hujusmodi  consuetudo  ab  ecclesia 
et  Sanctis  patribus  rationabiliter  introducta,  et  diutissime  observata  sit,  habenda  eet 
pro  lege,  quant  non  licet  reprobat  e,  aut  sine  ecclesiae  auctoritate  pro  libito  mutare. 
Quapropter  dicere,  quod  hanc  consuetudinem  aut  legem  observare,  sit  sacrilegum 
aut  illicitum,  censeri  debet  erroneum  :  et  pertinaciter  asserentes  oppositum  prae- 
missorum,  tanquam  haretiei  arrendi  sunt,  et  gruviier  puniendi  per  diaecesanos 
locorum,  seu  officiales  eorum,  aut  inquisitores  haereticae  pravitatis,  in  regnis  seu 
provinciis,  in  quibus  contra  hoc  decretum,  aliquid  fuerit  forsan  attentatum,  aut 
praesumptum,  juxta  canonicas  et  legitimas  sanctiones,  in  favorem  catholicae  fidei, 
contra  haereticos  et  eorum  fautores,  salubriter  adinventas.'  Labb.  and  Coss.  vol.  xii. 
p.  99,  6cc.  Par.  1672. 

The  above  decree  is  thus  confirmed  by  the  council  of  Trent : — 
'  Si  quis  dixerit,  sacram  ecclesiam  catholicam,  non  justis  causis  et  rationibus, 
adductam  fuisse,  ut  laicos  atque  etiam  clericos  non  conficientes,  sub  panis  tantum- 
modo specie  comraunicaret ;  aut  in  eo  errasse  ;  anathema  sit ! !  I'    Socio  xxi.  canon 
2.— [Ed.1 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


459 


ART. 
XXXI. 

ARTICLE  XXXI. 

Of  the  one  Oblation  of  Christ  finished  upon  the  Cross. 

Che  offering  of  Christ  once  maUr ,  is  that  perfect  2&etlcmption,  $)ro* 
ptttauon,  antt  &attSfactton  for  all  the  S?inS  of  the  iuf)oIe  32HorttJ, 
both  ©rigtnal  anti  Actual:  ShrtJ  there  is  none  other  Satisfaction 
for  Sin,  but  that  alone:  SJHherefore  in  the  Sacrifices  of  fHaSsirsf, 
m  the  tohich  it  teas  commonly  jSaftr,  that  the  priest  tsia  offer 
Christ  for  the  quick  anti  the  tieatj,  to  babe  Remission  of  $ain 
anfc  <©utlt,  toere  blasphemous  dfables  anH  tjangcrous  Deceits. 

It  were  a  mere  question  of  words  to  dispute  concerning 

the  term  sacrifice,  to  consider  the  extent  of  that  word,  and 

the  many  various  respects  in  which  the  eucharist  may  be 

called  a  sacrifice.    In  general,  all  acts  of  religious  worship 

may  be  called  sacrifices  :  because  somewhat  is  in  them  offered 

up  to  God:  'Let  my  prayer  be  set  forth  before  thee  as  Ps.exli.  2. 

incense,  and  the  lifting  up  of  my  hands  as  the  evening Ps-  ll- 17- 

sacrifice.   The  sacrifices  of  God  are  a  broken  spirit :  a  broken 

and  a  contrite  heart,  O  God,  thou  wilt  not  despise.'  These 

shew  how  largely  this  word  was  used  in  the  Old  Testament : 

so  in  the  New  we  are  exhorted  by  him  (that  is,  by  Christ)  '  to  Hebr-  *>"• 

offer  the  sacrifice  of  praise  to  God  continually,  that  is,  the  15- 

fruit  of  our  lips,  giving  thanks  to  his  name.'    A  Christian's 

dedicating  himself  to  the  service  of  God,  is  also  expressed  by 

the  same  word  of  '  presenting  our  bodies  a  living  sacrifice,  Rom.xii.l. 

holy  and  acceptable  to  God.'  All  acts  of  charity  are  also  called 

'  sacrifices,  an  odour  of  a  sweet  smell,  a  sacrifice  acceptable,  Phil.iv.i8. 

well-pleasing  to  God.'    So  in  this  large  sense  we  do  not  deny 

that  the  eucharist  is  a  '  sacrifice  of  praise  and  thanksgiving:' 

and  our  church  calls  it  so  in  the  office  of  the  Communion.  In 

two  other  respects  it  may  be  also  more  strictly  called  a 

sacrifice.    One  is,  because  there  is  an  oblation  of  bread  and 

wine  made  In  it,  which  being  sanctified  are  consumed  in  an 

act  of  religion.    To  this  many  passages  in  the  writings  of  the 

fathers  do  relate.    This  was  the  oblation  made  at  the  altar  by 

the  people  :  and  though  at  first  the  Christians  were  reproached, 

as  having  a  strange  sort  of  religion,  in  which  they  had  neither 

temples,  altars,  nor  sacrifices,  because  they  had  not  those 

things  in  so  gross  a  manner  as  the  heathens  had ;  yet  both 

Clemens  Romanus,  Ignatius,  and  all  the  succeeding  writers 

of  the  church,  do  frequently  mention  the  oblations  that  they 

made  :  and  in  the  ancient  liturgies  they  did  with  particular 

prayers  offer  the  bread  and  wine  to  God,  as  the  great  Creator 

of  all  things ;  those  were  called  the  gifts  or  offerings  which 

were  offered  to  God,  in  imitation  of  Abel,  who  offered  the 


460 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  fruits  of  the  earth  in  a  sacrifice  to  God.     Both  Justin 
XXXL  Martyr,  Ireneeus,  the  Constitutions,  and  all  the  ancient 
liturgies,  have  very  express  words  relating  to  this.  Another 
respect,  in  which  the  eucharist  is  called  a  sacrifice,  is,  because 
it  is  a  commemoration,  and  a  representation  to  God  of  the 
sacrifice  that  Christ  offered  for  us  on  the  cross :  in  which  we 
claim  to  that,  as  to  our  expiation,  and  feast  upon  it,  as  our 
peace-offering,  according  to  that  ancient  notion,  that  cove- 
nants were  confirmed  by  a  sacrifice,  and  were  concluded  in  a 
feast  on  the  sacrifice.    Upon  these  accounts  we  do  not  denv 
but  that  the  eucharist  may  be  well  called  a  sacrifice:  but  still 
it  is  a  commemorative  sacrifice,  and  not  propitiatory :  that 
is,  Ave  do  not  distinguish  the  sacrifice  from  the  sacrament  j 
as  if  the  priest's  consecrating  and  consuming  the  elements, 
were  in  an  especial  manner  a  sacrifice  any  other  way,  than  as 
the  communicating  of  others  with  him  is  one :  nor  do  we 
think  that  the  consecrating  and  consuming  the  elements  is  an 
act  that  does  reconcile  God  to  the  £  quick  and  the  dead  :'  we 
consider  it  only  as  a  federal  act  of  professing  our  belief  in  the 
death  of  Christ,  and  of  renewing  our  baptismal  covenant  with 
him.    The  virtue  or  effects  of  this  are  not  general ;  they  are 
limited  to  those  who  go  about  this  piece  of  worship  sincerely 
and  devoutly ;  they,  and  they  only,  are  concerned  in  it,  who 
go  about  it :  and  there  is  no  special  propitiation  made  by  this 
service.    It  is  only  an  act  of  devotion  and  obedience  in  those 
that  '  eat  and  drink  worthily;'  and  though  in  it  they  ought 
to  pray  for  the  whole  body  of  the  church,  yet  those  their 
prayers  do  only  prevail  with  God,  as  they  are  devout  inter- 
cessions, but  not  by  any  peculiar  virtue  in  this  action. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  doctrine  of  the  church  of  Rome  is, 
that  the  eucharist  is  the  highest  act  of  homage  and  honour 
that  creatures  can  offer  up  to  the  Creator,  as  being  an  obla- 
tion of  the  Son  to  the  Father;  so  that  whosoever  procures 
a  mass  to  be  said,  procures  a  new  piece  of  honour  to  be  done 
to  God,  with  which  he  is  highly  pleased ;  and  for  the  sake  of 
which  he  will  be  reconciled  to  all  that  are  concerned  in 
the  procuring  such  masses  to  be  said ;  whether  they  be  still  on 
earth,  or  if  they  are  now  in  purgatory:  and  that  the  priest,  in 
offering  and  consuming  this  sacrifice,  performs  a  true  act  of 
priesthood  by  reconciling  sinners  to  God.  Somewhat  was 
already  said  of  this  on  the  head  of  purgatory. 

It  seems  very  plain,  by  the  institution,  that  our  Saviour,  as 
he  blessed  the  sacrament,  said,  '  Take,  eat :'  St.  Paul  calls  it 
a  '  communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of  the  Lord  ;'  and  a 
'  partaking  of  the  Lord's  table  :'  and  he,  through  his  whole 
discourse  of  it,  speaks  of  it  as  an  action  of  the  church  and  of 
all  Christians ;  but  does  not  so  much  as  by  a  hint  intimate 
any  thing  peculiar  to  the  priest :  so  that  all  that  the  scripture 
has  delivered  to  us  concerning  it,  represents  it  as  an  action  of 
the  whole  body,  in  which  the  priest  has  no  special  share  but 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


461 


that  of  officiating.    In  the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  there  is  a  ART. 
very  long  discourse  concerning  sacrifices  and  priests,  in  order  XXXI. 
to  the  explaining  of  Christ's  being  both  priest  and  sacrifice.  ~ 
There  a  priest  stands  for  a  person  called  and  consecrated  to 
offer  some  living  sacrifice,  and  to  slay  it,  and  to  make  recon- 
ciliation of  sinners  to  God,  by  the  shedding,  offering,  or 
sprinkling,  the  blood  of  the  sacrifice.    This  was  the  notion 
that  the  Jews  had  of  a  priest ;  and  the  apostle,  designing  to 
prove  that  the  death  of  Christ  was  a  true  sacrifice,  brings  this 
for  an  argument,  that  there  was  to  be  another  priesthood  after 
the  order  of  Melchisedec.    He  begins  the  fifth  chapter  with 
settling  the  notion  of  a  priest,  according  to  the  Jewish  ideas  : 
and  then  he  goes  on  to  prove  that  Christ  was  such  a  priest, 
'  called  of  God  and  consecrated.'    But  in  this  sense  he  appro-  Heb.  v.  10. 
priates  the  priesthood  of  the  new  dispensation  singly  to 
Christ,  in  opposition  to  the  many  priests  of  the  Levitical  law : 
'and  they  truly  were  many  priests,'  because  'they  were  notch,  vii. 23, 
suffered  to  continue,  by  reason  of  death :  but  this  man, 24- 
because  he  continueth  ever,  hath  an  unchangeable  priest- 
hood.' 

It  is  clear  from  the  whole  thread  of  that  discourse,  that,  in 
the  strictest  sense  of  the  word,  Christ  himself  is  the  only 
Priest  under  the  gospel ;  and  it  is  also  no  less  evident  that 
his  death  is  the  only  sacrifice,  in  opposition  to  the  many  ob- 
lations that  were  under  the  Mosaical  law,  to  take  away  sin ; 
which  appears  very  plain  from  these  words,  '  Who  needeth  ver.  27. 
not  daily,  as  those  high  priests,  to  offer  up  sacrifice,  first  for 
his  own  sins,  and  then  for  the  people ;  for  this  he  did  once, 
when  he  offered  up  himself.'  He  opposes  that  to  the  annual 
expiation  made  by  the  Jewish  high  priest,  '  Christ  entered  in 
once  to  the  holy  place,  having  obtained  redemption  for  us  by 
his  own  blood :'  and  having  laid  down  that  general  maxim, 
that  '  without  shedding  of  blood  there  was  no  remission,'  he  ch.  ix.  12. 
says,  'Christ  was  offered  once  to  bear  the  sins  of  many:'  he  22.  ver.  28. 
puts  a  question  to  shew  that  all  sacrifices  were  now  to  cease ; 
'  When  the  worshippers  are  once  purged,  then  would  not  sa-  jjej,,  x  2. 
crifices  cease  to  be  offered  ?'  and  he  ends  with  this,  as  a  full 
conclusion  to  that  part  of  his  discourse:  '  Every  priest  stands  ver.  11,12. 
daily  ministering  and  offering  oftentimes  the  same  sacrifices, 
which  can  never  take  away  sin:  but  this  man,  after  he  had 
offered  up  one  sacrifice  for  sins,  for  ever  sat  down  on  the  right 
hand  of  God.'  Here  are  not  general  words,  ambiguous 
expressions,  or  remote  hints,  but  a  thread  of  a  full  and  clear 
discourse,  to  shew  that,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the  words, 
we  have  but  one  Priest,  and  likewise  but  one  Sacrifice,  under 
the  gospel  ;*  therefore  how  largely  soever  those  words  of 

•  The  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (ch.  x.  14.)  tells  us,  that  '  Christ  ought  to  bo 
but  once  offered,  because  by  that  one  offering  he  has  fully  satisfied  for  our  sins,  and 
has  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified.  If  therefore  by  that  first  offering  he 
oath  fully  satisfied  for  our  sins,  then  is  there  no  more  need  of  any  offering  for  lin  • 


462 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  priest  or  sacrifice  may  have  been  used ;  yet,  according  to  the 
XXXI-  true  idea  of  a  propitiatory7  sacrifice,  and  of  a  priest  that  re- 
conciles sinners  to  God,  they  cannot  be  applied  to  any  acts 
of  our  worship,  or  to  any  order  of  men  upon  earth.  Nor  can 
the  value  and  virtue  of  any  instituted  act  of  religion  be 
carried,  by  any  inferences  or  reasonings,  beyond  that  which 
is  put  in  them  by  the  institution :  and  therefore  since  the  in- 
stitution of  this  sacrament  has  nothing  in  it  that  gives  us  this 
idea  of  it,  we  cannot  set  any  such  value  upon  it :  and  since 
the  reconciling  sinners  to  God,  and  the  pardoning  of  sin,  are 
free  acts  of  his  grace,  it  is  therefore  a  high  presumption 
in  any  man  to  imagine  they  can  do  this  by  any  act  of  theirs, 
without  powers  and  warrants  for  it  from  scripture.  Nor  can 
this  be  pretended  to  without  assuming  a  most  sacrilegious 
sort  of  power  over  the  attributes  of  God :  therefore  all  the 
virtue  that  can  be  in  the  sacrament  is,  that  we  do  therein 
gratefully  commemorate  the  sacrifice  of  Christ's  death,  and, 
by  renewed  acts  of  faith,  present  that  to  God  as  our  sacrifice, 
in  the  memorial  of  it,  which  he  himself  has  appointed :  by  so 
doing  we  renew  our  covenant  with  God,  and  share  in  the 
effects  of  that  death  which  he  suffered  for  us.  All  the  ancient 
liturgies  have  this  as  a  main  part  of  the  office,  that  being 
mindful  of  the  death  of  Christ,  or  commemorating  it,  they 
offered  up  the  gifts. 

This  is  the  language  of  Justin  Martyr,  Irenteus,  Tertullian, 
Cyprian,  and  of  all  the  following  writers.  They  do  compare 
this  sacrifice  to  that  of  Melchisedec,  who  offered  bread  and 
wine:  and  though  the  text  imports  only  his  giving  bread 
and  wine  to  Abraham  and  his  followers,  yet  they  applied 
that  generally  to  the  oblation  of  bread  and  wine  that  was 
made  on  the  altar :  but  this  shews  that  they  did  not  think  of 
any  sacrifice  made  by  the  offering  up  of  Christ.  It  was  the 
bread  and  the  wine  only  which  they  thought  the  priests  of 
the  Christian  religion  did  offer  to  God.  And  therefore  it  is 
remarkable,  that  when  the  fathers  answer  the  reproach  of  the 


If  by  that  first  sacrifice  he  hath  perfected  for  ever  them  that  are  sanctified,  the  mass 
certainly  must  be  altogether  needless  to  make  any  addition  to  that  which  is  already 
perfect.  In  a  word,  if  the  sacrifices  of  the  law  were  therefore  repeated,  as  this 
Epistle  tells  us,  because  they  were  imperfect ;  and  had  they  been  otherwise,  they 
should  have  ceased  to  have  been  offered  ;  what  can  we  conclude,  but  the  church 
of  Rome  then,  in  every  mass  she  offers,  does  violence  to  the  cross  of  Christ ;  and  in 
more  than  one  sense,  crucifies  to  herself  the  Lord  of  glory  ? 

'  Lastly,  the  council  of  Trent  declares,  that  because  there  is  a  new  and  proper 
sacrifice  to  be  offered,  it  was  necessary  that  our  Saviour  Christ  should  institute  a 
new  and  proper  priesthood  to  offer  it.  And  so  they  say  he  did,  after  the  order  of 
Melchisedec,  in  opposition  to  that  after  the  order  of  Aaron  under  the  law.  Now 
certainly  nothing  can  be  more  contrary  to  this  Epistle  than  such  an  assertion : 
both  whose  description  of  this  priesthood  shews  it  can  agree  only  to  our  blessed 
Lord ;  and  which  indeed  in  express  terms  declares  it  to  be  peculiar  to  him.  It 
calls  it  an  unchangeable  priesthood,  that  passes  not  to  any  other,  as  that  of  Aaron  did 
from  father  to  son,  but  continues  in  him  only,  because  that  he  also  himself  continue* 
for  evermore.'  Wake. — [Ed.] 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


463 


heathens,  who  charged  them  with  irreligion  and  impiety  for   A  R  T. 
having  no  sacrifices  among  them,  they  never  answer  it  by  XXXI- 
saying,  that  they  offered  up  a  sacrifice  of  inestimable  value 
to  God ;  which  must  have  been  the  first  answer  that  could 
have  occurred  to  a  man  possessed  with  the  ideas  of  the 
church  of  Rome.    On  the  contrary,  Justin  Martyr,  in  his  Apol.2. 
Apology,  says,  TJiey  had  no  other  sacrifices  but  prayers 
and  praises:  and  in  his  Dialogue  with  Trypho  he  confesses, 
that  Christians  offer  to  God  oblations,  according  to  Malachi's 
prophecy,  when  they  celebrate  the  eucharist,  in  which  they 
commemorate  the  Lord's  death.    Both  Athenagoras  and  Mi-  Leg.  pro 
nutius  Felix  justify  the  Christians  for  having  no  other  sacri-  ^nst* . 
fices  but  pure  hearts,  clean  consciences,  and  a  steadfast  faith.  octav. 
Origen  and  Tertullian  refute  the  same  objection  in  the  same  lib.  viii. 
manner :  they  set  the  prayers  of  Christians  in  opposition  to  con- Cel" 
all  the  sacrifices  that  were  among  the  heathens.    Clemens  of  xert,  Apol. 
Alexandria  and  Arnobius  write  in  the  same  strain  ;  and  they  c.  30. 
do  all  make  use  of  one  topic,  to  justify  their  offering  no  gt'r*™  ,  .. 
sacrifices,  that  God,  who  made  all  things,  and  to  whom  all  a  mob. 
things  do  belong,  needs  nothing  from  his  creatures.    To  mul-  lib.  vii. 
tiply  no  more  quotations  on  this  head,  Julian  in  his  time 
objected  the  same  thing  to  the  Christians,  which  shews  that 
there  was  then  no  idea  of  a  sacrifice  among  them ;  otherwise 
he,  who  knew  their  doctrine  and  rites,  had  either  not  de- 
nied so  positively  as  he  did  their  having  sacrifices ;  or  at  least 
he  had  shewed  how  improperly  the  eucharist  was  called  one. 
When  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  towards  the  middle  of  the  fifth  Cyr.  Al. 
century,  came  to  answer  this,  he  insists  only  upon  the  inward  ^  * • 
and  spiritual  sacrifices  that  were  offered  by  Christians ;  which 
were  suitable  to  a  pure  and  spiritual  essence,  such  as  the 
Divinity  was,  to  take  pleasure  in ;  and  therefore  he  sets  that 
in  opposition  to  the  sacrifices  of  beasts,  birds,  and  of  all 
other  things  whatsoever:  nor  does  he  so  much  as  mention, 
even  in  a  hint,  the  sacrifice  of  the  eucharist;  which  shews 
that  he  did  not  consider  that  as  a  sacrifice  that  was  pro- 
pitiatory. 

These  things  do  so  plainly  set  before  us  the  ideas  that  the 
first  ages  had  of  this  sacrament,  that  to  one  who  considers 
them  duly,  they  do  not  leave  so  much  as  a  doubt  in  this 
matter.  All  that  they  may  say  in  homilies,  or  treatises  of 
piety,  concerning  the  pure-offering  that,  according  to  Mala- 
chi,  all  Christians  offered  to  God  in  the  sacrament,  concern- 
ing the  sacrifice,  and  the  unbloody  sacrifice  of  Christians, 
must  be  understood  to  relate  to  the  prayers  and  thanksgiv- 
ings that  accompanied  it,  to  the  commemoration  that  was 
made  in  it  of  the  sacrifice  offered  once  upon  the  cross,  and 
finally  to  the  oblation  of  the  bread  and  wine,  which  they  so 
often  compare  both  to  Abel's  sacrifice,  and  to  Melchisedec's 
offering  bread  and  wine. 


464 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.      It  were  easy  to  enlarge  further  on  this  head,  and  from  all 
XXI"  the  rituals  of  the  ancients  to  shew,  that  they  had  none  of 


those  ideas  that  are  now  in  the  Roman  church.    They  had 
but  one  altar  in  a  church,  and  probably  but  one  in  a  city  : 
they  had  but  one  communion  in  a  day  at  that  altar :  so  far 
were  they  from  the  many  altars  in  every  church,  and  the 
many  masses  at  ever)-  altar,  that  are  now  in  the  Roman 
church.  They  did  not  know  what  solitary  masses  were,  with- 
out a  communion.    All  the  liturgies  and  all  the  writings  of 
the  ancients  are  as  express  in  this  matter  as  is  possible. 
The  whole  constitution  of  their  worship  and  discipline  shews 
it.    Their  worship  concluded  alwavs  with  the  eucharist:  such 
as  were  not  capable  of  it,  as  the  catechumens,  and  those  who 
were  doing  public  penance  for  their  sins,  assisted  at  the  more 
general  parts  of  the  worship ;  and  so  much  of  it  was  called 
their  mass,  because  they  were  dismissed  at  the  conclusion 
of  it.    When  that  was  done,  then  the  faithful  stayed,  and  did 
partake  of  the  eucharist;  and  at  the  conclusion  of  it  they 
were  likewise  dismissed;  from  whence  it  came  to  be  called 
the  mass  of  the  faithful.    The  great  rigour  of  penance  was 
thought  to  consist  chiefly  in  this,  that  such  penitents  might 
not  stay  with  the  faithful  to  communicate.    And  though  this 
seems  to  be  a  practice  begun  in  the  third  century,  yet,  both 
from  Justin  Martyr  and  Tertullian,  it  is  evident  that  all  the 
Can.  9.     faithful  did  constantly  communicate.     There  is  a  canon, 
AP0St-      among  those  which  go  under  the  name  of  the  Apostles', 
against  such  as  came  and  assisted  in  the  other  parts  of  the 
Con.  An-  service,  and  did  not  partake  of  the  eucharist ;  the  same 
34jh  A"?'  thing  was  decreed  by  the  council  of  Antioch;  and  it  appears 
Const3 "a"  by  the  Constitutions,  that  a  deacon  was  appointed  to  see  that 
post.  1.  viii.  no  man  should  go  out,  and  a  subdeacon  was  to  see  that  no 
cap.  n.    woman  should  go  out,  during  the  oblation.    The  fathers  do 
Ep!ad  m  frequently  allude  to  the  word  communion,  to  shew  that  the 
Eph.  cap.i.  sacrament  was  to  be  common  to  all.    It  is  true,  in  St.  Chry- 
sostom's  time,  the  zeal  that  the  Christians  of  the  former  ages 
had  to  communicate  often,  began  to  slacken ;  so  that  they 
had  thin  communions,  and  few  communicants :  against  which 
that  father  raises  himself  with  his  pathetic  eloquence,  in  words 
which  do  shew  that  he  had  no  notion  of  solitary  masses,  or  of 
the  lawfulness  of  them:  and  it  is  very  evident,  that  the  neg- 
lect of  the  sacrament  in  those  who  came  not  to  it,  and  the 
profanation  of  it  by  those  who  came  unworthily,  both  which 
grew  very  scandalous  at  that  time,  set  that  holy  and  zealous 
bishop  to  many  eloquent  and  sublime  strains  concerning  it, 
which  cannot  be  understood,  without  making  those  abate- 
ments that  are  due  to  a  copious  and  Asiatic  style,  when  much 
inflamed  by  devotion. 

In  the  succeeding  ages  we  find  great  care  was  taken  to 
suffer  none  that  did  not  communicate  to  stay  in  the  church, 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  465 

ART. 

and  to  see  the  mysteries.    There  is  a  rubric  for  this  in  the  XXXI- 
office  mentioned  by  Gregory  the  Great.    The  writers  of  the  Dialog- 
ninth  century  go  on  in  the  same  strain.    It  was  decreed  by  Cone.Mp. 
the  council  of  Mentz,  in  the  end  of  Charles  the  Great's  reign,  ^nt- can- 
that  no  priest  should  say  mass  alone ;  for  how  could  he  say, 
'  The  Lord  be  with  you,'  or,  '  Lift  up  your  hearts,'  if  there 
was  no  other  person  there  besides  himself?     This  shews 
that  the  practice  of  solitary  masses  was  then  begun,  but  that 
it  was  disliked.    Walafridus  Strabus  says,  that  to  a  lawful  Walaf. 
mass  it  was  necessary  that  there  should  be  a  priest,  together 
with  one  to  answer,  one  to  offer,  and  one  to  communicate.  cies_  c,  22". 
And  the  author  of  Micrologus,  who  is  believed  to  have 
writ  about  the  end  of  the  eleventh  century,  does  condemn 
solitary  communions,  as  contrary  both  to  the  practice  of 
the  ancients,  and  to  the  several  parts  of  the  office :  so  that 
till  the  twelfth  century  it  was  never  allowed  of  in  the  Roman 
church ;  as  to  this  day  it  is  not  practised  in  any  other  com- 
munion. 

But  then  with  the  doctrine  of  purgatory  and  transubstan- 
tiation  mixt  together,  the  saying  of  masses  for  other  persons, 
whether  alive  or  dead,  grew  to  be  considered  as  a  very  meri- 
torious thing,  and  of  great  efficacy ;  thereupon  great  endow- 
ments were  made,  and  it  became  a  trade.  Masses  were 
sold,  and  a  small  piece  of  money  became  their  price ;  so 
that  a  profane  sort  of  simony  was  set  up,  and  the  holiest 
of  all  the  institutions  of  the  Christian  religion  was  ex- 
posed to  sale.  Therefore  we,  in  cutting  off  all  this,  and  in 
bringing  the  sacrament  to  be,  according  to  its  first  institu- 
tion, a  communion,  have  followed  the  words  of  our  Saviour, 
and  the  constant  practice  of  the  whole  church  for  the  first 
ten  centuries. 

So  far  all  the  articles  that  relate  to  this  sacrament  have 
been  considered.  The  variety  of  the  matter,  and  the  import- 
tant  controversies  that  have  arisen  out  of  it,  has  made  it 
necessary  to  enlarge  with  some  copiousness  upon  the  several 
branches  of  it.  Next  to  the  infallibility  of  the  church,  this  is 
the  dearest  piece  of  the  doctrine  of  the  church  of  Rome ;  and 
is  that  in  which  both  priests  and  people  are  better  instructed 
than  in  any  other  point  whatsoever ;  and  therefore  this  ought 
to  be  studied  on  our  side  with  a  care  proportioned  to  the 
importance  of  it:  that  so  we  may  govern  both  ourselves  and 
our  people  aright  in  a  matter  of  such  consequence,  avoiding 
with  great  caution  the  extremes  on  both  hands,  both  of  ex- 
cessive superstition  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  profane  neglect 
on  the  other.  For  the  nature  of  man  is  so  moulded,  that  it 
is  not  easy  to  avoid  the  one  without  falling  into  the  other. 
We  are  now  visibly  under  the  extreme  of  neglect,  and 

2  H 


466 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   therefore  we  ought  to  study  by  all  means  possible  to  in. 

XXX1,  spire  our  people  with  a  just  respect  for  this  holy  institution, 
—  and  to  animate  them  to  desire  earnestly  to  partake  often  of 
it;  and,  in  order  to  that,  to  prepare  themselves  seriously 
to  set  about  it  with  the  reverence  and  devotion,  and  with 
those  holy  purposes  and  solemn  vows,  that  ought  to  accom- 
pany it. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  467 

ART. 
XXXIL 

ARTICLE  XXXIL 

Of  the  Marriage  of  Priests. 

JJtSfjopS,  -Priests,  antf  SeaconS,  arc  not  rommantJctt  bv  toll's  £afo 
either  to  bou)  the  3£state  of  Single  ILtfe,  or  to  abstain  from  fHar* 
rtacre :  ^Therefore  it  is  laluful  for  them,  as  foell  as  for  all  Chris* 
turn  iHcn,  to  mam?  at  their  oton  fciScretton,  as  then  shall  jutlge 
the  same  to  Scrbe  better  to  (©otlliucSS. 

The  first  period  of  this  Article  to  the  word  Therefore,  was 
all  that  was  published  in  king  Edward's  time.  They  were 
content  to  lay  down  the  assertion,  and  left  the  inference  to  be 
made  as  a  consequence  that  did  naturally  arise  out  of  it. 
There  was  not  any  one  point  that  was  more  severely  examined 
at  the  time  of  the  Reformation  than  this :  for  as  the  irregular 
practices  and  dissolute  lives  of  both  seculars  and  regulars  had 
very  much  prejudiced  the  world  against  the  celibate  of  the 
Roman  clergy,  which  was  considered  as  the  occasion  of  all 
those  disorders ;  so,  on  the  other  hand,  the  marriage  of  the 
clergy,  and  also  of  those  of  both  sexes  who  had  taken  vows, 
gave  great  offence.  They  were  represented  as  persons  that 
could  not  master  their  appetites,  but  that  indulged  themselves 
in  carnal  pleasures  and  interests.  Thus,  as  the  scandals  of  the 
unmarried  clergy  had  alienated  the  world  much  from  them  ; 
so  the  marriage  of  most  of  the  reformers  was  urged  as  an  ill 
character  both  of  them  and  of  the  Reformation  ;  as  a  doctrine 
of  libertinism,  that  made  the  clergy  look  too  like  the  rest  of 
the  world,  and  involved  them  in  the  common  pleasures,  con- 
cerns, and  passions,  of  human  life. 

The  appearances  of  an  austerity  of  habit,  of  a  severity  of 
life  in  watching  and  fasting,  and  of  avoiding  the  common 
pleasures  of  sense,  and  the  delights  of  life4  that  were  on  the 
other  side,  did  strike  the  world,  and  inclined  many  to  think, 
that  what  ill  consequences  soever  celibate  produced,  yet  that 
these  were  much  more  supportable,  and  more  easy  to  be 
reformed,  than  the  ill  consequences  of  an  unrestrained  per- 
mission of  the  clergy  to  marry. 

In  treating  this  matter,  we  must  first  consider  celibate  with 
relation  to  the  laws  of  Christ  and  the  gospel ;  and  then  with 
relation  to  the  laws  of  the  church.  It  does  not  seem  contrary 
to  the  purity  of  the  worship  of  God,  or  of  divine  performances, 
that  married  persons  should  officiate  in  them ;  since,  by  the 
law  of  Moses,  priests  not  only  might  marry,  but  the  priest- 
hood was  tied  to  descend  as  an  inheritance  in  a  certain  family. 
And  even  the  high  priest,  who  was  to  perform  the  great 
function  of  the  annual  atonement  that  was  made  for  the  sins 

2  H  2 


468 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


AR  T.  of  the  whole  Jewish  nation,  was  to  marry,  and  be  derived  to 
XXXIL  his  descendants  that  sacred  office.  If  there  was  so  much  as  a 
remote  unsuitableness  between  a  married  state  and  s;.cerdotal 
performances,  we  cannot  imagine  that  God  would  by  a  law  tie 
the  priesthood  to  a  family,  which  by  consequence  laid  an 
obligation  on  the  priests  to  marry.  When  Christ  chose  his 
twelve  apostles,  some  of  them  were  married  men ;  we  are 
sure,  at  least,  that  St.  Peter  was  ;  so  that  he  made  no  distinc- 
tion, and  gave  no  preference  to  the  unmarried  :  our  Saviour 
did  no  where  charge  them  to  forsake  their  wives ;  nor  did  he 
at  all  represent  celibate  as  necessary  to  the  '  kingdom  of 
heaven,'  or  the  dispensation  of  the  gospel.*  He  speaks  indeed 

*  '  In  the  Bible,  we  read  that  the  priests,  under  the  old  dispensation,  were  mar- 
ried, and  that  the  high  priesthood  passed  from  father  to  son.  And  in  the  New 
Testament,  that  St.  Peter,  whom  you  call  vour  first  pope  (although  you  are  not 
his  successor  in  either  doctrine  or  practice),  was  a  married  man  ;  "  And  when 
Jesus  was  come  into  Peter's  house,  he  saw  his  wife's  mother  laid,  and  sick  of  a 
fever,"  Matt.  viii.  14  ;  and  Paul  savs,  "  Have  we  no  power  to  lead  about  a  sister, 
a  wife,  as  well  as  other  apostles,  and  as  the  brethren  of  the  Lord,  and  Cephas?" 
1  Cor.  ix.  5.  I  read,  moreover,  in  the  directions  given  by  God  to  the  bishops  and 
deacons,  these  words,  "  A  bishop  must  then  be  blameless,  the  husband  of  one 
wife,  one  that  ruleth  well  his  own  house,  having  his  children  in  subjection,  with 
all  gravity ;  for  if  a  man  know  not  how  to  rule  his  own  house,  how  shall  he  take 
care  of  the  church  of  God?"  "  Let  the  deacons  be  the  husbands  of  one  wife, 
ruling  their  children,  and  their  own  houses  well."  1  Tim.  iii.  2,  4,  5,  12.  And  in 
the  Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  (xiii.  4.)  it  is  written,  "Marriage  is  honourable  in  all, 
and  the  bed  undefiled  ;  but  whoremongers  and  adulterers  God  will  judge."  But 
the  word  of  God  informs  us,  "  that  in  the  latter  times,  some  shall  depart  from  the 
faith,"  (as  your  church  did,  when  it  commanded  pope  Pius  the  IVth's  creed  to  be 
taught  and  believed,  as  necessary  to  salvation,)  that  one  of  the  marks  by  which 
this  apostacy  shall  be  known,  is  "forbidding  to  marry."  1  Tim.  iv.  1,  3.  Whether, 
then,  this  mark  of  the  apostacy  better  fits  us,  who  do  marry,  or  you,  who  forbid 
and  conlemn  marriage  of  the  clergy,  and  have  besides  set  up  monasteries  and  nun- 
neries, let  the  people  judge. 

'  But  I  must  give  another  instance  of  your  church's  contempt  of  God's  word  :  — 
In  1  Tim.  iii.  2.  it  is  said,  "  a  bishop  then  must  be  blameless,  the  husband  of  one 
wife;"  and  in  Heb.  xiii.  4.  "  Marriage  is  honourable  in  all."  Why  does  the 
church  of  Rome  condemn  marriage  of  the  clergy  ?  Her  own  council  of  Lateran 
must  speak — "  Because  it  is  unworthy  that  they  should  be  the  slaves  of  cham- 
bering and  unc leanness."  I  shall  now  give  the  decree  in  the  words  of  Lateran, 
"  Decernimus  etiam  ut  ii,  qui  in  ordine  subdiaconatus,  et  supra,  mores  duxerint,  aut 
concubinas  habuerint,  officio,  atq.  ecclesiastico  beneficio  careant.  Cum  enim  ipsi 
templum  Dei,  vasa  Domini,  sacrarium  Spiritus  Sancti  debeant  esse,  et  dici  : 
indignum  est,  eos  cubilibus,  et  immunditiis  deservire."  2  Concil  Lat.  Labbei, 
vol.  x.  p.  1003,  canon  vi.  Here  then  is  Lateran  against  the  word  of  God,  and  yet, 
according  to  you,  the  council  of  Lateran  was  infallible  ! ! !  Before  this  council, 
pope  Gregorv  the  VHth  had  condemned  the  marriage  of  the  clergy,  in  the  13th 
can.  of  the  first  Roman  council,  in  a.  d.  1074.  (Labbei  concil:  vol.  x.  p.  326 — 
328. )  Gregory  had.  besides,  assembled  councils  or  synods  in  other  places,  to 
condemn  the  marriage  of  the  clergy.  The  English  clergy  opposed  this  in  a  very 
determined  manner  ;  and,  when  Gregory's  decree  was  published  in  Germany,  the 
clergy  appealed  to  the  word  of  God,  and  charged  the  pope  with  contradicting 
St.  Paul.  But  Gregory  was  more  than  a  match  for  them  ;  and  he,  who  deprived 
kings  of  their  kingdoms,  and  trampled  royalty  under  foot,  easily  prevailed,  after 
some  time,  against  the  clergy. 

'  The  public  must  now  have  a  specimen  of  your  church's  consistency,  contradic- 
tion, and  extraordinary  doctrine,  on  the  subject  of  matrimony.  The  church  of 
Rome  calls  marriage  a  sacrament ! !  (one  of  the  five  new  sacraments  she  herself 
made;)  and,  according  to  the  Trent  doctrine,  the  sacraments  confer  grace,  justifying 
grace.  Luther  maintained  that  "  the  sacraments  of  the  new  law  do  not  confer 
justifying  grace  upon  those  who  do  not  place  a  bar  in  the  way."    This  is  the  first 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  469 


of  some  that  brought  themselves  to  the  state  of  eunuchs  for  ART. 
the  c  sake  of  the  gospel;'  but  in  that  he  left  all  men  at  full  XXXI1- 
liberty,  by  saying,  '  Let  him  receive  it  that  is  able  to  receive  Matt  x~ 
it;'  so  that  in  this  every  man  must  judge  of  himself  by  what  10,  11,  12. 
he  finds  himself  to  be.    That  is  equally  recommended  to  all 
ranks  of  men,  as  they  can  bear  it.    St.  Paul  does  affirm,  that 
'  marriage  is  honourable  in  all :'  and  to  avoid  uncleanness,  he  Heb.xiii.4. 
says,  '  It  is  better  to  marry  than  to  burn ;'  and  so  gives  it  as  1  Cor-  »»■ 
a  rule,  that  '  every  man  should  have  his  own  wife.'    Among  * 
all  the  rules  or  qualifications  of  bishops  or  priests,  that  are 
given  in  the  New  Testament,  particularly  in  the  Epistles  to 
Timothy  and  Titus,  there  is  not  a  word  of  the  celibate  of  the  1  Tim.iii. 
clergy,  but  plain  intimations  to  the  contrary,  that  they  were  2'  4' 5<  12* 
and  might  be  married.    That  of  '  the  husband  of  one  wife'  is 
repeated  in  different  places :  mention  is  also  made  of  the  wives 
and  children  of  the  clergy,  rules  being  given  concerning  them  : 
and  not  a  word  is  so  much  as  insinuated,  importing,  that  this 
was  only  tolerated  in  the  beginnings  of  Christianity,  but  that 
it  was  afterwards  to  cease.    On  the  contrary,  the  '  forbidding  1  Tim,  iv. 
to  marry^  is  given  as  a  character  of  the  apostacy  of  the  later  3* 
times.    We  find  Aquila,  when  he  went  about  preaching  the 
gospel,  was  not  only  married  to  Priscilla,  but  that  he  carried 
her  about  with  him :  not  to  insist  on  that  privilege  that  St. 
Paul  thought  he  might  have  claimed,  of  '  carrying  about  with  *  Cor- 
him  a  sister  and  a  wife,  as  well  as  the  other  apostles.'  And 
thus  the  first  point  seems  to  be  fully  cleared,  that  by  no  law 
of  God  the  clergy  are  debarred  from  marriage.    There  is  not 
one  word  in  the  whole  scriptures  that  does  so  much  as  hint  at 

;  whereas  there  is  a  great  deal  to  the  contrary. 

Marriage  being  then  one  of  the  rights  of  human  nature,  to 
which  so  many  reasons  of  different  sorts  may  carry  both  a 
wise  and  a  good  man,  and  there  being  no  positive  precept  in 
the  gospel  that  forbids  it  to  the  clergy ;  the  next  question  is, 
Whether  it  is  in  the  power  of  the  church  to  make  a  perpetual 
law,  restraining  the  clergy  from  marriage  ?  It  is  certain  that 
no  age  of  the  church  can  make  a  law  to  bind  succeeding  ages ; 
for  whatsoever  power  the  church  has,  she  is  always  in  posses- 
sion of  it ;  and  every  age  has  as  much  power  as  any  of  the 
former  ages  had.  Therefore  if  ony  one  age  should  by  a  law 
enjoin  celibate  to  the  clergy,  any  succeeding  age  may  repeal 
and  alter  that  law.  For  ever  since  the  inspiration  that  con- 
ducted the  apostles  has  ceased,  every  age  of  the  church  may 
make  or  change  laws  in  all  matters  that  are  within  their 
authority.  So  it  seems  very  clear,  that  the  church  can  make 
no  perpetual  law  upon  this  subject. 


of  the  "  plurima  Lutheri  /wreses''  condemned  by  pope  Leo  X.  (Labb.  and  Coss. 
vol.  xiv.  5  Cone.  Lat.  p.  392. )  Marriage  then,  according  to  your  doctrine,  confers 
justifying  grace.  But  what  would  this  sacrament  confer  on  you  ?  Pollution  and 
damnation  ! ! !  This  is  most  excellent  ]  "  Doth  a  fountain  send  forth  at  the  same  place 
sweet  water  and  bitter?"  James  iii.  11.'    Page's  Letters  to  a  RomishPriett. — [Ed.] 


470 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  In  the  next  place  it  may  be  justly  doubted,  whether  the 
txxil.  church  can  make  a  law  that  shall  restrain  all  the  clergy  in  any 
of  those  natural  rights  in  which  Christ  has  left  them  free. 
The  adding  a  law  upon  this  head  to  the  laws  of  Christ,  seems 
to  assume  an  authority  that  he  has  not  given  the  church.  It 
looks  like  a  pretending  to  a  strain  of  purity  beyond  the  rules 
set  us  in  the  gospel :  and  is  plainly  the  laying  a  yoke  upon  us, 
which  must  be  thought  tyrannical,  since  the  Author  of  this 
religion,  who  knew  best  what  human  nature  is  capable  of,  and 
what  it  may  well  bear,  has  not  thought  fit  to  lay  it  on  those 
whom  he  sent  upon  a  commission  that  required  a  much 
greater  elevation  of  soul,  and  more  freedom  from  the  entan- 
glements of  worldly  or  domestic  concerns,  than  can  be  pre- 
tended to  be  necessary  for  the  standing  and  settled  offices  in 
the  church.  Therefore  we  conclude,  that  it  were  a  great 
abuse  of  church  power,  and  a  high  act  of  tyranny,  for  any 
church,  or  any  age  of  the  church,  to  bar  men  from  the 
services  in  the  church,  because  they  either  are  married,  or 
intend  to  keep  themselves  free  to  marry,  or  not,  as  they 
please :  this  does  indeed  bring  the  body  of  the  clergy  more 
into  a  combination  among  themselves ;  it  does  take  them  in 
a  great  measure  off  from  having  separated  interests  of  their 
own  ;  it  takes  them  out  of  the  civil  society,  in  which  they 
have  less  concern,  when  they  give  no  pledges  to  it.  And  so 
in  ages  in  which  the  papacy  intended  to  engage  the  whole 
priesthood  into  its  interests  against  the  civil  powers,  as  the 
immunity  and  exemptions  of  the  clergy  made  them  safe  in 
their  own  persons,  so  it  was  necessary  to  free  them  from  any 
such  incumbrances  or  appendages  by  which  they  might  be  in 
the  power  or  at  the  mercy  of  secular  princes.  This,  joined 
with  the  belief  of  their  making  God  with  a  few  words,  by  the 
virtue  of  their  character,  and  of  their  forgiving  sin,  was  like 
armour  of  proof,  by  which  they  were  invulnerable,  and  by 
consequence  capable  of  undertaking  any  thing  that  might  be 
committed  to  them.  But  this  may  well  recommend  such  a 
rule  to  a  crafty  and  designing  body  of  men,  in  which  it  is  not 
to  be  denied,  that  there  is  a  deep  and  refined  policy ;  yet  we 
'  have  not  so  learned  Christ/  nor  to  '  handle  the  word  of 
God,5  or  the  authority  that  he  has  trusted  to  us,  deceitfully. 

As  for  the  consequences  of  such  laws,  inconveniences  are 
on  both  hands :  as  long  as  men  are  corrupt  themselves, 
so  long  they  will  abuse  all  the  liberties  of  human  nature.  If 
not  only  common  lewdness  in  all  the  kinds  of  it,  but  even 
brutal  and  unnatural  lusts,  have  been  the  visible  consequences 
of  the  strict  law  of  celibate ;  and  if  this  appears  so  evident  in 
history  that  it  cannot  be  denied ;  we  think  it  better  to  trust 
human  nature  with  the  lawful  use  of  that  in  which  God  has 
not  restrained  it,  than  to  venture  on  that  which  has  given 
occasion  to  abominations  that  cannot  be  mentioned  without 
horror.   As  for  the  temptation  to  covetousness,  we  think  it  is 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  471 


neither  so  great,  nor  so  unavoidable,  upon  the  one  hand,  as  ART. 
those  monstrous  ones  are  on  the  other.  It  is  more  reasonable  XXXI1 
to  expect  divine  assistances  to  preserve  men  from  temptations,  — 
when  they  are  using  those  liberties  which  God  has  left  free  to 
them,  than  when,  by  pretending  to  a  purity  greater  than  that 
which  he  has  commanded,  they  throw  themselves  into  many 
snares.    It  is  also  very  evident,  that  covetousness  is  an  effect 
of  men's  tempers,  rather  than  of  their  marriage;  since  the 
instances  of  a  ravenous  covetousness,  and  of  a  restless  ambi- 
tion, in  behalf  of  men's  kindred  and  families,  hath  appeared 
as  often  and  as  scandalously  among  the  unmarried  as  among 
the  married  clergy. 

From  these  general  considerations  concerning  the  power 
that  the  church  has  to  make  either  a  perpetual  or  an  universal 
law  in  a  thing  of  this  kind;  I  shall,  in  the  next  place,  consider, 
in  short,  what  the  church  has  done  in  this  matter.  In  the 
first  ages  of  Christianity,  Basilides  and  Saturninus,  and  after 
them,  both  Montanus  and  Novatus,  and  the  sect  of  the  En- 
cratites,  condemned  marriage  as  a  state  of  libertinism  that  was 
unbecoming  the  purity  required  of  Christians.  Against  those 
we  find  the  fathers  asserted  the  lawfulness  of  marriage  to  all 
Christians,  without  making  a  difference  between  the  clergy 
and  the  laity.  It  is  true,  the  appearances  that  were  in  Mon- 
tanus and  his  followers  seem  to  have  engaged  the  Christians 
of  that  age  to  strain  beyond  them  in  those  things  that  gave 
them  their  reputation :  many  of  Tertullian's  writings,  that 
critics  do  now  see  were  writ  after  he  was  a  Montanist,  which 
seems  not  to  have  been  observed  in  that  age,  carry  the  matter 
of  celibate  so  high,  that  it  is  no  wonder,  if,  considering  the 
reputation  that  he  had,  a  bias  was  given  by  these  to  the  fol- 
lowing ages  in  favour  of  celibate :  yet  it  seemed  to  give  great 
and  just  prejudices  against  the  Christian  religion,  if  such  as 
had  come  into  the  service  of  the  church  should  have  forsaken 
their  wives.  It  is  visible  how  much  scandal  this  might  have 
given,  and  what  matter  of  reproach  it  would  have  furnished 
their  enemies  with,  if  they  could  have  charged  them  with  this, 
that  men,  to  get  rid  of  their  wives,  and  the  care  of  their  fami- 
lies, went  into  orders  ;  that  so,  under  a  pretence  of  a  higher 
degree  of  sanctity,  they  might  abandon  their  families.  There- 
fore great  care  was  taken  to  prevent  this.  They  were  so  far 
from  requiring  priests  to  forsake  their  wives,  that  such  as  did 
it,  upon  their  entering  into  orders,  were  severely  condemned 
by  the  canons  that  go  under  the  name  of  the  Apostles.  They 
were  also  condemned  by  the  council  of  Gangra  in  the  fourth 
century,  and  by  that  of  Trullo  in  the  seventh  age.  There  are 
some  instances  brought  of  bishops  and  priests,  who  are  sup- 
posed to  have  married  after  they  were  ordained ;  but  as  there 
are  only  few  of  those,  so  perhaps  they  are  not  well  proved. 
It  must  be  acknowledged,  that  the  general  practice  was,  that 
men  once  in  orders  did  not  marry :  but  many  bishops  in  the 


472 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  best  ages  lived  still  with  their  wives.  So  did  the  fathers  both 
XXXII.  of  Gregory  Nazianzen  and  of  St.  Basil.  And  among  the 
works  of  Hilary  of  Poictiers,  there  is  a  letter  writ  by  him  in 
exile  to  his  daughter  Abra,  in  which  he  refers  her  to  her 
mother's  instruction  in  those  things  which  she,  by  reason  of 
her  age,  did  not  then  understand ;  which  shews  that  she  was 
then  very  young,  and  so  was  probably  born  after  he  was  a 
bishop. 

Socr.  Hist.  Some  proposed  in  the  council  of  Nice,  that  the  clergy  should 
Eccl.hb.i.  depart  from  their  wives ;  but  Paphnutius,  though  himself  un- 
married, opposed  this,  as  the  laying  an  unreasonably  heavy 
yoke  upon  them.  Heliodorus,  a  bishop,  the  author  of  the 
first  of  those  love-fables  that  are  now  known  by  the  name  of 
Romances:,  being  upon  that  account  accused  of  too  much 
levity,  did,  in  order  to  the  clearing  himself  of  that  imputation, 
move  that  clergymen  should  be  obliged  to  live  from  their  wives. 
Which  the  historian  says  they  were  not  tied  to  before ;  for  till 
then  bishops  lived  with  their  wives.  So  that  in  those  days 
the  living  in  a  married  state  was  not  thought  unbecoming  the 
purity  of  the  sacred  functions.  A  single  marriage  was  never 
objected  in  bar  to  a  man's  being  made  bishop  or  priest.  They 
did  not  indeed  admit  a  man  to  orders  that  been  twice  mar- 
ried ;  but  even  for  this  there  was  a  distinction :  if  a  man  had 
been  once  married  before  his  baptism,  and  was  once  married 
after  his  baptism,  that  was  reckoned  only  a  single  marriage ; 
for  what  had  been  done  when  in  heathenism  went  for  nothing. 
And  Jerome,  speaking  of  bishops  who  had  been  twice  married, 
but  by  this  nicety  were  reckoned  to  be  the  husbands  of  one 
wife,  says,  'the  number  of  those  of  this  sort  in  that  time  could 
not  be  reckoned;  and  that  more  such  bishops  might  be  found, 
than  were  at  the  council  of  Arimini.'  Canons  grew  to  be 
frequently  made  against  the  marriage  of  those  in  holy  orders; 
but  these  were  positive  laws  made  chiefly  in  the  Roman  and 
African  synods ;  and  since  those  canons  were  so  often  re- 
newed, we  may  from  thence  conclude  that  they  were  not  well 
kept.  When  Synesius  was  ordained  priest,  he  tells  in  an 
Epistle  of  his,  that  he  declared  openly,  that  he  would  not  live 
secretly  with  his  wife,  as  some  did  ;  but  that  he  would  dwell 
publicly  with  her,  and  wished  that  he  might  have  many  chil- 
dren by  her.  In  the  eastern  church  the  priests  are  usually 
married  before  they  are  ordained,  and  continue  afterwards  to 
live  with  their  wives,  and  to  have  children  by  them,  without 
either  censure  or  trouble.  In  the  western  church  we  find 
mention  made,  both  in  the  Gallican  and  Spanish  synods,  of 
the  wives  both  of  bishops  and  priests ;  and  they  are  called 
episcopce  and  presbyterce.  In  the  Saxon  times  the  clergy  in 
most  of  the  cathedrals  of  England  were  openly  married:  and 
when  Dunstan,  who  had  engaged  king  Edgar  to  favour  the 
monks,  in  opposition  to  the  married  clergy,  pressed  them  to 
forsake  their  wives,  they  refused  to  do  it,  and  so  were  turned 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


473 


out  of  their  benefices,  and  monks  came  in  their  places.  Nor  ART. 
was  the  celibate  generally  imposed  on  all  the  clergy  before  XXXI1 
Gregory  the  Seventh's  time,  in  the  end  of  the  eleventh  cen- 
tury. He  had  great  designs  for  subjecting  all  temporal 
princes  to  the  papacy ;  and,  in  order  to  that,  he  intended  to 
bring  the  clergy  into  an  entire  dependance  upon  himself ;  and 
to  separate  them  wholly  from  all  other  interests  but  those  of 
the  ecclesiastical  authority :  and  that  he  might  load  the  mar- 
ried clergy  with  an  odious  name,  he  called  them  all  Nico- 
laitans ;  though  the  accounts  that  the  ancients  give  us  of  that 
sect  say  nothing  that  related  to  this  matter :  but  a  name  of 
an  ill  sound  goes  a  great  way  in  an  ignorant  age.  The  writers 
that  lived  near  that  time  condemned  this  severity  against  the 
married  clergy,  as  a  new  and  a  rash  thing,  and  contrary  to  the 
mind  of  the  holy  fathers ;  and  they  tax  his  rigour  in  turning 
them  all  out.  Yet  Lanfranc  among  us  did  not  impose  the 
celibate  generally  on  all  the  clergy,  but  only  on  those  that 
lived  at  cathedrals  and  in  towns ;  he  connived  at  those  who 
served  in  villages.  Anselm  carried  it  further,  and  imposed  it 
on  all  the  clergy  without  exception :  yet  he  himself  laments 
that  unnatural  lusts  were  become  then  both  common  and 
public;  of  which  Petrus  Damiani  made  great  complaints  in 
Gregory  the  Seventh's  time.  Bernard,  in  a  sermon  preached 
to  the  clergy  of  France,  says  it  was  common  in  his  time,  and 
then  even  bishops  with  bishops  lived  in  it.  The  observation 
that  abbot  Panormitan  made  of  the  progress  of  that  horrid 
sin,  led  him  to  wish  that  it  might  be  left  free  to  the  clergy  to 
marry  as  they  pleased.  Pius  the  Second  said,  that  there  might 
have  been  good  reasons  for  imposing  the  celibate  on  the  clergy; 
but  he  believed  there  were  far  better  reasons  for  leaving  them 
to  their  liberty.  As  a  remedy  to  these  more  enormous  crimes, 
dispensations  for  concubinate  became  so  common,  that,  in- 
stead of  giving  scandal  by  them,  they  were  rather  considered 
as  the  characters  of  modesty  and  temperance ;  in  such  concu- 
binary  priests  the  world  judged  themselves  safe  from  practices 
on  their  own  families. 

When  we  consider  those  effects  that  followed  on  the  im- 
posing the  celibate  on  the  clergy,  we  cannot  but  look  on  them 
as  much  greater  evils  than  those  that  can  follow  on  the  leav- 
ing it  free  to  them  to  marry.  It  is  not  to  be  denied  but  that, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  effects  of  a  freedom  to  marry  may  be 
likewise  bad  :  that  state  does  naturally  involve  men  in  the 
cares  of  life,  in  domestic  concerns,  and  it  brings  with  it 
temptations  both  to  luxury  and  covetousness.  It  carries  with 
it  too  great  a  disposition  to  heap  up  wealth,  and  to  raise  fami- 
lies ;  and,  in  a  word,  it  makes  the  clergy  both  look  too  like, 
and  live  too  like,  the  rest  of  the  world.  But  when  things  of 
this  kind  are  duly  balanced,  ill  effects  will  appear  on  both 
hands:  those  arise  out  of  the  general  corruption  of  human  na- 
ture, which  does  so  spread  itself,  that  it  will  corrupt  us  in  the 


474 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  RT.  most  innocent,  and  in  the  most  necessary  practices.  There 
XXXI1-  are  excesses  committed  in  eating,  drinking,  and  sleeping.  Our 
depraved  inclinations  will  insinuate  themselves  into  us  in  our 
hest  actions:  even  the  public  worship  of  God  and  all  devotion 
receive  a  taint  from  them.  But  we  must  not  take  away  those 
liberties  in  which  God  has  left  human  nature  free,  and  engage 
men  to  rules  and  methods  that  put  a  violence  upon  mankind : 
this  is  the  less  excusable,  when  we  see,  in  fact,  what  the  con- 
sequences of  such  restraints  have  been  for  many  ages. 

Yet  after  all,  though  they  who  '  marry,  do  well  yet  those 
'  who  marry  not,  do  better,'  provided  they  live  chaste,  and  do 
not  burn.  That  man,  who  subdues  his  body  by  fasting  and 
prayer,  by  labour  and  study,  and  that  separates  himself  from 
Actsvi.  4.  the  concerns  of  a  family,  that  'he  may  give  himself  wholly 
to  the  ministry  of  the  word,  and  to  prayer,'  that  lives  at  a 
distance  from  the  levities  of  the  world,  and  in  a  course  of 
native  modesty  and  unaffected  severity,  is  certainly  a  burning 
and  shining  light :  he  is  above  the  world,  free  from  cares  and 
designs,  from  aspirings,  and  all  those  restless  projects  which 
have  so  long  given  the  world  so  much  scandal:  and  there- 
fore those,  who  allow  themselves  the  liberty  of  marriage, 
according  to  the  laws  of  God  and  the  church,  are  indeed  en- 
gaged in  a  state  of  many  temptations,  to  which  if  they  give 
way,  they  lay  themselves  open  to  many  censures,  and  they 
bring  a  scandal  on  the  Reformation  for  allowing  them  this 
liberty,  if  they  abuse  it. 

It  remains  only  to  consider  how  far  this  matter  is  altered 
by  vows ;  how  far  it  is  lawful  to  make  them ;  and  how  far 
they  bind  when  they  are  made.  It  seems  very  unreasonable 
and  tyrannical  to  put  vows  on  any,  in  matters  in  which  it 
may  not  be  in  their  power  to  keep  them  without  sin.  No 
vows  ought  to  be  made,  but  in  things  that  are  either  abso- 
lutely in  our  power,  or  in  things  in  which  we  may  procure  to 
ourselves  those  assistances  that  may  enable  us  to  perform 
them.  We  have  a  federal  right  to  the  promises  that  Christ 
has  made  us,  of  inward  assistances  to  enable  us  to  perform 
those  conditions  that  he  has  laid  on  us ;  and  therefore  we 
may  vow  to  observe  them,  because  we  may  do  that  which 
may  procure  us  aids  sufficient  for  the  execution  of  them. 
But  if  men  will  take  up  resolutions,  that  are  not  within  those 
necessary  conditions,  they  have  no  reason  to  promise  them- 
selves such  assistances :  and  if  they  are  not  so  absolutely 
masters  of  themselves,  as  to  be  able  to  stand  to  them  without 
those  helps,  and  yet  are  not  sure  that  they  shall  be  givei 
them,  then  they  ought  to  make  no  vow  in  a  matter  which 
they  cannot  keep  by  their  own  natural  strength,  and  in  which 
they  have  not  any  promise  in  the  gospel  that  assures  them  of 
divine  assistances  to  enable  them  to  keep  it.  This  is,  there- 
fore, a  tempting  of  God,  when  men  pretend  to  serve  him  by 
assuming  a  stricter  course  of  life  than  either  he  has  com- 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


475 


manded,  or  they  are  able  to  go  through  with.    And  it  may   A  R  T. 
prove  a  great  snare  to  them,  when  by  such  rash  vows  they  XXXI1- 
are  engaged  into  such  a  state  of  life,  in  which  they  live  in 
constant  temptations  to  sin,  without  either  command  or  pro- 
mise, on  which  they  can  rest  as  to  the  execution  of  them. 

This  is  to  '  lead  themselves  into  temptation,'  in  opposition 
to  that  which  our  Saviour  has  made  a  petition  of  that  prayer 
which  he  himself  has  taught  us.  Out  of  this,  great  distrac- 
tions of  mind,  and  a  variety  of  different  temptations,  may, 
and  probably  will,  arise ;  and  that  the  rather,  because  the 
vow  is  made ;  there  being  somewhat  in  our  natures  that  will 
always  struggle  the  harder  because  they  are  restrained.  It  is 
certain  that  every  man,  who  dedicates  himself  to  the  service 
of  God,  ought  to  try  if  he  can  dedicate  himself  so  entirely  to 
it,  as  to  live  out  of  all  the  concerns  and  entanglements  of  life. 
If  he  can  maintain  his  purity  in  it,  he  will  be  enabled  thereby 
to  labour  the  more  effectually,  and  may  expect  both  the 
greater  success  here,  and  a  fuller  reward  hereafter.  But  be- 
cause both  his  temper  and  his  circumstances  may  so  change, 
that  what  is  an  advantage  to  him  in  one  part  of  his  life  may 
be  a  snare  and  an  encumbrance  to  him  in  another  part  of  it, 
he  ought  therefore  to  keep  this  matter  still  in  his  own  power, 
and  to  continue  in  that  liberty,  in  which  God  has  left  him 
free,  that  so  he  may  do  as  he  shall  find  it  to  be  most  exf>e- 
dient  for  himself,  and  for  the  work  of  the  gospel. 

Therefore  it  is  to  be  concluded,  that  it  is  unlawful  either  to 
impose  or  to  make  such  vows.  And,  supposing  that  any  have 
been  engaged  in  them,  more,  perhaps,  out  of  the  importunity 
or  authority  of  others,  than  their  own  choice ;  then  though  it 
is  certainly  a  character  of  a  man  that  shall  dwell  in  God's  holy 
hill,  that  though  'he  swears  to  his  own  hurt,  yet  he  changes  Psal.  xv.4. 
not;'  he  is  to  consider,  whether  he  can  keep  such  a  vow, 
without  breaking  the  commandments  of  God,  or  not:  if  he 
can,  then,  certainly,  he  ought  to  have  that  regard  to  the 
name  of  God,  that  was  called  upon  in  the  vow,  and  to  the 
solemnities  of  it,  and  to  the  scandals  that  may  follow  upon 
his  breaking  it,  that  if  he  can  continue  in  that  state,  without 
sinning  against  God,  he  ought  to  do  it,  and  to  endeavour  all 
he  can  to  keep  his  vow,  and  preserve  his  purity.  But  if,  after 
he  has  used  both  fasting  and  prayer,  he  still  finds  that  the 
obligation  of  his  vow  is  a  snare  to  him,  and  that  he  cannot 
both  keep  it,  and  also  keep  the  commandments  of  God ;  then 
the  two  obligations,  that  of  the  law  of  God,  and  that  of  his 
vow,  happening  to  stand  in  one  another's  way,  certainly  the 
lesser  must  give  place  to  the  greater.  Herod's  oath  was  ill 
and  rashly  made,  but  worse  kept,  when,  '  for  his  oath's  sake,'  Matt- 
he  ordered  the  head  of  John  the  Baptist  to  be  cut  off.  Our  9'  xv<  5- 
Saviour  condemns  that  practice  among  the  Jews,  of  vowing 
that  to  the  corban  or  treasure  of  the  temple,  which  they 
oucrht  to  have  given  to  their  parents ;  and  imagining  that,  by 


476 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  such  means,  they  were  not  obliged  to  take  care  of  them,  or 
XXXIL  t0  SUppiy  them.  The  obligation  to  keep  the  commandments 
of  God  is  indispensable,  and  antecedent  to  any  act  or  vow  of 
ours,  and  therefore  it  cannot  be  made  void  by  any  vow  that 
we  may  take  upon  us :  and  if  we  are  under  a  vow,  which  ex- 
poses us  to  temptations  that  do  often  prevail,  and  that  pro- 
bably will  prevail  long  upon  us,  then  we  ought  to  repent  of 
our  rashness  in  making  any  such  vow,  but  must  not  continue 
in  the  observation  of  it,  if  it  proves  to  us  like  the  taking  fire 
into  our  bosom,  or  the  handling  of  pitch.  A  vow  that  draws 
many  temptations  upon  us,  that  are  above  our  strength  to 
resist  them,  is,  certainly,  much  better  broken  and  repented  of, 
than  kept.  So  that,  to  conclude,  celibate  is  not  a  matter  fit 
to  be  the  subject  either  of  a  law  or  a  vow ;  every  man  must 
consider  himself,  and  what  he  is  able  to  receive :  '  He  that 
marries  does  well,  but  he  that  marries  not  does  better.' 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


477 


ART. 
XXXIII. 


ARTICLE  XXXIII. 

Of  Excommunicate  Persons,  how  they  are  to  be  avoided. 

Chat  $en(on  which,  by  open  ©enunciation  of  the  Church,  is  rightly 
cut  off  from  the  23nity  of  the  Church,  and  iarcommunicate,  ought 
to  be  taken  of  the  toholc  JHultituKe  of  the  dfatthful  a£f  a  Heathen 
anfl  a  Publican  :  WLntil  i)t  be  openly  reconciled  by  penance,  and 
be  receibeS  into  tl)e  Church  by  a  Shitige  that  hath  Suthority 
thereunto. 

All  Christians  are  obliged  to  a  strict  purity  and  holiness  of 
life :  and  every  private  man  is  bound  to  avoid  all  unnecessary 
familiarities  with  bad  and  vicious  men ;  both  because  he  may 
be  insensibly  corrupted  by  these,  and  because  the  world  will 
be  from  thence  disposed  to  think,  that  he  takes  pleasure  in 
such  persons,  and  in  their  vices.  What  every  single  Chris- 
tian ought  to  set  as  a  rule  to  himself,  ought  to  be  likewise 
made  the  rule  of  all  Christians,  as  they  are  constituted  in  a 
body  under  guides  and  pastors.  And  as,  in  general,  severe 
denunciations  ought  to  be  often  made  of  the  wrath  and  judg- 
ments of  God  against  sinners ;  so  if  any  that  is  called  a  bro- 
ther, that  is,  a  Christian,  lives  in  a  course  of  sin  and  scandal, 
they  ought  to  give  warning  of  such  a  person  to  all  the  other 
Christians,  that  they  may  not  so  much  '  as  eat  with  him,'  but  1  Cor.  v. 
may  separate  themselves  from  him.  n« 

In  this,  private  persons  ought  to  avoid  the  moroseness  and 
affectation  of  saying,  '  Stand  by,  for  I  am  holier  than  thou:'  isai.lxv. 5. 
'  if  one  is  overtaken  in  a  fault,  then  those  who  are  spiritual  Gal-  vi- 1» 
ought  to  restore  such  an  one  in  the  spirit  of  meekness:'  every 
one  considering  himself,  'lest  he  be  also  tempted.'  Exces- 
sive rigour  will  be  always  suspected  of  hypocrisy,  and  may 
drive  those  on  whom  it  falls  either  into  despair  on  the  one 
hand,  or  into  an  unmanageable  licentiousness  on  the  other. 

The  nature  of  all  societies  must  import  this,  that  they  have 
a  power  to  maintain  themselves  according  to  the  design  and 
rules  of  their  society.  A  combination  of  men,  made  upon 
any  bottom  whatsoever,  must  be  supposed  to  have  a  right  to 
exclude  out  of  their  number  such  as  may  be  a  reproach  to  it, 
or  a  mean  to  dissolve  it :  and  it  must  be  a  main  part  of  the 
office  and  duty  of  the  pastors  of  the  church,  to  separate  the 
good  from  the  bad,  to  warn  the  unruly,  and  to  put  from 
among  them  wicked  persons.  There  are  several  considera- 
tions that  shew  not  only  the  lawfulness,  but  the  necessity,  of 
such  a  practice. 

First,  that  the  contagion  of  an  ill  example  and  of  bad  prac- 


47S 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  tices  may  not  spread  too  far  to  the  corrupting  of  others :  '  Evil 
XXXIII.  communications  corrupt  good  manners.'  Their  '  doctrines 
l  Cor.  xv.  ea^  an^  spread  as  a  gangrene :'  and  therefore,  in  order  to 
33.  the  preserving  the  purity  of  those  who  are  not  yet  corrupted, 
j7r'm-  it  may  he  necessary  to  note  such  persons,  and  to  e  have  no 
2Thess.iii.  company  with  them.5 

14.  A  second  reason  relates  to  the  persons  themselves,  that  are 

so  separated,  that  they  may  be  ashamed ;  that  they  may  be 
Jude  23.  thus  '  pulled  out  of  the  fire/  by  the  terror  of  such  a  proceed- 
l  Cor  v.  ing?  -n-hich  ought  to  be  done  by  r.iourning  over  them,  lamenting 
2*c'or  'ii    their  sins  and  praying  for  them. 

1,2,3.  The  apostles  made  use  even  of  those  extraordinary  powers 
that  were  given  to  them  for  this  end.    St.  Paul  delivered 

l^Tim.i.  Hymeneeus  and  Alexander  unto  Satan,  '  that  they  might 
learn  not  to  blaspheme.'  And  he  ordered  that  the  incestuous 
person  at  Corinth  '  s\ould  be  delivered  to  Satan  for  the 
destruction  of  the  flesh,  that  the  spirit  might  be  saved  in  the 
day  of  the  Lord  Jesus.'  Certainlv  a  vicious  indulgence  to 
sinners  is  an  encouragement  to  them  to  live  in  sin ;  whereas 
when  others  about  them  try  all  methods  for  their  recovery, 
and  mourn  for  those  sins  in  which  they  do  perhaps  glory,  and 
do  upon  that  withdraw  themselves  from  all  communication 
with  them,  both  in  spirituals,  and  as  much  as  may  be  in  tem- 
porals likewise ;  this  is  one  of  the  last  means  that  can  be  used 
in  order  to  the  reclaiming  of  them. 

Another  consideration  is  the  peace  and  the  honour  of  the 

Gal.  v.  12.  society.  St.  Paul  wished  that  £  they  were  cut  off  that  troubled 
the  churches  :'  great  care  ought  to  be  taken,  that  '  the  name 
of  God  and  his  doctrine  be  not  blasphemed,'  and  to  give  no 
occasion  to  the  enemies  of  our  faith  to  reproach  us  ;  as  if  we 
designed  to  make  parties,  to  promote  our  own  interests,  and 
to  turn  religion  to  a  faction ;  excusing  such  as  adhere  to  us  in 
other  things,  though  thev  should  break  out  into  the  most 
scandalous  violations  of  the  greatest  of  all  the  commandments 
of  God.  Such  a  behaviour  towards  excommunicated  persons 
would  also  have  this  further  good  effect ;  it  would  give  great 
authority  to  that  sentence,  and  fill  men's  minds  with  the  awe 
of  it,  which  must  be  taken  off,  when  it  is  observed  that  men 
converse  familiarly  with  those  that  are  under  it. 

These  rules  are  all  founded  upon  the  principles  of  societies, 
which,  as  they  associate  upon  some  common  designs,  so,  in 
order  to  the  pursuing  those,  must  have  a  power  to  separate 
themselves  from  those  who  depart  from  them. 

In  this  matter  there  are  extremes  of  both  hands  to  be 
avoided :  some  have  thought,  that  because  the  apostles  have, 

Gal.i.8, 9.  in  general,  declared  such  persons  to  be  accursed,  or  under  an 

1  Cor.  xn.  f  anathema,  who  preach  another  gospel,'  and  e  such  as  love 
not  the  Lord  Jesus,  to  be  Anathema  Maran-atha,'  which  is 
generally  understood  to  be  a  total  cutting  off,  never  to  be 
admitted  till  '  the  Lord  comes that  therefore  the  church 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


479 


may  still  put  men  under  an  anathema,  for  holding  such  ^A^ni, 
unsound  doctrines,  as,  they  think,  make  the  gospel  to  become  H__ 
another,  in  part  at  least,  if  not  in  whole  ;  and  that  she  may 
thereupon,  in  imitation  of  another  practice  of  the  apostles, 
deliver  them  over  unto  Satan,  casting  them  out  of  the 
protection  of  Christ,  and  abandoning  them  to  the  Devil: 
reckoning  that  the  'cutting  them  off'  from  the  body  of 
Christ  is  really  the  exposing  them  to  the  Devil,  who  goes 
about  as  a  roaring  lion,  seeking  whom  he  may  devour.  But 
with  what  authority  soever  the  apostles  might,  upon  so  great 
a  matter  as  the  '  changing  the  gospel,'  or  the  '  not  loving  the 
Lord  Jesus,'  denounce  an  anathema,  yet  the  applying  this 
which  they  used  so  seldom,  and  upon  such  great  occasions,  to 
every  opinion,  after  a  decision  is  made  in  it,  as  it  has  carried 
on  the  notion  of  the  infallibility  of  the  church,  so  it  has  laid 
a  foundation  for  much  uncharitableness,  and  many  animosities: 
it  has  widened  breaches,  and  made  them  incurable.  And, 
unless  it  is  certain  that  the  church  which  has  so  decreed  can- 
not err,  it  is  a  bold  assuming  of  an  authority  to  which  no 
fallible  body  of  men  can  have  a  right.  That  '  delivery  unto 
Satan'  was  visibly  an  act  of  a  miraculous  power  lodged  with 
the  apostles  :  for  as  they  struck  some  blind  or  dead,  so  they  had 
an  authority  of  letting  loose  evil  spirits  on  some  to  haunt 
and  terrify,  or  to  punish  and  plague  them,  that  a  desperate 
evil  might  be  cured  by  an  extreme  remedy.  And  therefore 
the  apostles  never  reckon  this  among  the  standing  functions 
of  the  church ;  nor  do  they  give  any  charge  or  directions 
about  it.  They  used  it  themselves,  and  but  seldom.  It  is 
true,  that  St.  Paul  being  carried  by  a  just  zeal  against  the 
scandal,  which  the  incestuous  person  at  Corinth  had  cast  upon 
the  Christian  religion,  did  adjudge  him  to  this  severe  degree 
of  censure :  but  he  judged  it,  and  did  only  order  the  Corin- 
thians to  publish  it,  as  coming  from  him,  '  with  the  power  of 
our  Lord  Jesus  Christ :'  that  so  the  thing  might  become  the 
more  public,  and  that  the  effects  of  it  might  be  the  more  con- 
spicuous. The  primitive  church,  that  being  nearest  the 
fountain,  did  best  understand  the  nature  of  church-power, 
and  the  effects  of  her  censures,  thought  of  nothing,  in  this 
matter,  but  of  denying  to  suffer  apostates,  or  rather  scandalous 
persons,  to  mix  with  the  rest  in  the  sacrament,  or  in  the  other 
parts  of  worship.  They  admitted  them  upon  the  profession 
of  their  repentance,  by  an  imposition  of  hands,  to  share  in 
some  of  the  more  general  parts  of  the  worship ;  and  even  in 
these  they"  stood  by  themselves,  and  at  a  distance  from  the 
rest :  and  when  they  had  passed  through  several  degrees  in 
that  state  of  mourning,  they  were  by  steps  received  back  again 
to  the  communion  of  the  church.  This  agrees  well  with  all 
that  was  said  formerly  concerning  the  nature  and  the  ends  of 
church-power;  '  which  was  given  for  edification,  and  not  for  2  Cor.  x.  8 
destruction.'    This  is  suitable  to  the  designs  of  the  gospel, 


480 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  RT.  both  for  preserving  the  society  pure,  and  for  reclaiming  those 
.XXIII.  wh0  are  otherwise  like  to  be  carried  away  by  the  '  Devil  in  his 
snare.'  This  is  to  admonish  sinners  as  brethren,  and  not  to 
use  them  as  enemies ;  whereas  the  other  method  looks  like  a 
power  that  designs  destruction,  rather  than  edification,  espe- 
cially when  the  secular  arm  is  called  in,  and  that  princes  are 
required,  under  the  penalties  of  deposition,  and  losing  their 
dominions,  to  extirpate  and  destroy,  and  that  by  the  cruelest 
sort  of  death,  all  those  whom  the  church  doth  so  anathematize. 

We  do  not  deny  but  that  the  form  of  denouncing  or  de- 
claring anathemas  against  heresies  and  heretics  is  very  ancient. 
It  grew  to  be  a  form  expressing  horror,  and  was  applied  to 
the  dead  as  well  as  to  the  living.  It  was  understood  to  be  a 
cutting  such  persons  off  from  the  communion  of  the  church : 
if  they  were  still  alive,  they  were  not  admitted  to  any  act  of 
worship  ;  if  they  were  dead,  their  names  were  not  to  be  read 
at  the  altar  among  those  who  were  then  commemorated.  But 
as  heat  about  opinions  increased,  and  some  lesser  matters 
grew  to  be  more  valued  than  the  weightier  things  both  of 
law  and  gospel,  so  the  adding  anathemas  to  every  point,  in 
which  men  differed  from  one  another,  grew  to  be  a  common 
practice,  and  swelled  up  at  last  to  such  a  pitch,  that,  in  the 
council  of  Trent,  a  whole  body  of  divinity  was  put  into 
canons,  and  an  anathema  was  fastened  to  every  one  of  them. 
The  delivering  to  Satan  was  made  the  common  form  of  ex- 
communication ;  an  act  of  apostolical  authority  being  made  a 
precedent  for  the  standing  practice  of  the  church.  Great  sub- 
tilties  were  also  set  on  foot  concerning  the  force  and  effect  of 
church-censures :  the  straining  this  matter  too  high,  has 
given  occasion  to  extremes  on  the  other  hand.  If  a  man 
is  condemned  as  an  heretic,  for  that  which  is  no  heresy,  but 
is  an  article  founded  on  the  word  of  God,  his  conscience  is 
not  at  all  concerned  in  any  such  censure :  great  modesty  and 
decency  ought  indeed  to  be  shewed  by  private  persons,  when 
they  dispute  against  public  decisions  :  but  unless  the  church 
is  infallible,  none  can  be  bound  to  implicit  faith,  or  blind  sub- 
mission. Therefore  an  anathema,  ill  founded,  cannot  hurt 
him  against  whom  it  is  thundered.  If  the  doctrine,  upon 
which  the  censures  and  denunciations  of  the  church  are 
grounded,  is  true,  and  if  it  appears  so  to  him  that  sets  him- 
self against  it,  he  who  thus  despises  the  pastors  of  the  church 
despises  Christ;  in  whose  name,  and  by  whose  authority,  they 
are  acting.  But  if  he  is  still  under  convictions  of  his  being  in 
the  right,  when  he  is  indeed  in  the  wrong,  then  he  is  in  a  state  of 
ignorance,  and  his  sins  are  sins  of  ignorance,  and  they  will  be 
judged  by  that  God,  who  knows  the  sincerity  of  all  men's  hearts, 
and  sees  into  their  secretest  thoughts,  how  far  the  ignorance  is 
wilful  and  affected,  and  how  far  it  is  sincere  and  invincible. 

And  as  for  those  censures  that  are  founded  upon  the  proofs 
that  are  made  of  certain  facts  that  are  scandalous,  either  the 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  481 


person  on  whom  they  are  charged  knows  himself  to  be  really  ART 
guilty  of  them,  or  that  he  is  wronged,  either  by  the  witnesses,  XXXIII 
or  the  pastors  and  judges  :  if  he  is  indeed  guilty,  he  ought  to 
consider  such  censures  as  the  medicinal  provisions  of  the 
church  against  sin :  he  ought  to  submit  to  them,  and  to  such 
rebukes  and  admonitions,  to  such  public  confessions,  and 
other  acts  of  self-abasement,  by  which  he  may  be  recovered 
out  of  cthe  snare  of  the  Devil;'  and  may  repair  the  public  2  Tim.  ii. 
scandal  that  he  has  brought  upon  the  profession  of  Christia- 
nity,  and  recover  the  honour  of  it,  which  he  has  blemished, 
as  far  as  lies  in  him. 

This  is  the  '  submitting  to  those  that  are  over  him,  and  the  Heb.  xiij. 
obeying  them  as  those  that  watch  for  his  soul,  and  that  must 17* 
give  an  account  of  it.'  But  if,  on  the  other  hand,  any  such 
person  is  run  down  by  falsehood  and  calumny,  he  must  sub- 
mit to  that  dispensation  of  God's  providence,  that  has  suffered 
such  a  load  to  be  laid  upon  him:  he  must  not  betray  his  inte- 
grity ;  he  ought  to  commit  his  way  to  God,  and  to  bear  his 
burden  patiently.  Such  a  censure  ought  not  at  all  to  give 
him  too  deep  an  inward  concern :  for  he  is  sure  it  is  ill  founded, 
and  therefore  it  can  have  no  effect  upon  his  conscience.  God, 
who  knows  his  innocence,  will  acquit  him,  though  all  the 
world  should  condemn  him.  He  must  indeed  submit  to  that 
separation  from  the  body  of  Christians  :  but  he  is  safe  in  his 
secret  appeals  to  God,  who  sees  not  as  man  sees,  but  judges 
righteous  judgment:  and  such  a  censure  as  this  cannot  be 
bound  in  heaven. 

In  the  pronouncing  the  censures  of  the  church,  great  care 
and  tenderness  ought  to  be  used;  for  men  are  not  to  be 
rashly  cut  off  from  the  body  of  Christ;  nothing  but  a  wilful 
obstinacy  in  sin,  and  a  deliberate  contempt  of  the  rules  and 
orders  of  the  church,  can  justify  this  extremity.  Scandalous 
sinners  may  be  brought  under  the  medicinal  cure  of  the 
church,  and  the  offender  may  be  denied  all  the  privileges  of 
Christians,  till  he  has  repaired  the  offence  that  he  has  given. 
Here  another  extreme  has  been  run  into  by  men,  who,  being 
jealous  of  the  tyranny  of  the  church  of  Rome,  have  thought 
that  the  world  could  not  be  safe  from  that,  unless  all  church- 
power  were  destroyed :  they  have  thought  that  the  ecclesias- 
tical order  is  a  body  of  men  bound  by  their  office  to  preach 
the  gospel,  and  to  offer  the  sacraments,  to  all  Christians ;  but 
that  as  the  gospel  is  a  doctrine  equally  offered  to  all,  in  which 
every  man  must  take  the  particular  application  of  the  pro- 
mises, the  comforts,  and  the  terrors  of  it  to  himself,  as  he  will 
answer  it  to  God ;  so  they  imagine  that  the  sacraments  are  in 
the  same  promiscuous  manner  to  be  offered  to  all  persons ; 
and  that  every  man  is  to  try  and  examine  himself,  and  so  to 
partake  of  them ;  but  that  the  clergy  have  no  authority  to 
deny  them  to  any  person,  or  to  put  marks  of  distinction  or  of 
infamy  on  men  :  and  that  therefore  the  ancient  discipline  of 

2x 


482 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  the  church  did  arise  out  of  a  mutual  compromise  of  Christians, 
kXXIIJ-  who,  in  times  of  misery  and  persecution,  submitted  to  such 
rules  as  seemed  necessary  in  that  state  of  things ;  but  that 
now  all  the  authority  that  the  church  hath,  is  founded  only  on 
the  law  of  the  land,  and  is  still  subject  to  it.  So  that  what 
changes  or  alterations  are  appointed  by  the  civil  authority 
must  take  place,  in  bar  to  any  laws  and  customs  of  the 
church,  how  ancient  or  how  universal  soever  they  may  be. 

In  answer  to  this,  it  is  not  to  be  denied,  but  that  the  de- 
grees and  extent  of  this  authority,  the  methods  and  the  ma- 
nagement of  it,  were  at  first  framed  by  common  consent:  in 
the  times  of  persecution,  the  laity,  who  embraced  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  were  to  the  church  instead  of  the  magistrate. 
The  whole  concerns  of  religion  were  supported  and  protected 
by  them ;  and  this  gave  them  a  natural  right  to  be  consulted 
with  in  all  the  decisions  of  the  church.  The  brethren  were 
called  to  join  with  the  apostles  and  elders  in  that  great  debate 
concerning  the  circumcision  of  the  Gentiles,  which  was  settled 
at  Jerusalem  ;  and  of  such  practices  we  find  frequent  mention 
in  St.  Cyprian's  Epistles  :  the  more  eminent  among  the  laity 
were  then  naturally  the  patrons  of  the  churches ;  but  when 
the  church  came  under  the  protection  of  Christian  princes 
and  magistrates,  then  the  patronage  and  protection  of  it  fell 
to  them,  upon  whom  the  peace  and  order  of  the  world  de- 
pended. Yet  though  all  this  is  acknowledged,  we  see  plainly, 
that  in  the  New  Testament  there  are  many  general  rules 
given,  for  the  government  and  order  of  the  church.  Timothy 
and  Titus  were  appointed  to  ordain,  to  admonish,  and  rebuke, 
and  that  before  all.  The  body  of  the  Christians  is  required 
to  submit  themselves  to  them,  and  to  obey  them ;  which  is  not 
to  be  carried  to  an  indefinite  and  boundless  degree,  but  must 
be  limited  to  that  doctrine  which  they  were  to  teach,  and  to 
such  things  as  depended  upon  it,  or  tended  to  its  establish- 
ment and  propagation.  From  these  general  heads  we  see  just 
grounds  to  assert  such  a  power  in  the  pastors  of  the  church 
as  is  for  edification,  but  not  for  destruction ;  and,  therefore, 
here  is  a  foundation  of  power  laid  down ;  though  it  is  not 
to  be  denied  but  that,  in  the  application  of  it,  such  prudence 
and  discretion  ought  to  be  used,  as  may  make  it  most  likely 
to  attain  those  ends  for  which  it  is  given. 

A  general  consent,  in  time  of  persecution,  was  necessary; 
otherwise  too  indiscreet  a  rigour  might  have  pulled  down  that 
which  ought  to  have  been  built  up.  If  in  a  broken  state  of 
things  a  common  consent  ought  to  be  much  endeavoured  and 
stayed  for,  this  is  much  more  necessary  in  a  regular  and 
settled  time,  with  relation  to  the  civil  authority,  under  whom 
the  whole  society  is  put,  according  to  its  constitution.  But 
it  can  never  be  supposed  that  the  authority  of  the  pastors  of 
the  church  is  no  other  than  that  of  a  lawyer  or  a  physician  to 
their  clients,  who  are  still  at  their  liberty,  and  are  in  no  sort 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


483 


bound  to  follow  their  directions.  In  particular  advices,  with  ART. 
relation  to  their  private  concerns,  where  no  general  rules  are  XXXIIT. 
agreed  on,  an  authority  is  not  pretended  to ;  and  these  may 
be  compared  to  all  other  advices,  only  with  this  difference, 
that  the  pastors  of  the  church  '  watch  over  the  souls  of  their 
people,  and  must  give  an  account  of  them.'  But  when  things 
are  grown  into  method,  and  general  rules  are  settled,  there 
the  consideration  of  edification  and  unity,  and  of  maintaining 
peace  and  order,  are  such  sacred  obligations  on  every  one 
that  has  a  true  regard  to  religion,  that  such  as  despise  all  this 
may  be  well  looked  on  as  heathens  and  publicans ;  and  they 
are  so  much  worse  than  they,  as  a  secret  and  well-disguised 
traitor  is  much  more  dangerous  than  an  open,  professed  ene- 
my. And  though  these  words  of  our  Saviour,  of  c  telling  the  Matt,  xviii. 
church,'  may,  perhaps,  not  be  so  strictly  applicable  to  this  17- 
matter,  in  their  primary  sense,  as  our  Saviour  first  spoke 
them  ;  yet  the  nature  of  things,  and  the  parity  of  reason,  may 
well  lead  us  to  conclude,  that  though  those  words  did  imme- 
diately relate  to  the  composing  of  private  differences,  and  of 
delating  intractable  persons  to  the  synagogues,  yet  they  may 
be  well  extended  to  all  those  public  offences,  which  are  in- 
juries to  the  whole  body;  and  may  be  now  applied  to  the 
Christian  church,  and  to  the  pastors  and  guides  of  it,  though 
they  related  to  the  synagogue  when  they  were  first  spoken. 

It  is  therefore  highly  congruous  both  to  the  whole  design 
of  the  Christian  religion,  and  to  many  passages  in  the  New 
Testament,  that  there  should  be  rules  set  for  censuring  of- 
fenders, that  so  they  may  be  reclaimed,  or  at  least  ashamed, 
and  that  others  may  fear :  and  as  the  final  sentence  of  every 
authority  whatsoever,  must  be  the  cutting  off  from  the  body 
all  such  as  continue  in  a  wilful  disobedience  to  the  laws  of  the 
society  ;  so  if  any,  who  call  themselves  Christians,  will  live  so 
as  to  be  a  reproach  to  that  which  they  profess,  they  must  be 
cut  off,  and  cast  out ;  for  if  there  is  any  sort  of  power  in  the 
church,  it  must  terminate  in  this.  This  is  the  last  and  highest 
act  of  their  authority ;  it  is  like  death  or  banishment  by  the 
civil  power,  which  are  not  proceeded  to  but  upon  great  occa- 
sions, in  which  milder  censures  will  not  prevail,  and  where  the 
general  good  of  the  society  requires  it:  so  casting  out  being 
the  last  act  of  church-power,  like  a  parent's  disinheriting  a 
child,  it  ought  to  be  proceeded  in  with  that  slowness,  and 
upon  such  considerations,  as  may  well  justify  the  rigour  of  it. 
A  wilful  contempt  of  order  and  authority  carries  virtually  in 
it  every  other  irregularity  ;  because  it  dissolves  the  union  of 
the  body,  and  destroys  that  respect,  by  which  all  the  other 
ends  of  religion  are  to  be  attained;  and,  when  this  is  deli- 
berate and  fixed,  there  is  no  other  way  of  proceeding,  but  by 
cutting  off  those  who  are  so  refractory,  and  who  set  so  ill  an 
example  to  others. 

If  the  execution  of  this  should  happen  to  fall  under  great 
2  I  2 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  disorders,  so  that  many  scandalous  persons  are  not  censured, 
XXXIH.  anci  a  promiscuous  multitude  is  suffered  to  break  in  upon 
the  most  sacred  performances,  this  cannot  justify  private  per- 
sons, who  upon  that  do  withdraw  from  the  communion  of  the 
church :  for  after  all  that  has  been  said,  the  divine  precept  is 
to  every  man  to  ctry  and  examine  himself,'  and  not  to  try  and 
censure  others.  All  order  and  government  are  destroyed,  if 
private  persons  take  upon  them  to  judge  and  censure  others ; 
or  to  separate  from  any  body,  because  there  are  abuses  in  the 
use  of  this  authority. 

Private  confession  in  the  church  of  Rome  had  quite  de- 
stroyed the  government  of  the  church,  and  superseded  all  the 
ancient  penitentiary  canons  ;  and  the  tyranny  of  the  church 
of  Rome  had  set  many  ingenious  men  on  many  subtle  con- 
trivances, either  to  evade  the  force  of  those  canons,  to  which 
some  regard  was  still  preserved,  or  to  maintain  tl  e  order  of 
the  church,  in  opposition  to  the  appeals  that  wei  e  made  to 
Rome:  and  while  some  pretended  to  subject  all  thi.igs  to  the 
papal  authority,  others  studied  to  keep  up  the  ancient  rules. 
The  encroachments  that  the  temporal  and  spiritual  courts 
were  making  upon  one  another  occasioned  many  disputes  : 
which  being  managed  by  such  subtle  men  as  the  civilians  and 
canonists  were,  all  this  brought  in  a  great  variety  of  cases  and 
rules  into  the  courts  of  the  church :  so  that,  instead  of  the 
first  simplicity,  which  was  evident  in  the  constitution  of  the 
church,  not  only  for  the  first  three  centuries,  but  for  a  great 
many  more  that  came  afterwards,  there  grew  to  be  so  much 
practice,  and  so  many  subterfuges  in  the  rules  and  manner  of 
proceeding  of  those  courts,  that  the  church  has  long  groaned 
under  it,  and  has  washed  to  see  that  effected  which  was  de- 
signed in  the  beginnings  of  the  Reformation.  The  draught  of 
a  reformation  of  those  courts  is  still  extant ;  that  so  instead 
of  the  intricacies,  delays,  and  other  disorders,  that  have  arisen 
from  the  canon  law,  we  might  have  another  short  and  plain 
body  of  rules ;  which  might  be  managed,  as  anciently,  by 
bishops,  with  the  assistance  of  their  clergy.  But  though  this 
is  not  yet  done,  and  that,  by  reason  of  it,  the  tares  grow  up 
with  the  tcheat,  we  ought  to  let  them  grow  together  till  the 
great  harvest  comes,  or  at  least,  till  a  proper  harvest  may  be 
given  to  the  church  by  the  providence  of  God ;  in  which  the 
good  may  be  distinguished  and  separated  from  the  bad,  with- 
out endangering  the  ruin  of  all ;  which  must  certainly  be  the 
effect  of  people's  falling  indiscreetly  to  this  before  the  time. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


485 


ART. 
XXXIV. 

ARTICLE  XXXIV. 

Of  the  Traditions  of  the  Church. 

it  is  not  ueceSSarw  that  CratiitionS  anU  CcrrmonicS  be  tit  all  places 
one,  or  uttcrlp  like ;  for  at  all  times  ti)ep  k-abe  been  UiberSe,  antt 
map  be  changcU  according  to  ti)c  tftbcrSttp  of  Countries  anO  fflm'g 
fHannerS,  So  that  notlu'ng  be  ortfamcU  against  ©oVs  Mori. 
SUhoSocber  th-rough  his  pn'batc  Hhitlgmciu,  imlltnglp  antf  pur? 
poSclp  Ijotl)  opcnlp  break  the  CralJtttansi  ant)  Ceremonies  of  the 
Church,  lohich  be  not  repugnant  to  the  HUortJ  of  &ots,  anti  be 
ortoainctj  anC  approbetl  bp  common  Suthoritp,  ought  to  be  rcbttfcclf 
opcnlp  (that  ottjeisf  man  fear  to  tio  tljc  like)  aS  one  that  offentlcth 
against  the  common  ©rtjer  of  the  Ci)urch,  ant)  hurtetk-  the  Sutho* 
ritp  of  the  fHagiStratc,  antj  toounbeth  the  Consciences  of  bjeafe 
JSrethreit. 

ISberp  particular  or  national  Church  fiat!)  Sluthoiitp  to  orfcain, 
change,  antJ  abolish  Ceremonies  or  2i\iteSof  tfjc  Church,  ortlainefc 
enli)  bn.meu'S  Euikantp ;  SoJbat  all  tljings  be  tiotie  to  ctJifping. 

This  Article  consists  of  two  branches:  the  first  is,  that  the 
church  hath  power  to  appoint  such  rites  and  ceremonies  as 
are  not  contrary  to  the  word  of  God  ;  and  that  private  persons 
are  bound  to  conform  themselves  to  their  orders.  The  second 
is,  that  it  is  not  necessary  that  the  whole  church  should  meet 
to  determine  such  matters  ;  the  power  of  doing  that  being  in 
every  national  church,  which  is  fully  empowered  to  take  care 
of  itself ;  and  no  rule  made  in  such  matters  is  to  be  held  un- 
alterable, but  may  be  changed  upon  occasion. 

As  to  the  first,  it  hath  been  already  considered,  when  the 
first  words  of  the  twentieth  Article  were  explained.  There 
the  authority  of  the  church  in  matters  indifferent  was  stated 
and  proved.  It  remains  now  only  to  prove,  that  private  per- 
sons are  bound  to  conform  themselves  to  such  ceremonies, 
especially  when  they  are  also  enacted  by  the  civil  authority. 
It  is  to  be  considered,  that  the  Christian  religion  was  chiefly 
designed  to  raise  and  purify  the  nature  of  man,  and  to  make 
human  society  perfect:  now  brotherly  love  and  charity  does 
this  more  than  any  one  virtue  whatsoever :  it  raises  a  man  to 
the  .ikeness  of  God  ;  it  gives  him  a  divine  and  heavenly 
temp  :r  within  himself,  and  creates  the  tenderest  union  and 
firmest  happiness  possible  among  all  the  societies  of  men  : 
our  Sa  viour  has  so  enlarged  the  obligation  to  it,  as  to  make 
it,  by  he  extent  he  has  given  it,  '  a  great  and  new  command-  John  xiii. 
ment,  by  which  all  the  world  may  be  able  to  know  and  ^«  j3^ ■ 
distinguish  his  followers  from  the  rest  of  mankind  :  and  as  all  xv'  1 


486 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.   the  apostles  insist  much  upon  this  in  every  one  of  theii 
XXXIV.  Epistles,  not  excepting  the  shortest  of  them;  so  St.  John, 
l  John~iii".  wno  w"t  last  °f  tnemJ  has  dwelt  more  fully  upon  it  than  upon 
11,23.     any  other  duty  whatsoever.    Our  Saviour  did  particularly 
iv.2l.      intend  that  his  followers  should  be  associated  into  one  body, 
and  joined  together,  in  order  to  their  keeping  up  and  in- 
flaming their  mutual  love;  and  therefore  he  delivered  his 
prayer  to  them  all  in  the  plural,  to  shew  that  he  intended 
that  they  should  use  it  in  a  body :  he  appointed  baptism  as 
the  way  of  receiving  men  into  this  body,  and  the  eucharist  as 
a  joint  memorial  that  the  body  was  to  keep  up  that  of  his 
death.    For  this  end  he  appointed  pastors  to  teach  and  keep 
his  followers  in  a  body :  and  in  his  last  and  longest  prayer 
John  xvii.  to  the  Father,  he  repeats  this,  that  '  they  might  be  one  f  that 
11,21,  22,  e  they  might  be  kept  in  one  (body),  and  made  perfect  in  one,' 
in  five  several  expressions ;  which  shews  both  how  necessary 
a  part  of  his  religion  he  meant  this  should  be,  and  likewise 
intimates  to  us  the  danger  that  he  foresaw,  of  his  followers 
departing  from  it ;  which  made  him  intercede  so  earnestly  for 
it.    One  expression  that  he  has  of  this  union,  shews  how 
entire  and  tender  he  intended  that  it  should  be ;  for  he  prayed 
that  the  union  might  be  such  as  that  between  the  Father 
l  Cor.  xii.  and  himself  was.    The  apostles  use  the  figure  of  a  body 
12—26.    frequently,  to  express  this  union ;  than  which  nothing  can  be 
imagined  that  is  more  firmly  knit  together,  and  in  which  all 
the  parts  do  more  tenderly  sympathise  with  one  another. 

Upon  all  these  considerations  we  may  very  certainly  gather, 
that  the  dissolving  this  union,  the  dislocating  this  body,  and 
the  doing  any  thing  that  may  extinguish  the  love  and  charity 
by  which  Christians  are  to  be  made  so  happy  in  themselves, 
and  so  useful  to  one  another,  and  by  which  the  body  of 
Christians  grows  much  the  firmer  and  stronger,  and  shines 
more  in  the  world ;  that,  I  say,  the  doing  this  upon  slight 
grounds,  must  be  a  sin  of  a  very  high  nature.  Nothing  can 
be  a  just  reason  either  to  carry  men  to  it,  or  to  justify  them 
in  it,  but  the  imposing  on  them  unlawful  terms  of  communion; 
for  in  that  case  it  is  certain,  that  '  we  must  obey  God  rather 
than  man ;'  that  we  must  '  seek  truth  and  peace'  together ; 
and  that  the  rule  of  '  keeping  a  good  conscience  in  all  things,' 
Acts  xxiv.  is  laid  thus,  to  do  it  first  '  towards  God,  and  then  towards 
man.'  So  that  a  schism  that  is  occasioned  by  any  church's 
imposing  unlawful  terms  of  communion,  lies  at  tbair  door  who 
impose  them,  and  the  guilt  is  wholly  theirs.*  But  without 
such  a  necessity,  it  is  certainly,  both  in  its  own  nature,  and  in 
its  consequences,  one  of  the  greatest  of  sins,  to  create  needless 
disturbances  in  the  church,  and  to  give  occasion  to  all  that 
alienation  of  mind,  all  those  rash  censures,  and  unjust  judg- 
ments, that  do  arise  from  such  divisions.    This  receives  a 


•  See  note,  page  100. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


487 


very  great  aggravation,  if  the  civil  authority  has  concurred  by  ART. 
a  law  to  enjoin  the  observance  of  such  indifferent  things;  for  XXXIV. 
to  all  their  lawful  commands  we  owe  an  obedience,  '  not  only  — 
for  fear,  but  for  conscience  sake  since  the  authority  of  the  Rom.xiii.5. 
magistrate  is  chiefly  to  be  employed  in  such  matters.  As  to 
things  that  are  either  commanded  or  forbidden  of  God,  the 
magistrate  has  only  the  execution  of  these  in  his  hands ;  so 
that  in  those,  his  laws  are  only  the  sanctions  and  penalties  of 
the  laws  of  God.  The  subject  matter  of  his  authority  is  about 
things  which  are  of  their  own  nature  indifferent ;  but  that  may 
be  made  fit  and  proper  means  for  the  maintaining  of  order, 
union,  and  decency,  in  the  society  :  and  therefore  such  laws  as 
are  made  by  him  in  those  things,  do  certainly  bind  the  con- 
science, and  oblige  the  subjects  to  obedience.  Disobedience 
does  also  give  scandal  to  the  weak.  Scandal  is  a  block  or 
trap  laid  in  the  way  of  another,  by  which  he  is  made  to 
stumble  and  fall.  So  this  figure  of  giving  scandal,  or  the 
laying  a  stumbling-block  in  our  brother's  way,  is  applied  to 
our  doing  of  such  actions  as  may  prove  the  occasions  of  sin 
to  others.  Every  man,  according  to  the  influence  that  his 
example  or  authority  may  have  over  others,  who  do  too  easily 
and  implicitly  follow  him,  becomes  thereby  the  more  capable 
of  giving  them  scandal .-  that  is,  of  drawing  them  after  him  to 
commit  many  sins  :  and  since  men  are  under  fetters,  accord- 
ing to  the  persuasions  that  they  have  of  things,  he  who  thinks 
a  thing  sinful,  does  sin  if  he  does  it,  as  long  as  he  is  under 
that  apprehension ;  because  he  deliberately  ventures  on  that  ^om-  Xlv' 
which  he  thinks  offends  God ;  even  while  '  he  doubts  of  it,' 
or  makes  a  distinction  between  meats,  (for  the  word  rendered 
doubts,  signifies  also  the  making  a  difference^)  '  he  is  damned' 
(that  is,  self-condemned,  as  acting  against  his  own  sense  of 
things)  if  he  does  it.  Another  man,  that  has  larger  thoughts 
and  clearer  ideas,  may  see  that  there  is  no  sin  in  an  action, 
about  which  others  may  be  still  in  doubt,  and  so  upon  his 
own  account  he  may  certainly  do  it :  but  if  he  has  reason  to 
believe  that  his  doing  that  may  draw  others,  who  have  not 
such  clear  notions,  to  do  it  after  his  example,  they  being  still 
in  doubt  as  to  the  lawfulness  of  it,  then  he  gives  scandal,  that 
is,  he  lays  a  stumbling-block  in  their  way,  if  he  does  it,  unless 
he  lies  under  an  obligation  from  some  of  the  laws  of  God,  or 
of  the  society  to  which  he  belongs,  to  do  it.  In  that  case  he 
is  bound  to  obey ;  and  he  must  not  then  consider  the  con- 
sequences of  his  actions ;  of  which  he  is  only  bound  to  take 
care,  when  he  is  left  to  himself,  and  is  at  full  liberty  to  do,  or 
not  to  do,  as  he  pleases. 

This  explains  the  notion  of  scandal,  as  it  is  used  in  the 
Epistles :  for  there  being  several  doubts  raised  at  that  time, 
concerning  the  lawfulness  or  obligation  of  observing  the 
Mosaical  law,  and  concerning  the-  lawfulness  of  eating  meats 
offered  to  idols,  no  general  decision  was  made,  that  went 


488 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  through  that  matter;  the  apostles  haAnng  only  decreed,  that 
XXXLV-  the  Mosaical  law  was  not  to  be  imposed  on  the  Gentiles ;  but 
not  having  condemned  such  as  might  of  their  own  accord 
have  observed  some  parts  of  that  law,  scruples  arose  about 
this ;  and  so  here  they  gave  great  caution  against  the  laying 
Rom.  xiv.  a  stumbling-block  in  the  way  of  their  brethren.  But  it  is 
13,  visible  from  this,  that  the  fear  of  giving  scandal  does  only 
take  place  where  matters  are  free,  and  may  be  done  or  not 
done.  But  when  laws  are  made,  and  an  order  is  settled,  the 
fear  of  giving  scandal  lies  all  on  the  side  of  obedience ;  for  a 
man  of  weight  and  authority,  when  he  does  not  obey,  gives 
scruples  and  jealousies  to  others,  who  will  be  apt  to  collect 
from  his  practice  that  the  thing  is  unlawful :  he  who  does  not 
conform  himself  to  settled  orders  gives  occasion  to  others, 
who  see  and  observe  him,  to  imitate  him  in  it ;  and  thus  he 
lays  a  scandal  or  stumbling-block  in  their  way  ;  and  all  the  sins 
which  they  commit  through  their  excessive  respect  to  him, 
and  imitation  of  him,  are  in  a  very  high  degree  to  be  put  to 
his  account,  who  gave  them  such  occasion  of  falling. 

The  second  branch  of  this  Article  is  against  the  unalter- 
able!! ess  of  laws  made  in  matters  indifferent ;  and  it  asserts 
the  right  of  every  national  church  to  take  care  of  itself.  That 
the  laws  of  any  one  age  of  the  church  cannot  bind  another,  is 
very  evident  from  this,  that  all  legislature  is  still  entire  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  have  it.  The  laws  of  God  do  bind  all 
men  at  all  times ;  but  the  laws  of  the  church,  as  well  as  the 
laws  of  every  state,  are  only  provisions  made  upon  the  present 
state  of  things,  from  the  fitness  or  unfitness  that  appears  to 
be  in  them  for  the  great  ends  of  religion,  or  for  the  good  of 
mankind.  All  these  things  are  subject  to  alteration,  therefore 
the  power  of  the  church  is  in  every  age  entire,  and  is  as  great 
as  it  was  in  any  one  age  since  the  days  in  which  she  was  under 
the  conduct  of  men  immediately  inspired.  So  there  can  be 
no  unalterable  laws  in  matters  indifferent.  In  this  there 
neither  is  nor  can  be  any  controversy. 

An  obstinate  adhering  to  things,  only  because  they  are  an- 
cient, when  all  the  ends  for  which  they  were  at  first  intro- 
duced do  cease,  is  the  limiting  the  church  in  a  point  in  which 
she  ought  still  to  preserve  her  liberty :  she  ought  still  to 
pursue  those  great  rules  in  all  her  orders,  of  doing  all  things 
to  edification,  with  decency,  and  for  peace.  The  only  ques- 
tion that  can  be  made  in  this  matter  is,  whether  such  general 
laws  as  have  been  made  by  greater  bodies,  by  general  councils 
for  instance,  or  by  those  synods  whose  canons  were  received 
into  the  body  of  the  canons  of  the  catholic  church  ;  whether 
these,  I  say,  may  be  altered  by  national  churches;  or  whether 
the  body  of  Christians  is  so  to  be  reckoned  one  body,  that  all 
the  parts  of  it  are  bound  to  submit,  in  matters  indifferent,  to 
the  decrees  of  the  body  in  general  ?  It  is  certain,  that  all  the 
parts  of  the  catholic  church  ought  to  hold  a  communion  one 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


489 


with  another,  and  mutual  commerce  and  correspondence  ART. 
together :  but  this  difference  is  to  be  observed  between  the  XXX1V 
Christian  and  the  Jewish  religion,  that  the  one  was  tied 
to  one  nation,  and  to  one  place,  whereas  the  Christian  religion 
is  universal,  to  be  spread  to  all  nations,  among  people  of  dif- 
ferent climates  and  languages,  and  of  different  customs  and 
tempers  :  and  therefore,  since  the  power  in  indifferent  matters 
is  given  the  church  only  in  order  to  edification,  every  nation 
must  be  the  proper  judge  of  that  within  itself.  The  Roman 
empire,  though  a  great  body,  yet  was  all  under  one  govern- 
ment ;  and  therefore  all  the  councils  that  were  held  while  that 
empire  stood,  are  to  be  considered  only  as  national  synods, 
under  one  civil  policy.  The  Christians  of  Persia,  India, 
or  Ethiopia,  were  not  subject  to  the  canons  made  by  them, 
but  were  at  full  liberty  to  make  rules  and  canons  for  them- 
selves. And  in  the  primitive  times  we  see  a  vast  diversity  in 
their  rules  and  rituals.  They  were  so  far  from  imposing 
general  rules  on  all,  that  they  left  the  churches  at  full  liberty : 
even  the  council  of  Nice  made  very  few  rules :  that  of  Con- 
stantinople and  Ephesus  made  fewer  :  and  though  the  abuses 
that  were  growing  in  the  fifth  century  gave  occasion  to  the 
council  of  Chalcedon  to  make  more  canons,  yet  the  number 
of  these  is  but  small :  so  that  the  tyranny  of  subjecting  par- 
ticular churches  to  laws  that  might  be  inconvenient  for  them, 
was  not  then  brought  into  the  church. 

The  corruptions  that  did  afterwards  overspread  the  church, 
together  with  the  papal  usurpations,  and  the  new  canon  law 
that  the  popes  brought  in,  which  wTas  totally  different  from 
the  old  one,  had  worn  out  the  remembrance  of  all  the  ancient 
canons ;  so  it  is  not  to  be  wondered  at,  if  they  were  not  much 
regarded  at  the  Reformation.  They  were  quite  out  of  practice, 
and  were  then  scarce  known.  And  as  for  the  subordination 
of  churches  and  sees,  together  with  the  privileges  and  ex- 
emptions of  them,  these  did  all  flow  from  the  divisions  of  the 
Roman  empire  into  dioceses  and  provinces,  out  of  which  the 
dignity  and  the  dependences  of  their  cities  did  arise. 

But  now  that  the  Roman  empire  is  gone,  and  that  all  the 
laws  which  they  made  are  at  an  end,  with  the  authority  that 
made  them ;  it  is  a  vain  thing  to  pretend  to  keep  up  the 
ancient  dignities  of  sees ;  since  the  foundation  upon  which 
that  was  built  is  sunk  and  gone.  Every  empire,  kingdom,  or 
state,  is  an  entire  body  within  itself.  The  magistrate  has  that 
authority  over  all  his  subjects,  that  he  may  keep  them  all  at 
home,  and  hinder  them  from  entering  into  any  consultations 
or  combinations  but  such  as  shall  be  under  his  direction  :  he 
may  require  the  pastors  of  the  church  under  him  to  consult 
together  about  the  best  methods  for  carrying  on  the  ends  of 
religion  ;  but  neither  he  nor  they  can  be  bound  to  stay  for  the 
concurrence  of  other  churches.  In  the  way  of  managing 
this,  every  body  of  men  has  somewhat  peculiar  to  itself :  and 


490 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  the  pastors  of  that  hody  are  the  properest  judges  in  that 
tXXIV.  matter.  We  know  that  the  several  churches,  even  while 
under  one  empire,  had  great  varieties  in  their  forms,  as 
appears  in  the  different  practices  of  the  eastern  and  western 
churches  :  and  as  soon  as  the  Roman  empire  was  broken,  we 
see  this  variety  did  increase.  The  Gallican  churches  had 
their  missals  different  from  the  Roman :  and  some  churches 
of  Italy  followed  the  Ambrosian.  But  Charles  the  Great,  in 
compliance  with  the  desires  of  the  pope,  got  the  Gallican 
churches  to  depart  from  their  own  missals,  and  to  receive  the 
Roman ;  which  he  might  the  rather  do,  intending  to  have 
raised  a  new  empire ;  to  which  a  conformity  of  rites  might 
have  been  a  great  step.  Even  in  this  church  there  was  a 
great  variety  of  usages,  which  perhaps  were  begun  under  the 
Heptarchy,  when  the  nation  was  subdivided  into  several 
kingdoms. 

It  is  therefore  suitable  to  the  nature  of  things,  to  the  au- 
thority of  the  magistrate,  and  to  the  obligations  of  the  pas- 
toral care,  that  every  church  should  act  within  herself  as  an 
entire  and  independent  body.  The  churches  owe  not  only 
a  friendly  and  brotherly  correspondence  to  one  another ;  but 
they  owe  to  their  own  body  government  and  direction,  and 
such  provisions  and  methods  as  are  most  likely  to  promote 
the  great  ends  of  religion,  and  to  preserve  the  peace  of  the 
society  both  in  church  and  state.  Therefore  we  are  no  other 
way  bound  by  ancient  canons,  but  as  the  same  reason  still 
subsisting,  we  may  see  the  same  cause  to  continue  them,  that 
there  was  at  first  to  make  them. 

Of  all  the  bodies  of  the  world,  the  church  of  Rome  has  the 
worst  grace  to  reproach  us  for  departing  in  some  particulars 
from  the  ancient  canons,  since  it  was  her  ill  conduct  that  had 
brought  them  all  into  desuetude :  and  it  is  not  easy  to  revive 
again  antiquated  rules,  even  though  there  may  be  good  reason 
for  it,  when  they  fall  under  that  tacit  abrogation,  which  arises 
out  of  a  long  and  general  disuse  of  them. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


491 


ART. 
XXXV. 


ARTICLE  XXXV. 


Of  Homilies. 


©he  g>eron*  Book  of  ^omtlteg,  the  sieberal  Cities  foftereof  toe  habe 
joined  urrtJer  ibis  article,  Uotl)  contain  a  gottto  anfl  toftoIcSome 
©octrine,  antl  neceSsian)  for  tfjefie  Cimesi;  as  Uotft  the  former 
JSoofe  of  homilies,  foljirh  foerc  Set  forth  in  the  Cime  of  Edward 
the  &ntrj ;  antJ  therefore  foe  juttge  them  to  be  reatJ  in  Churrhca 
bp  the  fHim'StetiS,  triligentli)  anfc  Utetuutlg,  that  thep  may  be  un* 
tlcifStatrtJetl  of  the  people. 

The  Names  of  the  Homilies. 


1.  OftherigklUscofthtChurch.  i 

2.  Against  Peril  of  Idolatry. 

3.  ()/  repairing  and  keeping 
clean  of  Churches. 

4.  Of  good  Works.  First,  of 
fasting. 

5.  Against  Gluttony  and  Drunk- 
enness. 

6.  Against  Excess  of  Apparel. 

7.  Of  Prayer. 

8.  Of  the  Place  and  Time  of 
Pi  oyer. 

9.  That  Common  Prayers  and 
Sacraments  ought  to  be  tninis- 
tered  in  a  known  Tongue. 

10.  Of  the  reverent  Estimation 


of  God's  Word. 

11.  Of  A  litis -doing. 

12.  Of  the  Nativity  of  Christ. 

13.  Of  the  Passion  of  Christ. 

14.  Of   the   Resurrection  of 
Christ. 

15.  Of  the  worthy  receiving  of 
the  Sacrament  of  the  Body 
and  Blood  of  Christ. 

16.  Of  the  Gifts  of  the  Holy 
Ghost. 

17.  For  the  Rogation- Days. 

18.  Of  the  Slate  of  Matrimony. 

19.  Of  Repentance. 

20.  Against  Idleness. 

\  21.  Against  Rebellion. 


At  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  as  there  could  not  be  found 
at  first  a  sufficient  number  of  preachers  to  instruct  the  whole 
nation ;  so  those  that  did  comply  with  the  changes  which 
were  then  made,  were  not  all  well-affected  to  them ;  so  that 
it  was  not  safe  to  trust  this  matter  to  the  capacity  of  the  one 
side,  and  to  the  integrity  of  others ;  therefore,  to  supply  the 
defects  of  some,  and  to  oblige  the  rest  to  teach  according  to 
the  form  of  sound  doctrine,  there  were  two  books  of  Homilies 
prepared  ;  the  first  was  published  in  king  Edward's  time  ;  the 
second  was  not  finished  till  about  the  time  of  his  death  ;  so  it 
was  not  published  before  queen  Elizabeth's  time.  The  de- 
sign of  them  was  to  mix  speculative  points  with  practical 
matters ;  some  explain  the  doctrine,  and  others  enforce  the 
rules  of  life  and  manners.  These  are  plain  and  short  dis- 
courses, chiefly  calculated  to  possess  the  nation  with  a  sense 
of  the  purity  of  the  gospel,  in  opposition  to  the  corruptions 
of  popery ;  and  to  reform  it  from  those  crying  sins  that  had 


492 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  u  T.   been  so  much  connived  at  under  popery,  while  men  knew  the 
^xxv-  price  of  them,  how  to  compensate  for  them,  and  to  redeem 
themselves  from  the  guilt  of  them,  by  masses  and  sacraments, 
by  indulgences  and  absolutions. 

In  these  Homilies  the  scriptures  are  often  applied  as  they 
were  then  understood ;  not  so  critically  as  they  have  been 
explained  since  that  time.  But  by  this  approbation  of  the 
two  books  of  Homilies,  it  is  not  meant  that  every  passage  of 
scripture,  or  argument  that  is  made  use  of  in  them,  is  always 
convincing,  or  that  every  expression  is  so  severely  worded, 
that  it  may  not  need  a  little  correction  or  explanation  :  all  that 
we  profess  about  them,  is  only  that  they  contain  a  godly  and 
wholesome  doctrine.  This  rather  relates  to  the  main  import- 
ance and  design  of  them,  than  to  every  passage  in  them. 
Though  this  may  be  said  concerning  them,  that  considering 
the  age  they  were  written  in,  the  imperfection  of  our  language, 
and  some  lesser  defects,  they  are  two  very  extraordinary 
books.  Some  of  them  are  better  writ  than  others,  and  are 
equal  to  any  thing  that  has  been  writ  upon  those  subjects 
since  that  time.  Upon  the  whole  matter,  every  one  who 
subscribes  the  Articles,  ought  to  read  them,  otherwise  he 
subscribes  a  blank ;  he  approves  a  book  implicitly,  and  binds 
himself  to  read  it,  as  he  may  be  required,  without  knowing 
any  thing  concerning  it.  This  approbation  is  not  to  be 
stretched  so  far,  as  to  carry  in  it  a  special  assent  to  every 
particular  in  that  whole  volume  ;  but  a  man  must  be  per- 
suaded of  the  main  of  the  doctrine  that  is  taught  in  them. 

To  instance  this  in  one  particular ;  since  there  are  so  many 
of  the  Homilies  that  charge  the  church  of  Rome  with  idolatry, 
and  that  from  so  many  different  topics,  no  man  who  thinks 
that  church  is  not  guilty  of  idolatry,  can  with  a  good  con- 
science subscribe  this  Article,  that  the  Homilies  contain  a 
good  and  wholesome  doctrine,  and  necessary  for  these  times ; 
for  according  to  his  sense  they  contain  a  false  and  an  uncha- 
ritable charge  of  idolatry  against  a  church  that  they  think  is 
not  guilty  of  it ;  and  he  will  be  apt  to  think  that  this  was 
done  to  heighten  the  aversion  of  the  nation  to  it :  therefore 
any  who  have  such  favourable  thoughts  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  are  bound,  by  the  force  of  that  persuasion  of  theirs, 
not  to  sign  this  Article,  but  to  declare  against  it,  as  the 
authorizing  of  an  accusation  against  a  church,  which  they 
think  is  ill  grounded,  and  is  by  consequence  both  unjust  and 
uncharitable. 

By  necessary  for  these  times,  is  not  to  be  meant  that  this 
was  a  book  fit  to  serve  a  turn ;  but  only  that  this  book  was 
necessary  at  that  time  to  instruct  the  nation  aright,  and  so 
was  of  great  use  then  :  but  though  the  doctrine  in  it,  if  once 
true,  must  be  always  true,  yet  it  will  not  be  always  of  the 
same  necessity  to  the  people.  As  for  instance ;  there  are 
many  discourses  in  the  Epistles  of  the  apostles  that  relate  to 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


493 


the  controversies  then  on  foot  with  the  Judaizers,  to  the  ART. 
engagements  the  Christians  then  lived  in  with  the  heathens,  XXXV, 
and  to  those  corrupters  of  Christianity  that  were  in  those 
days.  Those  doctrines  were  necessary  for  that  time ;  but 
though  they  are  now  as  true  as  they  were  then,  yet,  since  we 
have  no  commerce  either  with  Jews  or  Gentiles,  we  cannot 
say  that  it  is  as  necessary  for  the  present  time  to  dwell  much 
on  thuse  matters,  as  it  was  for  that  time  to  explain  them  once 
well.  If  the  nation  should  come  to  be  quite  out  of  the  danger 
of  falling  back  into  popery,  it  would  not  be  so  necessary  to 
insist  upon  many  of  the  subjects  of  the  Homilies,  as  it  was 
when  they  were  first  prepared. 


494  AN  EXPOSITION  OF 

ART. 

XXXVI. 


ARTICLE  XXXVI. 

Of  Consecration  of  Bishops  and  Ministers. 

Che  33ook  of  Consecration  of  Srcpishops  and  Strops,  and  <©r* 
dcriug  of  iPiieStS  and  Seacons,  lately  Set  fortf)  in  the  Ctme  of 
Edward  the  J^trth,  aal(  confirmed  at  the  Same  Ctme  by  authority 
of  parliament,  doth  contain  allChingS  necessary  to  Such  ConSe'- 
rration  and  ©rdcring;  neither  hath  it  ant)  Chtng  that  of  itself  is 
Superstitious  and  ungodly.  2Ind  tfjercforr  fohoSocber  are  ConSe* 
crated  and  ©rdcred  according  to  the  MitcS  of  that  Book  since  the 
Second  $Jcar  of  the  aforenamed  Sing  Edward  unto  this!  Cime,  or 
hereafter  Shall  he  Consecrated  or  <©iHere"b  according  to  the  Same 
3&ttcS,  foe  decree  all  Such  to  he  rightly,  orderly,  and  lafofully 
Consecrated  and  ©rdered. 

As  to  the  most  essential  parts  of  this  Article,  they  were 
already  examined,  when  the  pretended  sacrament  of  orders 
was  explained ;  where  it  was  proved,  that  pruyer  and  impo- 
sition of  hands  was  all  that  was  necessary  to  the  giving  of 
orders  ;  and  that  the  forms  added  in  the  Roman  Pontifical  are 
new,  and  cannot  be  held  to  be  necessary,  since  the  church 
had  subsisted  for  many  ages  before  those  were  thought  on. 
So  that  either  our  ordinations  without  those  additions  are 
good :  or  the  church  of  God  was  for  many  ages  without  true 
orders.  There  seems  to  be  here  insinuated  a  ratification  of 
orders  that  were  given  before  this  Article  was  made ;  which 
being  done  (as  the  lawyers  phrase  it)  ex  post  facto,  it  seems 
these  orders  were  unlawful  when  given,  and  that  error  was 
intended  to  be  corrected  by  this  Article.  The  opening  a  part 
of  the  history  of  that  time  will  clear  this  matter. 

There  was  a  new  form  of  ordinations  agreed  on  by  the 
bishops  in  the  third  year  of  king  Edward ;  and  when  the 
book  of  Common-Prayer,  with  the  last  corrections  of  it,  was 
authorized  by  act  of  parliament  in  the  fifth  year  of  that  reign, 
the  new  book  of  Ordinations  was  also  enacted,  and  was 
appointed  to  be  a  part  of  the  Common-Prayer-Book.  In 
queen  Mary's  time  these  acts  were  repealed,  and  those  books 
were  condemned  by  name.  When  queen  Elizabeth  came  to 
the  crown,  king  Edward's  Common-Prayer-Book  was  of  new 
enacted,  and  queen  Mary's  act  was  repealed.  But  the  book 
of  Ordination  was  not  expressly  named,  it  being  considered 
as  a  part  of  the  Common-Prayer-Book,  as  it  had  been  made 
in  king  Edward's  time ;  so  it  was  thought  no  more  necessary 
to  mention  that  office  by  name,  than  to  mention  all  the  other 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


495 


offices  that  are  in  the  book.  Bishop  Bonner  set  on  foot  a  ART. 
nicety,  that  since  the  book  of  Ordinations  was  by  name  con-  xxxv1, 
demned  in  queen  Mary's  time,  and  was  not  by  name  received 
in  queen  Elizabeth's  time,  that  therefore  it  was  still  con- 
demned by  law,  and  that  by  consequence  ordinations  per- 
formed according  to  this  book  were  not  legal.  But  it  is 
visible,  that  whatsoever  might  be  made  out  of  this,  according 
to  the  niceties  of  our  law,  it  has  no  relation  to  the  validity  of 
ordinations,  as  they  are  sacred  performances,  but  only  as  they 
are  legal  actions,  with  relation  to  our  constitution.  There- 
fore a  declaration  was  made  in  a  subsequent  parliament,  that 
the  book  of  Ordination  was  considered  as  a  part  of  the  Book 
of  Common-Prayer:  and,  to  clear  all  scruples  or  disputes  that 
might  arise  upon  that  matter,  they  by  a  retrospect  declared 
them  to  be  good;  and  from  that  retrospect  in  the  act  of  par- 
liament the  like  clause  was  put  in  the  Article. 

The  chief  exception  that  can  be  made  to  the  form  of  giving 
orders  amongst  us,  is  to  those  words,  '  Receive  ye  the  Holy 
Ghost;'  which  as  it  is  no  ancient  form,  it  not  being  above  five 
hundred  years  old,  so  it  is  taken  from  words  of  our  Saviour's, 
that  the  church  in  her  best  times  tl.  ought  were  not  to  be  ap- 
plied to  this.  It  was  proper  to  him  to  use  them,  who  had  the 
'fulness  of  the  Spirit'  to  give  it  at  pleasure:  he  made  use  of 
it  in  constituting  his  apostles  the  governors  of  his  church  in 
his  own  stead ;  and  therefore  it  seems  to  have  a  sound  in  it 
that  is  too  bold  and  assuming,  as  if  we  could  convey  the  Holy 
Ghost.  To  this  it  is  to  be  answered,  that  the  churches  both 
in  the  east  and  west  have  so  often  changed  the  forms  of 
ordination,  that  our  church  may  well  claim  the  same  power  of 
appointing  new  forms,  that  others  have  done.  And  since  the 
several  functions  and  administrations  that  are  in  the  church 
are  by  the  apostle  said  to  flow  'from  one  and  the  same  Spirit/ 
all  of  them  from  the  apostles  down  to  the  pastors  and  teachers, 
we  may  then  reckon  that  the  Holy  Ghost,  though  in  a  much 
lower  degree,  is  given  to  those  who  are  inwardly  moved  of 
God  to  undertake  that  holy  office.  So  that  though'  that  ex- 
traordinary effusion  that  was  poured  out  upon  the  apostles, 
was  in  them  in  a  much  higher  degree,  and  was  accompanied 
with  most  amazing  characters ;  yet  still  such  as  do  sincerely 
offer  themselves  up,  on  a  divine  motion,  to  this  service, 
receive  a  lower  portion  of  this  Spirit.  That  being  laid  down, 
these  words,  <  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost,'  may  be  understood 
to  be  of  the  nature  of  a  wish  and  prayer;  as  if  it  were  said, 
'  May  thou  receive  the  Holy  Ghost ;'  and  so  it  will  better 
agree  with  what  follows,  '  And  be  thou  a  faithful  dispenser  of 
the  word  and  sacraments.'  Or  it  may  be  observed,  that  in 
those  sacred  missions  the  church  and  churchmen  consider 
themselves  as  acting  in  the  name  and  person  of  Christ.  In 
baptism  it  is  expressly  said,  'I  baptize  in  the  name  of  the 
Father/  &c.    In  the  eucharist  we  repeat  the  words  of  Christ, 


435 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  arid  apply  them  to  the  elements,  as  said  by  him.  So  we  con- 
XXXVI.  sider  such  as  deserve  to  be  admitted  to  those  holy  functions, 
as  persons  called  and  sent  of  God ;  and  therefore  the  church 
in  the  name  of  Cnrist  sends  them ;  and  because  he  gives  a 
portion  of  his  Spirit  to  those  whom  he  sends,  therefore  the 
church  in  his  name  says,  1  Receive  the  Holy  Ghost.'  And  in 
this  sense,  and  with  this  respect,  the  use  of*  these  words  may 
be  well  justified. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  497 


ART. 
XXXVII. 

ARTICLE  XXXVII.   

Of  Civil  Magistrates. 

Che  <©ueen'S  fHajcSty  hath  the  thief  "Pokier  in  this  &calm  of  Eng- 
land, airtJ  other  her  ©omimonS,  unoer  tohom  tl)t  chief  ©obern* 
ment  of  all  Estates  of  this  Jicalm,  luhcther  they  fat  Ecclesiastical 
or  Cibil,  in  all  Causes;  tfotl)  appertain,  anti  ts  not,  nor  ought  to 
be,  Sufaject  to  any  ^foreign  ^urisoiction. 

©Blhere  fan  attribute  to  the  (Queen's  fHajcStp  tt)e  chief  ©obcrnmrnt, 
fan  tohich  Cities  toe  untjcrstantl  tf>c  fHtnos  of  Some  slantlcrouS 
;jFolfeS  to  be  offcnocB :  Wt  gibe  not  to  our  primes  the  ministering 
either  of  <&>oTi'$  fcSHovtj  or  of  the  Jr>acramcnts ;  the  tohich  thing  the 
IhijuuctionS  also  lately  Set  forth  fan  Elizabeth  our  (Queen  do  most 
plainly  testify ;  but  that  only  $rcrogatibe  tohich  toe  See  to  babe 
been  giben  altoapS  to  all  goflly  ISiinccS  in  #]oly  Scriptures  bo 
<SoB  himself,  that  is,  Chat  they  shoulo  rule  all  Estates  anfl  ©e* 
greeS  committer;  to  t\)cit  charge  by  ©oiJ,  tohcthcr  they  be  <£ccle* 
Stasttcal  or  Cemporal,  anfl  restrain  toith  the  €ibil  jbtooifl  the 
Stubborn  anfl  cbtl*floerS. 

Che  33tSl)op  of  Rome  hath  no  ShtrtSfliction  in  this  Jftealm  of  Eng- 
land. 

Che  EatoS  of  trjc  Jftcalm  may  punish  Christian  43flen  toitf)  ©cath  for 

heinous  anil  gnebouS  (QffcnceS. 
it  is  lawful  for  Christian  4Hen,  at  the  Commanflmcnt  of  the  ffla* 

gistratc,  to  tocar  toeaponS,  ano"  Serbe  in  the  223arS. 

This  Article  was  much  shorter  as  it  was  published  in  king 
Edward's  time,  and  did  run  thus  :  The  king  of  England  is  su- 
preme head  in  earth,  next  under  Christ,  of  the  church  of  Eng- 
land and  Ireland.  Then  followed  the  paragraph  against  the 
pope's  jurisdiction,  worded  as  it  is  now:  to  which  these  words 
were  subjoined,  The  civil  magistrate  is  ordained  and  allowed 
of  God;  wherefore  we  must  obey  him,  not  only  for  fear  of 
punishment,  but  also  for  conscience  sake.  In  queen  Elizabeth's 
time  it  was  thought  fitting  to  take  away  those  prejudices  that 
the  papists  were  generally  infusing  into  the  minds  of  the 
people  against  the  term  head;  which  seemed  to  be  the  more 
incongruous,  because  a  woman  did  then  reign  ;  therefore  that 
was  left  out,  and  instead  of  it  the  words  chief  power  and  chief 
government  were  made  use  of,  which  do  signify  the  same 
thing. 

The  queen  did  also  by  her  Injunctions  offer  an  explanation 
of  this  matter;  for  whereas  it  was  given  out  by  those  who 
had  complied  with  every  thing  that  had  been  done  both  in 
her  father's  and  in  her  brother's  time,  but  that  resolved  now 

2k 


498 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  n  T.  to  set  themselves  in  opposition  to  her,  that  she  was  assuming 
tXXV  [I'  a  much  greater  authority  than  they  had  pretended  to  :  she 
upon  that  ordered  that  explanation  which  is  referred  to  in  the 
Article,  and  is  in  these  words:  'For  certainly  her  majesty 
neither  doth  nor  ever  will  challenge  any  authority,  other  than 
that  was  challenged  and  lately  used  by  the  said  noble  kings 
of  famous  memory,  king  Henry  the  Eighth,  and  king  Edward 
the  Sixth,  which  is  and  was  of  ancient  time  due  to  the  impe- 
rial crown  of  this  realm ;  that  is,  under  God  to  have  the 
sovereignty  and  rule  over  all  manner  of  persons  born  within 
these  her  realms,  dominions,  and  countries,  of  what  estate, 
either  ecclesiastical  or  temporal,  soever  they  be :  so  as  no 
other  foreign  power  shall  or  ought  to  have  any  superiority 
over  them.  And  if  any  person  that  hath  conceived  any  other 
sense  of  the  said  oath,  shall  accept  the  same  oath  with  this 
interpretation,  sense,  or  meaning,  her  majesty  is  well  pleased 
to  accept  every  such  in  that  behalf,  as  her  good  and  obedient 
subjects ;  and  shall  acquit  them  of  all  manner  of  penalties, 
contained  in  the  said  act,  against  such  as  shall  peremptorily 
and  obstinately  refuse  to  take  the  same  oath.' 

Thus  this  matter  is  opened,  as  it  is  both  in  the  Article  and 
in  the  Injunctions.  In  order  to  the  treating  regularly  of  this 
Article,  it  is,  first,  to  be  proved  that  the  pope  hath  no  juris- 
diction in  these  kingdoms.  2dly,  That  our  kings  or  queens 
have  it.  And,  3dly,  The  nature  and  measures  of  this  power 
and  government  are  to  be  stated. 

As  for  the  pope's  authority,  though  it  is  now  connected 
with  infallibility,  yet  it  was  pretended  to,  and  was  advanced 
for  many  ages  before  infallibility  was  so  much  as  thought  on. 
Nor  was  the  doctrine  of  their  infallibility  ever  so  universally 
received  and  submitted  to  in  these  western  parts  as  was  that 
of  their  universal  jurisdiction.  They  were  in  possession  of  it: 
appeals  were  made  to  them  :  they  sent  legates  and  bulls  every 
where :  they  granted  exemptions  from  the  ordinary  juris- 
diction ;  and  took  bishops  bound  to  them  by  oaths,  that  were 
penned  in  the  form  of  oaths  of  fealty  or  homage.  This  was 
the  first  point  that  our  reformers  did  begin  with,  both  here 
and  every  where  else  ;  that  so  they  might  remove  that  which 
was  an  insuperable  obstruction,  till  it  was  first  taken  out  of 
the  way,  to  every  step  that  could  be  made  toward  a  reform- 
ation. They  laid  down  therefore  this  for  their  foundation, 
that  all  bishops  were  by  their  office  and  character  equal ;  and 
that  every  one  of  them  had  the  same  authority  that  any  other 
had  over  that  flock  which  was  committed  to  his  care :  and 
therefore  they  said,  that  the  bishops  of  Rome  had  n  1 1  authority, 
according  to  the  constitution  in  which  the  churches  were  set- 
tled by  the  apostles,  but  over  the  city  of  Rome :  and  that  any 
further  jurisdiction  that  any  ancient  popes  might  have  had, 
did  arise  from  the  dignity  of  the  city,  and  the  customs  and 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


499 


laws  of  the  empire.*  As  for  their  deriving  that  authority  from  ART 
St.  Peter,  it  is  very  plain  that  the  apostles  were  all  made  xxxvil. 
equal  to  him ;  and  that  they  never  understood  our  Saviour's 
words  to  him,  as  importing  any  authority  that  was  given  to 
him  over  the  rest ;  since  they  continued  to  the  last,  while  our 
Saviour  was  among  them,  'disputing  which  of  them  should  be  Markix. 
the  greatest.5    The  proposition  that  the  mother  of  James  and  33,^35. 
John  made,  in  which  it  is  evident  that  they  likewise  con-  2^  27. 
curred  with  her,  shews  that  they  did  not  apprehend  that  Wait.  xx. 
Christ  had  made  any  declaration  in  favour  of  St.  Peter,  as  by  -1>24.  26- 
our  Saviour's  answer  it  appears  that  he  had  not  done  ;  other- 
wise he  would  have  referred  them  to  what  he  had  already  said 
upon  that  occasion.    By  the  whole  history  of  the  Acts  of  the 
Apostles,  it  appears  that  the  apostles  acted  and  consulted  in 
common,  without  considering  St.  Peter  as  having  any  supe- 
riority over  them.    He  was  called  to  give  an  account  of  his 
baptizing  Cornelius;  and  he  delivered  his  opinion  in  the  Acts xi.  2, 
council  of  Jerusalem,  without  any  strain  of  authority  over  the  3. 
rest.    St.  Paul  does  expressly  deny,  that  the  other  apostles  ^4 gV* 7' 
had  any  superiority  or  jurisdiction  over  him ;  and  he  says  in  Gal.  ii!  7, 
plain  words,  that  '  he  was  the  apostle  of  the  uncircumcision,  8,  11. 
as  St.  Peter  was  the  apostle  of  the  circumcision  ;'  and  in  that 
does  rather  claim  an  advantage  over  him  ;  since  his  was  cer- 
tainly the  much  wider  province.    He  withstood  St.  Peter  to 
his  face,  when  he  thought  that  he  deserved  to  be  blamed; 
and  he  speaks  of  his  own  line  and  share,  as  being  subordinate 
in  it  to  none  :  and  by  his  saying,  that  '  he  did  not  stretch  2  Cor.  x. 
himself  beyond  his  own  measure,'  he  plainly  insinuates,  that 14> 
within  his  own  province  he  was  only  accountable  to  Him  that 
had  called  and  sent  him.    This  was  also  the  sense  of  the  pri- 
mitive church,  that  all  bishops  were  brethren,  colleagues,  and 
fellow-bishops :  and  though  the  dignity  of  that  city,  which  was 
the  head  of  the  empire,  and  the  opinion  of  that  church's  being 
founded  by  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul,  created  a  great  respect  to 
the  bishops  of  that  see,  which  was  supported  and  increased 
by  the  eminent  worth,  as  well  as  the  frequent  martyrdoms,  of 
their  bishops  ;  yet  St.  Cyprian  in  his  time,  as  he  was  against 
the  suffering  of  any  causes  to  be  carried  in  the  way  of  a  com- 
plaint for  redress  to  Rome,  so  he  does  in  plain  words  say,  that 
'  all  the  apostles  were  equal  in  power ;  and  that  all  bishops  De  Unit, 
were  also  equal ;  since  the  whole  office  and  episcopate  was  Eccles- 
one  entire  thing,  of  which  every  bishop  had  a  complete  and 
equal  share.'    It  is  true,  he  speaks  of  the  unity  of  the  Roman 
church,  and  of  the  union  of  other  churches  with  it ;  but  those 
words  were  occasioned  by  a  schism  that  Novatian  had  made 
then  at  Rome ;  he  being  elected  in  opposition  to  the  rightful 
bishop  :  so  that  St.  Cyprian  does  not  insinuate  any  thing  con- 
cerning an  authority  of  the  see  of  Rome  over  other  sees,  but 

*  The  reader  ought  to  study  Barrow's  '  Treatise  of  the  Pope's  Supremacy,'  in 
which  that  great  writer  has  exhausted  this  subject. — i  Ed.] 

2  K  2 


500 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.    speaks  only  of  their  union  under  one  bishop ;  and  of  the 
XXXVII.  0ther  churches  holding  a  brotherly  communion  with  that 
bishop.    Through  his  whole  epistles  he  treats  the  bishops  of 
Rome  as  his  equals,  with  the  titles  of  brother  and  colleague. 
Conc.Nic.     In  the  first  general  council,  the  authority  of  the  bishops  of 
can.  6.  greaf.  sees  is  stated  as  equal.    The  bishops  of  Alexandria 

and  Antioch  are  declared  to  have,  according  to  custom,  the 
same  authority  over  the  churches  subordinate  to  them,  that 
the  bishops  of  Rome  had  over  those  that  lay  about  that  city. 
This  authority  is  pretended  to  be  derived  only  from  custom, 
and  is  considered  as  under  the  limitations  and  decisions  of  a 
Ep.  x.  ad  general  council.    Soon  after  that,  the  Arian  heresy  was  so 
reg-       spread  over  the  east,  that  those  who  adhered  to  the  Nicene 
faith,  were  not  safe  in  their  numbers ;  and  the  western 
churches  being  free  from  that  contagion,  (though  St.  Basil 
laments  that  they  neither  understood  their  matters,  nor  were 
much  concerned  about  them,  but  were  swelled  up  with  pride,) 
Athanasius  and  other  oppressed  bishops  fled  to  the  bishops 
of  Rome,  as  well  as  to  the  other  bishops  of  the  west;  it  being 
natural  for  the  oppressed  to  seek  protection  wheresoever  they 
can  find  it :  and  so  a  sort  of  appeals  was  begun,  and  they  were 
Con.  Sard,  authorized  by  the  council  of  Sardica.    But  the  ill  effects  of 
Con^Con         if  *t  should  become  a  precedent,  were  apprehended  by 
stant.  can.  the  second  general  council ;  in  which  it  was  decreed,  that 
3.  every  province  should  be  governed  by  its  own  synod;  and 

that  all  bishops  should  be  at  first  judged  by  the  bishops  of 
their  own  province  ;  and  from  them  an  appeal  was  allowed 
to  the  bishops  of  the  diocese  ;  whereas  by  the  canons  of  Nice 
no  appeal  lay  from  the  bishops  of  the  province.  But  though 
this  canon  of  Constantinople  allows  of  an  appeal  to  the 
bishops  of  every  sjuch  division  of  the  Roman  empire  as  was 
known  by  the  name  of  diocese;  yet  there  is  an  express  pro- 
hibition of  any  other  or  further  appeal ;  which  is  a  plain 
repealing  of  the  canon  at  Sardica.  And  in  that  same  council 
it  appears  upon  what  the  dignity  of  the  see  of  Rome  was  then 
believed  to  be  founded ;  for  Constantinople  being  made  the 
seat  of  the  empire,  and  called  new  Rome,  the  bishops  of  that 
see  had  the  same  privileges  given  them,  that  the  bishops 
of  old  Rome  had ;  except  only  the  point  of  rank,  which  was 
preserved  to  old  Rome,  because  of  the  dignity  of  the  city. 
Con.  Chal-  This  was  also  confirmed  at  Chalcedon  in  the  middle  of  the 
ced.  can.  century.    This  shews,  that  the  authority  and  privileges 

Labb.  and  of  the  bishops  of  Rome  were  then  considered  as  arising  out 
Coss.  vol.  of  the  dignity  of  that  city,  and  that  the  order  of  them  was 
lv" p-1  subject  to  the  authority  of  a  general  council. 
Cone.  The  African  churches  in  that  time  knew  nothing  of  any 
loi'C'et 3P'  superiority  that  the  bishops  of  Rome  had  over  them :  they 
105.  Epist.  condemned  the  making  of  appeals  to  them,  and  appointed 
adBonifac.  that  such  as  made  them  should  be  excommunicated.  The 
Labb.  and  popes*  wno  bid  that  matter  much  to  heart,  did  not  pretend 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


501 


to  an  universal  jurisdiction  as  St.  Peter's  successors  by  a  ART. 
divine  right :  they  only  pleaded  a  canon  of  the  council  of XXXVIt- 
Nice ;  but  the  Africans  had  heard  of  no  such  canon,  and  so  c0?s  v0|_ 
they  justified  their  independence  on  the  see  of  Rome.    Great  iii.  p.  528, 
search  was  made  after  this  canon,  and  it  was  found  to  be  an  532, 
imposture.    So  early  did  the  see  of  Rome  aspire  to  this 
universal  authority,  and  did  not  stick  at  forgery  in  order  to 
the  compassing  of  it.    In  the  sixth  century,  when  the  emperor 
Mauritius  continued  a  practice  begun  by  some  former  em-  Greg.  Ep. 
perors,  to  give  the  bishop  of  Constantinople  the  title  of^'g^^g 
universal  bishop  ;  Pelage,  and  after  him  Gregory  the  Great,  38'  39' 
broke  out  into  the  most  pathetical  expressions  that  could  be  lib.  vi.  Ep. 
invented  against  it ;  he  compared  it  to  the  pride  of  Lucifer  ;  ^  ^8, 
and  said,  that  lie  who  assumed  it  was  the  forerunner  of  unti-  y^' 
christ ;  and  as  he  renounced  all  claim  to  it,  so  he  affirmed  Ep.  69. 
that  none  of  his  predecessors  had  ever  aspired  to  such  a 
power. 

This  is  the  more  remarkable,  because  the  Saxons  being 
converted  to  the  Christian  religion  under  this  pope's  direc- 
tion, we  have  reason  to  believe  that  this  doctrine  was  infused 
into  this  church  at  the  first  conversion  of  the  Saxons  :  yet 
pope  Gregory's  successor  made  no  exceptions  to  the  giving 
himself  that  title,  against  which  his  predecessor  had  de- 
claimed so  much  :  but  then  the  confusions  of  Italy  gave  the 
popes  great  advantages  to  make  all  new  invaders  or  pretenders 
enlarge  their  privileges  ;  since  it  was  a  great  accession  of 
strength  to  any  party  to  have  them  of  their  side.  The  kings 
of  the  Lombards  began  to  lie  heavy  on  them ;  but  they 
called  in  the  kings  of  a  new  conquering  family  from  France, 
who  were  ready  enough  to  make  new  conquests ;  and  when 
the  nomination  of  the  popes  was  given  to  the  kings  of  that 
race,  it  was  natural  for  them  to  raise  the  greatness  of  one 
who  was  to  be  their  creature ;  so  they  promoted  their  autho- 
rity ;  which  was  not  a  little  confirmed  by  an  impudent  forgery 
of  that  time  of  the  Decretal  Epistles  of  the  first  popes  ;  in 
which  they  were  represented  as  governing  the  world  with  an 
universal  and  unbounded  authority.  This  book  was  a  little 
disputed  at  first,  but  was  quickly  submitted  to;  and  the  popes 
went  on  upon  that  foundation,  still  enlarging  their  pretensions. 
Soon  after  that  was  submitted  to,  it  quickly  appeared  that  the 
pretensions  of  that  see  were  endless. 

They  went  on  to  claim  a  power  over  princes  and  their  do- 
minioiis;  and  that  first  with  relation  to  spiritual  matters. 
They  deposed  them,  if  they  were  either  heretics  themselves, 
or  if  they  favoured  heresy,  at  least  so  far  as  not  to  extirpate 
it.  From  deposing  they  went  to  the  disposing  of  their  do- 
minions to  others  ;  and  at  last  Boniface  the  Eighth  completed 
their  claim;  for  he  decreed,  that  it  was  necessary  for  every 
man  to  be  subject  to  the  pope's  authority :  and  he  asserted  a 
direct  dominion  over  princes  as  to  their  temporals,  that  they 


502 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  were  all  subject  to  him,  and  held  their  dominions  under  him, 
XXXVII.  ancj  a£  ],js  courtesy.  As  for  the  jurisdiction  that  they  claimed 
over  the  spiritualty,  they  exercised  it  with  that  rigour,  with 
such  heavy  taxes  and  impositions,  such  exemptions  and  dis- 
pensations, and  such  a  violation  of  all  the  ancient  canons,  that 
as  it  grew  insupportably  grievous,  so  the  management  was 
grossly  scandalous,  for  every  thing  was  openly  set  to  sale.  By 
these  practices  they  disposed  the  world  to  examine  the  grounds 
of  that  authority,  which  was  managed  with  so  much  tyranny 
and  corruption.  It  was  so  ill  founded,  that  it  could  not  be  de- 
fended but  by  force  and  artifices.  Thus  it  appears,  that  there 
is  no  authority  at  all  in  the  scripture  for  this  extent  of  juris- 
diction that  the  popes  assumed:  that  it  was  not  thought  on 
in  the  first  ages:  that  a  vigorous  opposition  was  made  to 
every  step  of  the  progress  that  it  made :  and  that  forgery  and 
violence  were  used  to  bring  the  world  under  it.  So  that  there 
is  no  reason  now  to  submit  to  it. 

As  for  the  patriarchal  authority,  which  that  see  had  over  a 
great  part  of  the  Roman  empire,  that  was  only  a  regulation 
made  conform  to  the  constitution  of  that  empire  :  so  that  the 
empire  being  now  dissolved  into  many  different  sovereignties, 
the  new  princes  are  under  no  sort  of  obligation  to  have  any 
regard  to  the  Roman  constitution:  nor  does  a  nation's  receiv- 
ing the  faith  by  the  ministry  of  men  sent  from  any  see, 
subject  them  to  that  see ;  for  then  all  must  be  subject  to  Je- 
rusalem, since  the  gospel  came  to  all  the  churches  from 
thence.  There  was  a  decision  made  in  the  third  general 
council  in  the  case  of  the  Cypriotic  churches,  which  pretended 
that  they  had  been  always  complete  churches  within  them- 
selves and  independent ;  therefore  they  stood  upon  this 
privilege,  not  to  be  subject  to  appeals  to  any  patriarchal  see. 
The  council  judged  in  their  favour.  So  since  the  Britannic 
churches  were  converted  long  before  they  had  any  commerce 
with  Rome,  they  were  originally  independent;  which  could 
not  be  lost  by  any  thing  that  was  afterwards  done  among  the 
Saxons,  by  men  sent  over  from  Rome.  This  is  enough  to 
prove  the  first  point,  that  the  bishops  of  Rome  had  no  lawful 
jurisdiction  here  among  us. 

The  second  is,  that  kings  or  queens  have  an  authority  over 
their  subjects  in  matters  ecclesiastical.   In  the  Old  Testament, 
the  kings  of  Israel  intermeddled  in  all  matters  of  religion : 
l  Sam. xv.  Samuel  acknowledged   Saul's   authority;   and  Abimelech, 
30.  xxu.  though  the  high  priest,  when  called  before  Saul,  appeared 
and  answered  to  some  things  that  were  objected  to  him  that 
related  to  the  worship  of  God.    Samuel  said  in  express  words 
xv.  17.      to  Saul,  that  '  he  was  made  the  head  of  all  the  tribes ;'  and 
one  of  these  was  the  tribe  of  Levi.    David  made  many  laws 
about  sacred  matters,  such  as  the  orders  of  the  courses  of  the 
priests,  and  the  time  of  their  attendance  at  the  public  service. 
When  he  died,  and  was  informing  Solomon  of  the  extent  of 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


503 


his  authority,  lie  told  him,  that c  the  courses  of  the  priests  and    A  R  T. 
all  the  people  were  to  be  wholly  at  his  commandment.'    Pur-  XXXV1L 
suant  to  which,  Solomon  did  appoint  them  their  charges  in  i  (j|iron. 
the  service  of  God ;  and  'both  the  priests  and  Levites  de-xxiij.6. 
parted  not  from  his  commandment  in  any  matter/     He  "chron1* 
turned  out  Abiathar  from  the  high  priest's  office,  and  yet  no  viii.  14, 15. 
complaint  was  made  upon  it,  as  if  he  had  assumed  an  autho- 
rity that  did  not  belong  to  him.    It  is  true,  both  David  and 
Solomon  were  men  that  were  particularly  inspired  as  to  some 
things ;  but  it  does  not  appear  that  they  acted  in  those  mat- 
ters by  virtue  of  any  such  inspiration.    They  were  acts  of 
regal  power,  and  they  did  them  in  that  capacity.    Jehosha- 2  Chron. 
phat,  Hezekiah,  and  Josiah,  gave  many  directions  and  orders  8'g9- 
in  sacred  matters:  but  though  the  priests  withstood  Uzziah  £he  *nd' t0 
when  he  was  going  to  offer  incense  in  the  holy  place,  yet  they  xxvi.  16 — 
did  not  pretend  privilege,  or  make  opposition  to  those  orders  19- 
that  were  issued  out  by  their  kings.    Mordecai  appointed  the 
feast  of  Purim,by  virtue  of  the  authority  that  king Ahasuerus 
gave  him:  and  both  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  by  virtue  of  com- 
missioi.    from  the  kings  of  Persia,  made  many  reformations 
and  gave  many  orders  in  sacred  matters. 

Under  the  New  Testament,  Christ,  by  saying,  '  Render  to 
Caesar  the  things  which  are  Caesar's,'  did  plainly  shew,  that 
he  did  not  intend  that  his  religion  should  in  any  sort  lessen 
the  temporal  authority.  The  apostles  writ  to  the  churches 
to  '  obey  magistrates,  to  submit  to  them,  and  to  pay  taxes:'  R°m'xm' 
they  enjoined  obedience,  1  whether  to  the  king  as  supreme,  ver.  1. 
or  to  others  that  were  sent  by  him:'  'every  soul,'  without  1  Pet.ii.  13, 
exception,  is  charged  '  to  be  subject  to  the  higher  powers.'  14- 
The  magistrate  is  ordained  of  God,  and  '  is  his  minister  to 
encourage  them  that  do  well,  and  to  punish  the  evil  doers.' 
If  these  passages  of  scripture  are  to  be  interpreted  according 
to  the  common  consent  of  the  fathers,  churchmen  are  included 
within  them,  as  well  as  other  persons.  There  was  not  indeed 
great  occasion  to  consider  this  matter  before  Constantine's 
coining  to  the  empire ;  for  till  then  the  emperors  did  not 
consider  the  Christians  otherwise  than  either  as  enemies,  or 
at  best  as  their  subjects  at  large :  and  therefore,  though  the 
Christians  made  an  address  to  Aurelian  in  the  matter  of 
Samosatenus,  and  obtained  a  favourable  and  just  answer  to 
it ;  yet  in  Constantine's  time,  the  protection  that  he  gave  to 
the  Christian  religion  led  him  and  his  successors  to  make 
many  laws  in  ecclesiastical  matters,  concerning  the  age,  the 
qualifications,  and  the  duties,  of  the  clergy.  Many  of  these 
are  to  be  found  in  Theodosius  and  Justinian's  code  :  Justinian 
added  many  more  in  his  Novels.  Appeals  were  made  to  the 
emperors  against  the  injustice  of  synods:  they  received  them, 
and  appointed  such  bishops  to  hear  and  try  those  causes  as 
happened  to  be  then  about  their  courts.  In  the  council  of 
Nice  many  complaints  were  given  to  the  emperor  by  the 


504 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


art.  bishops  against  one  another.  The  emperors  called  general 
XXXVII.  councils  by  their  summons ;  they  sate  in  them,  and  confirmed 
their  decrees.  This  was  the  constant  practice  of  the  Roman 
emperors,  both  in  the  east  and  in  the  west :  when  the  church 
came  to  fall  under  many  lesser  sovereignties,  those  princes 
continued  still  to  make  laws,  to  name  bishops,  to  give  inves- 
titures into  benefices,  to  call  synods,  and  to  do  every  thing 
that  appeared  necessary  to  them,  for  the  good  government  of 
the  church  in  their  dominions. 

When  Charles  the  Great  was  restoring  those  things  that 
had  fallen  under  much  disorder  in  a  course  of  some  ignorant 
and  barbarous  ages,  and  was  reviving  both  learning  and  good 
government,  he  published  many  Capitulars,  a  great  part  of 
them  relating  to  ecclesiastical  matters;  nor  was  any  exception 
taken  to  that  in  those  ages  :  the  synods  that  were  then  held 
were  for  the  greatest  part  mixed  assemblies,  in  which  the 
temporalty  and  the  spiritualty  sate  together,  and  judged  and 
decreed  of  all  matters  in  common.  And  it  is  certain,  that 
such  was  the  sanhedrim  among  the  Jews  in  our  Saviour's 
time ;  it  was  the  supreme  court  both  for  spirituals  and 
temporals. 

In  England  our  princes  began  early,  and  continued  long, 
to  maintain  this  part  of  their  authority.  The  letters  that  are 
pretended  to  have  passed  between  king  Lucius  and  pope 
Eleutherius  are  very  probably  forgeries ;  but  they  are  ancient 
ones,  and  did  for  many  ages  pass  for  true.  Now  a  forgery  is 
generally  calculated  to  the  sense  of  the  age  in  which  it  is 
made.  In  the  pope's  letter,  the  King  is  called  God's  vicar  in 
his  kingdoms ;  and  it  is  said  to  belong  to  his  office,  to  bring  his 
subjects  to  the  holy  church,  and  to  maintain,  protect,  and 
govern  them  in  it.  Both  Saxon  and  Danish  kings  made  a 
great  many  laws  about  ecclesiastical  matters ;  and  after  the 
conquest,  when  the  nation  grew  into  a  more  united  body,  and 
came  to  a  more  settled  constitution,  many  laws  were  made 
concerning  these  matters,  particularly  in  opposition  to  tho.sc 
practices  that  favoured  the  authority  that  the  popes  were  then 
assuming ;  such  as  appeals  to  Rome,  or  bishops  going  out  of 
the  kingdom  without  the  king's  leave.  King  Alfred's  laws 
were  a  sort  of  a  text  for  a  great  while ;  they  contain  many 
laws  about  sacred  matters.  The  exempting  of  monasteries 
from  episcopal  jurisdiction  was  granted  by  some  of  our  kings 
at  first.  William  the  Conqueror,  to  perpetuate  the  memory 
of  his  victory  over  Harold,  and  to  endear  himself  to  the 
clergy,  founded  an  abbey  in  the  field  where  the  battle  was 
fought,  called  Battle-Abbey :  and  in  the  charter  of  the  foun- 
dation, in  imitation  of  what  former  kings  had  done  in  their 
endowments,  this  clause  was  put ;  It  shall  be  also  free  and 
quiet  for  ever  from  all  subjection  to  bishops,  or  the  dominion  of 
any  other  persons.  This  is  an  act  that  does  as  immediately 
relate  to  the  authority  of  the  church,  as  any  one  that  we  can 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


505 


imagine.    The  Constitutions  of  Clarendon  were  asserted  by  ART. 
both  king  and  parliament,  and  by  the  whole  body  of  the  XXXVI 
clergy,  as  the  ancient  customs  of  the  kingdom.    These  relate  to 
the  clergy,  and  were  submitted  to  by  them  all,  Becket  himself 
not  excepted,  though  he  quickly  went  off  from  it. 

It  is  true,  the  papacy  got  generally  the  better  of  the  tem- 
poral authority  in  a  course  of  several  ages ;  but  at  last  the 
popes  living  long  at  Avignon,  together  with  the  great  schism 
that  followed  upon  their  return  to  Rome,  did  very  much  sink 
in  their  credit,  and  that  stopped  the  progress  they  had  made 
before  that  time :  which  had  probably  subdued  all,  if  it  had 
not  been  for  those  accidents.  Then  the  councils  began  to 
take  heart,  and  resolved  to  assert  the  freedom  of  the  church 
from  the  papal  tyranny.  Pragmatic  sanctiom  were  made  in 
several  nations  to  assert  their  liberty.  That  in  France  was 
made  with  great  solemnity :  in  these  the  bishops  did  not  only 
assert  their  own  jurisdiction,  independent  in  a  great  measure 
of  the  papacy,  but  they  likewise  carried  it  so  far  as  to  make 
themselves  independent  on  the  civil  authority,  particularly  in 
the  point  of  elections.  This  disposed  princes  generally  to 
enter  into  agreements  with  the  popes ;  by  which  the  matter 
was  so  transacted,  that  the  popes  and  they  made  a  division 
between  them  of  all  the  rights  and  pretensions  of  the  church. 
Princes  yielded  a  great  deal  to  the  popes,  to  be  protected  by 
them  in  that  which  they  got  to  be  reserved  to  themselves. 
Great  restraints  were  laid  both  on  the  clergy,  and  likewise  on 
the  see  of  Rome,  by  the  appeals  that  were  brought  into  the 
secular  courts,  from  the  ordinary  judgments  of  the  ecclesias- 
tical courts,  or  from  the  bulls  or  powers  that  legates  brought 
with  them.  A  distinction  was  found  that  seemed  to  save  the 
ecclesiastical  authority,  at  the  same  time  that  the  secular 
court  was  made  the  judge  of  it.  The  appeal  did  lie  upon  a 
pretence  that  the  ecclesiastical  judge  had  committed  some 
abuse  in  the  way  of  proceeding,  or  in  his  sentence.  So  the 
appeal  was  from  that  abuse,  and  the  secular  court  was  to 
examine  the  matter  according  to  the  rules  and  laws  of  the 
church,  and  not  according  to  the  principles  or  rules  of  any 
other  law  :  but  upon  that  they  did  either  confirm  or  reverse  the 
sentence.  And  even  those  princes  that  acknowledge  the  papal 
authority,  have  found  out  distinctions  to  put  such  stops  to  it 
as  they  please  ;  and  so  to  make  it  an  engine  to  govern  their 
people  by,  as  far  as  they  think  fit  to  give  way  to  it ;  and  to 
damn  such  bulls,  or  void  such  powers,  as  they  are  afraid  of. 

Thus  it  is  evident,  that  both  according  to  scripture,  and  the 
practice  of  all  ages  and  countries,  the  princes  of  Christendom 
have  an  authority  over  their  subjects  in  matters  ecclesiastical. 
The  reason  of  things  makes  also  for  this  ;  for  if  any  rank  of 
men  are  exempted  from  their  jurisdiction,  they  must  thereby 
cease  to  be  subjects  :  and  if  any  sort  of  causes,  spiritual  ones 
in  particular,  were  put  out  of  their  authority,  it  were  an  easy 


506 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  thing  to  reduce  almost  every  thing  to  such  a  relation  to  spi- 
tXXVII.  rituals,  that  if  this  principle  were  once  received,  their  autho- 
rity would  be  very  precarious  and  feeble.  Nothing  could  give 
princes  stronger  and  juster  prejudices  against  the  Christian 
religion,  than  if  they  saw  that  the  effect  of  their  receiving  it 
must  be  the  withdrawing  so  great  a  part  of  their  subjects  from 
their  authority ;  and  the  putting  as  many  checks  upon  it  as 
those  that  had  the  management  of  this  religion  should  think 
fit  to  restrain  it  by.  In  a  word,  all  mankind  must  be  under 
one  obedience  and  one  authority.  It  remains  that  the  mea- 
sures and  the  extent  of  this  power  be  rightly  stated. 

It  is  certain,  first,  that  this  power  does  not  depend  upon 
the  prince's  religion;  whether  he  is  a  Christian,  or  not;  or 
whether  he  is  of  a  true  or  a  false  religion :  or  is  a  good  or  a 
bad  man.  By  the  same  tenure  that  he  holds  his  sovereignty, 
he  holds  this  likewise.  Artaxerxes  had  it  as  well  as  either 
David  or  Solomon,  when  the  Jews  were  once  lawfully  his 
subjects ;  and  the  Christians  owed  the  same  duty  to  the  em- 
perors while  heathen,  that  they  paid  them  when  Christian. 
The  relations  of  nature,  such  as  that  of  a  parent  and  child, 
husband  and  wife,  continue  the  same  that  they  were,  whatso- 
ever men's  persuasions  in  matters  of  religion  may  be :  so  do 
also  civil  relations,  master  and  servant,  prince  and  subject : 
they  are  neither  increased  nor  diminished  by  the  truth  of 
their  sentiments  concerning  religion.  All  persons  are  subject 
to  the  prince's  authority,  and  liable  to  such  punishments  as 
their  crimes  fall  under  by  law.  '  Every  soul  is  subject  to  the 
higher  powers  :'  neither  is  treason  less  treason,  because  spoke 
in  a  pulpit  or  in  a  sermon  :  it  may  be  more  treason  for  that 
than  otherwise  it  would  be,  because  it  is  so  public  and  delibe- 
rate,  and  is  delivered  in  the  way  in  which  it  may  probably 
have  the  worst  effect.  So  that,  as  to  persons,  no  great  diffi- 
culty can  lie  in  this,  since  '  every  soul'  is  declared  to  be 
'  subject  to  the  higher  powers.' 

As  to  ecclesiastical  causes,  it  is  certain,  that  as  the  magis- 
trate cannot  make  void  the  laws  of  nature,  such  as  the 
authority  of  parents  over  their  children,  or  of  husbands  over 
their  wives,  so  neither  can  he  make  void  the  law  of  God: 
that  is  from  a  superior  authority,  and  cannot  be  dissolved  by 
him.  Where  a  thing  is  positively  commanded  or  forbid  by 
God,  the  magistrate  has  no  other  authority  but  that  of  exe- 
cuting the  laws  of  God,  of  adding  his  sanctions  to  them,  and 
of  using  his  utmost  industry  to  procure  obedience  to  them. 
He  cannot  alter  any  part  of  the  doctrine,  and  make  it  to  be 
either  truer  or  falser  than  it  is  in  itself ;  nor  can  he  either 
take  away  or  alter  the  sacraments,  or  break  any  of  those  rules 
that  are  given  in  the  New  Testament  about  them  ;  because  in 
all  these  the  authority  of  God  is  express,  and  is  certainly 
superior  to  his.  The  only  question  that  can  be  made,  is  con- 
cerning indifferent  things:  for  instance,  in  the  canons  or 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


507 


other  rules  of  the  church, how  far  they  are  in  the  magistrate's  ART. 
power,  and  in  what  cases  the  body  of  Christians,  and  of  the  xxxv* 
pastors  of  the  church,  may  maintain  their  union  among  them- 
selves, and  act  in  opposition  to  his  laws.  It  seems  very  clear, 
that  in  all  matters  that  are  indifferent,  and  are  determined  by 
no  law  of  God,  the  magistrate's  authority  must  take  place, 
and  is  to  be  obeyed.  The  church  has  no  authority  that  she 
can  maintain  in  opposition  to  the  magistrate,  but  in  the  exe- 
cuting the  laws  of  God  and  the  rules  of  the  gospel :  in  all 
other  things,  as  she  acts  under  his  protection,  so  it  is  by  his 
permission.  But  here  a  great  distinction  is  to  be  made  be- 
tween two  cases  that  may  happen :  the  one  is,  when  the 
magistrate  acts  like  one  that  intends  to  preserve  religion,  but 
commits  errors  and  acts  of  injustice  in  his  management;  the 
other  is,  when  he  acts  like  one  that  intends  to  destroy  reli- 
gion, and  to  divide  and  distract  those  that  profess  it.  In  the 
former  case,  every  thing  that  is  not  sinful  of  itself,  is  to  be 
done  in  compliance  with  his  authority ;  not  to  give  him  um- 
brage, nor  provoke  him  to  withdraw  his  protection,  and  to 
become,  instead  of  a  nursing  father,  a  persecutor  of  the 
church.  But  on  the  other  hand,  when  he  declares,  or  it  is 
visible,  that  his  design  is  to  destroy  the  faith,  less  regard  is  to 
be  had  to  his  actions.  The  people  may  adhere  to  their  pas- 
tors, and  to  every  method  that  may  fortify  them  in  their 
religion,  even  in  opposition  to  his  invasion.  Upon  the  whole 
matter,  the  power  of  the  king  in  ecclesiastical  matters  among 
us  is  expressed  in  this  Article  under  those  reserves,  and  with 
that  moderation,  that  no  just  scruple  can  lie  against  it;  and  it 
is  that  which  all  the  kings,  even  of  the  Roman  communion, 
do  assume,  and  in  some  places  with  a  much  more  unlimited 
authority.  The  methods  of  managing  it  may  differ  a  little ; 
yet  the  power  is  the  same,  and  is  built  upon  the  same  founda- 
tions. And  though  the  term  head  is  left  out  by  the  Article, 
yet  even  that  is  founded  on  an  expression  of  Samuel's  to 
Saul,  as  was  formerly  cited.  It  is  a  figure,  and  all  figures 
may  be  used  either  more  loosely  or  more  strictly.  In  the 
strictest  sense,  as  the  head  communicates  vital  influences  to 
the  whole  body,  Christ  is  the  only  head  of  his  church  ;  he 
only  ought  to  be  in  all  things  obeyed,  submitted  to,  and  de- 
pended on  ;  and  from  him  all  the  functions  and  offices  of  the 
church  derive  their  usefulness  and  virtue.  But  as  head  may 
in  a  figure  stand  for  the  fountain  of  order  and  government,  of 
protection  and  conduct,  the  king  or  queen  may  well  be  called 
the  head  of  the  church. 

The  next  paragraph  in  this  Article  is  concerning  the  law- 
fulness of  capital  punishments  in  Christian  societies.  It  has 
an  appearance  of  compassion  and  charity,  to  think  that  men 
ought  not  to  be  put  to  death  for  their  crimes,  but  to  be  kept 
alive,  that  they  may  repent  of  them.  Some,  both  ancients 
and  moderns,  have  thought  that  there  was  a  cruelty  in  all 


508 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  capital  punishments  that  was  inconsistent  with  the  gentleness 
XXXVII.  0f  the  gospel ;  but  when  we  consider  that  God,  in  that  law 
which  he  himself  delivered  to  the  Jews  by  the  hand  of  Moses, 
did  appoint  so  many  capital  punishments,  even  for  offences 
against  positive  precepts,  we  cannot  think  that  these  are  con- 
trary to  justice  or  true  goodness  ;  since  they  were  dictated  bv 
God  himself,  who  is  eternally  the  same,  unalterable  in  his 
perfections.  This  shews  that  God,  who  knows  most  perfectly 
our  frame  and  disposition,  knows  that  the  love  of  life  is 
planted  so  deep  in  our  natures,  and  that  it  has  such  a  root 
there,  that  nothing  can  work  so  powerfully  on  us,  to  govern 
and  restrain  us,  as  the  fear  of  death.  And  therefore,  since  the 
main  thing  that  is  to  be  considered  in  government  is  the 
good  of  the  whole  body ;  and  since  a  feeble  indulgence  and 
impunity  may  set  mankind  loose  into  great  disorders,  from 
which  the  terror  of  severer  laws,  together  with  such  examples 
as  are  made  on  the  incorrigible,  will  naturally  restrain  them  ; 
it  seems  necessary,  for  the  preservation  of  mankind  and  of 
society,  to  have  recourse  sometimes  to  capital  punishments. 

The  precedent  that  God  set  in  the  Mosaical  law  seems  a 
full  justification  of  such  punishments  under  the  gospel.  The 
charity,  which  the  gospel  prescribes,  does  not  take  away  the 
rules  of  justice  and  equity,  by  which  we  may  maintain  our 
possessions,  or  recover  them  out  of  the  hands  of  violent  ag- 
gressors :  only  it  obliges  us  to  do  that  in  a  soft  and  gentle 
manner,  without  rigour  or  resentment.  The  same  charity, 
though  it  obliges  us,  as  Christians,  not  to  keep  up  hatred  or 
anger  in  our  hearts,  but  to  pardon,  as  to  our  own  parts,  the 
wrongs  that  are  done  us  ;  yet  it  does  not  oblige  us  to  throw 
up  the  order  and  peace  of  mankind,  and  abandon  it  to  the 
injustice  and  violence  of  wicked  men.  We  owe  to  human 
society,  and  to  the  safety  and  order  of  the  world,  our  endea- 
vours to  put  a  stop  to  the  wickedness  of  men  ;  which  a  good 
man  may  do  with  great  inward  tenderness  to  the  souls  of 
those  whom  he  prosecutes.  It  is  highly  probable,  that  as 
nothing  besides  such  a  method  could  stop  the  progress  of  in- 
justice and  wickedness,  so  nothing  is  so  likely  a  mean  to  bring 
the  criminal  to  repent  of  his  sins,  and  to  fit  him  to  die  as  a 
Christian,  as  to  condemn  him  to  die  for  his  crimes ;  if  any 
thing  can  awaken  his  conscience,  and  strike  terror  in  him,  that 
will  do  it.  Therefore,  as  capital  punishments  are  necessary 
to  human  society,  so  they  are  often  real  blessings  to  those  on 
whom  they  fall;  and  it  may  be  affirmed  very  positively,  that  a 
man  who  can  harden  himself  against  the  terrors  of  death, 
when  they  come  upon  him  so  solemnly,  so  slowly,  and  so 
certainly,  he  being  in  full  health,  and  well  able  to  reflect  on 
the  consequences  of  it,  is  not  like  to  be  wrought  on  by  a 
longer  continuance  of  life,  or  by  the  methods  of  a  natural 
death. 

It  is  not  possible  to  fix  rules,  to  which  capital  punishments 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


509 


ought  to  be  proportioned.    It  is  certain,  that,  in  a  full  ^j"". 

equality,  life  only  can  be  set  against  life:  but  there  may  be  ; 

many  other  crimes,  that  must  end  in  the  ruin  of  society,  and 
in  the  dissolution  of  all  order,  and  all  the  commerce  that 
ought  to  be  among  men,  if  they  go  unpunished.  In  this  all 
princes  and  states  must  judge  according  to  the  real  exigencies 
and  necessities  that  appear  to  them.  Nor  can  any  general  rule 
be  made,  save  only  this,  that  since  man  was  made  after  the 
image  of  God,  and  that  the  life  of  man  is  precious,  and  when 
once  extinguished  it  ceases  for  evermore ;  therefore  all  due 
care  and  tenderness  ought  to  be  had  in  preserving  it ;  and 
since  the  end  of  government  is  the  preservation  of  mankind, 
therefore  the  lives  of  men  ought  not  to  be  too  lightly  taken, 
except  as  it  appears  to  be  necessary  for  the  preservation  and 
safety  of  the  society. 

Under  the  Gospel,  as  well  as  under  the  Law,  the  magistrate 
is  the  'minister  of  God,'  and  has  the  sword  put  in  his  hand;  Rom- 
which  e  he  beareth  not  in  vain,'  for  he  is  appointed  to  be  '  a 
revenger,  to  execute  wrath  on  him  that  doeth  evil.'  The 
natural  signification  of  his  carrying  the  sword  is,  that  he  has 
an  authority  for  punishing  capitally ;  since  it  is  upon  those 
occasions  only  that  he  can  be  said  to  use  the  sword  as  a 
revenger.  Nor  can  Christian  charity  oblige  a  man,  whom  the 
law  has  made  to  be  the  avenger  of  blood,  or  of  other  crimes, 
to  refuse  to  comply  with  that  obligation  which  is  laid  upon 
him  by  the  constitution  under  which  he  is  born  ;  he  can  only 
forgive  that  of  which  he  is  the  master,  but  the  other  is  a  debt 
which  he  owes  the  society ;  and  his  private  forgiving  of  the 
wrong  done  himself,  does  not  reach  to  that  other  obligation, 
which  is  not  in  his  own  power  to  give  away. 

The  last  paragraph  in  this  Article  is  concerning  the  lawful- 
ness of  wars.  Some  have  thought  all  wars  to  be  contrary  to 
Christian  charity,  to  be  inhuman  and  barbarous ;  and  that 
therefore  men  ought,  according  to  the  rule  set  us  by  our 
Saviour,  '  not  to  resist  evil ;'  but  when  one  injury  is  done,  Matt.v.39. 
not  only  to  bear  it,  but  to  shew  a  readiness  rather  to  receive 
new  ones  ;  '  turning  the  other  cheek  to  him  that  smites  us  on 
the  one  ;  going  two  miles  with  him  that  shall  compel  us  to  go  Ver.  40. 
one  with  him  ;  and  giving  our  cloak  to  him  that  shall  take 
away  our  coat.'  It  seems  just,  that,  by  a  parity  of  reason, 
societies  should  be  under  the  same  obligations  to  bear  from 
other  societies,  that  single  persons  are  under  to  other  single 
persons.  This  must  be  acknowledged  to  be  a  very  great 
difficulty ;  for  as,  on  the  one  hand,  the  words  of  our  Saviour 
seem  to  be  very  express  and  full ;  so,  on  the  other  hand,  if 
they  are  to  be  understood  literally,  they  must  cast  the  world 
loose,  and  expose  it  to  the  injustice  and  insolence  of  wicked 
persons,  who  would  not  fail  to  take  advantages  from  such  a 
compliance  and  submission.  Therefore  these  words  must  be 
considered,  first,  as  addressed  to  private  persons;  then,  as 


510 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  relating  to  smaller  injuries,  which  can  more  easily  he  home ; 
XX XVli.  an^  finally,  as  phrases  and  forms  of  speech,  that  are  not  to 
he  carried  to  the  utmost  extent,  but  to  be  construed  with 
that  softening  that  is  to  be  allowed  to  the  use  of  a  phrase. 
So  that  the  meaning  of  that  section  of  our  Saviour's  sermon 
is  to  be  taken  thus  ;  that  private  persons  ought  to  be  so  far 
from  pursuing  injuries,  to  the  equal  retaliation  of  an  '  eye  for 
an  eye,  or  a  tooth  for  a  tooth,'  that  they  ought  in  many  cases 
to  bear  injuries,  without  either  resisting  them,  or  making 
returns  of  evil  for  evil;  shewing  a  patience  to  bear  even 
repeated  injuries,  when  the  matter  is  small  and  the  wrong 
tolerable. 

Under  all  this,  secret  conditions  are  to  be  understood, 
such  as  when  by  such  our  patience  we  may  hope  e  to  over- 
come evil  with  good ;'  or  at  least  to  shew  to  the  world  the 
power  that  religion  has  over  us,  to  check  and  subdue  our 
resentments.  In  this  case  certainly  we  ought  to  sacrifice  our 
just  rights,  either  of  defence,  or  of  seeking  reparation,  to  the 
honour  of  religion,  and  to  the  gaining  of  men  by  such  an 
heroical  instance  of  virtue.  But  it  cannot  be  supposed  that 
our  Saviour  meant  that  good  men  should  deliver  themselves 
up  to  be  a  prey  to  be  devoured  by  bad  men :  or  to  oblige  his 
followers  to  renounce  their  claims  to  the  protection  and  repa- 
rations of  law  and  justice. 

In  this  St.  Paul  gives  us  a  clear  commentary  on  our 
i  Cor.  vi.  Saviour's  words  :  he  reproves  the  Corinthians  '  for  going  to 
6-  7-  law  with  one  another,  and  that  before  unbelievers ;'  when  it 
was  so  great  a  scandal  to  the  Christian  religion  in  its  first 
infancy.  He  savs,  '  Why  do  not  ye  take  wrong?  Why  do 
not  ye  suffer  yourselves  to  be  defrauded  ?'  Yet  he  does  not 
deny,  but  that  they  might  claim  their  rights,  and  seek  for 
redress ;  therefore  he  proposes  their  doing  it  by  arbitration 
among  themselves,  and  only  urges  the  scandal  of  suing  before 
heathen  magistrates ;  so  that  his  reproof  did  not  fall  on  their 
suing  one  another,  but  on  the  scandalous  manner  of  doing  it. 
Therefore  men  are  not  bound  up  by  the  gospel  from  seeking 
relief  before  a  Christian  judge,  and,  by  consequence,  those 
words  of  our  Saviour's  are  not  to  be  urged  in  the  utmost 
extent  of  which  they  are  capable.  If  private  persons  may 
seek  reparation  of  one  another,  they  may  also  seek  reparations 
of  the  wrongs  that  are  done  by  those  who  are  under  another 
obedience ;  and  every  prince  owes  a  protection  to  his  people 
in  such  cases  ;  for  '  he  beareth  not  the  sword  in  vain  ;'  he  is 
their  avenger.  He  may  demand  reparation  by  such  forms  as 
are  agreed  on  among  nations ;  and,  when  that  is  not  granted, 
he  may  take  such  reparation  from  any  that  are  under  that 
obedience,  as  may  oblige  the  whole  body  to  repair  the  injury. 
Much  more  may  he  use  the  sword  to  protect  his  subjects,  if 
any  other  comes  to  invade  them.  For  this  end  chierly  he 
has  both  the  sword  given  him,  and  those  taxes  paid  him,  that 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


511 


may  enable  him  to  support  the  charge,  to  which  the  use  of  it  A  R  T, 
may  put  him.  And  as  a  private  man  owes,  by  the  ties  of  XXXVI1 
humanity,  assistance  to  a  man  whom  he  sees  in  the  hands  of 
thieves  and  murderers ;  so  princes  may  assist  such  other 
princes  as  are  unjustly  fallen  upon,  both  out  of  humanity  to 
him  who  is  so  ill  used,  and  to  repress  the  insolence  of  an 
unjust  aggressor,  and  also  to  secure  the  whole  neighbourhood 
from  the  effects  of  success  in  such  unlawful  conquests.  Upon 
all  these  accounts  we  do  not  doubt  but  that  wars,  which  are 
thus  originally,  as  to  the  first  occasion  of  them,  defensive, 
though  in  the  progress  of  them  they  must  be  often  offensive, 
may  be  lawful. 

God  allowed  of  wars  in  that  policy  which  he  himself  consti- 
tuted ;  in  which  we  are  to  make  a  great  difference  between 
those  things  that  were  permitted  by  reason  of  the  hardness  of 
their  hearts,  and  those  things  which  were  expressly  com- 
manded of  God.  These  last  can  never  be  supposed  to  be 
immoral  since  commanded  by  God,  whose  precepts  and  judg- 
ments are  altogether  righteous.  When  the  soldiers  came  to 
be  baptized  of  St.  John,  he  did  not  charge  them  to  relinquish 
that  course  of  life,  but  only  to  '  do  violence  to  no  man,  to  ac-  Lukeiii  j 
cuse  no  man  falsely,  and  to  be  content  with  their  wages.'  Nor  Acts  x. 
did  St.  Peter  charge  Cornelius  to  foFsake  his  post  when  he 
baptized  him.  The  primitive  Christians  thought  they  might 
continue  in  military  employments,  in  which  they  preserved 
the  purity  of  their  religion  entire ;  as  appears  both  from  Ter- 
tullian's  works,  and  from  the  history  of  Julian's  short  reign. 
But  though  wars,  that  are  in  their  own  nature  only  defensive, 
are  lawful,  and  a  part  of  the  protection  that  princes  owe  their 
people ;  yet  unjust  wars,  designed  for  making  conquests,  for 
the  enlargement  of  empire,  and  the  raising  the  glory  of 
princes,  are  certainly  public  robberies,  and  the  highest  acts  of 
injustice  and  violence  possible;  in  which  men  sacrifice  to 
their  pride  or  humour  the  peace  of  the  world,  and  the  lives  of 
all  those  that  die  in  the  quarrel,  whose  blood  God  will  require 
at  their  hands.  Such  princes  become  accountable  to  God,  in 
the  highest  degree  imaginable,  for  all  the  rapine  and  blood- 
shed that  is  occasioned  by  their  pride  and  injustice. 

When  it  is  visible  that  a  war  is  unjust,  certainly  no  man  of 
conscience  can  serve  in  it,  unless  it  be  in  the  defensive  part : 
for  though  no  man  can  owe  that  to  his  prince  to  go  and 
murder  other  persons  at  his  command,  yet  he  may  owe  it  to 
his  country  to  assist  towards  its  preservation,  from  being 
overrun  even  by  those  whom  his  prince  has  provoked  by 
making  war  on  them  unjustly.  For  even  in  such  a  war, 
though  it  is  unlawful  to  serve  in  the  attacks  that  are  made  on 
others,  it  is  still  lawful  for  the  people  of  every  nation  to  de- 
fend themselves  against  foreigners. 

There  is  no  cause  of  war  more  unjust,  than  the  propagating 
the  true  religion,  or  the  destroying  a  false  one.  That  is  to  be 


512 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A  R  T.  left  to  the  providence  of  God,  who  can  change  the  hearts  of 
XXMI.  merij  ancj  bring  them  to  the  knowledge  of  the  truth,  when  he 
will.  Ambition,  and  the  desire  of  empire,  must  never  pretend 
to  carry  on  God's  work.  'The  wrath  of  man  worketh  not 
out  the  righteousness  of  God.'  And  it  were  better  bare- 
facedly to  own  that  men  are  set  on  by  carnal  motives,  than  to 
profane  religion,  and  the  name  of  God,  by  making  it  the 
pretence. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


513 


ART. 
XXXVIII. 

ARTICLE  XXXVIII.   

Of  Christian  Men's  Goods,  which  are  not  common. 

©he  JxicfotS  anil  ©ootfS  of  Christians  art  not  common,  as  touching 
the  3£Ught,  Citlc,  antl  possession  of  the  Same ;  as  certain  2lna* 
baptists  "Ho  falSeli)  boast.  jSonDitrjStantfing,  e&rrjj  ;fHan  ought 
of  SucI)  Chings  as  be  posscssetb,  libcralln  to  gibe  8lmS  to  tlje 
Poor,  according  to  his  Sbilitn. 

There  is  no  great  difficulty  in  this  Article,  as  there  is 
no  danger  to  he  apprehended  that  the  opinion  condemned 
hy  it  is  like  to  spread.  Those  may  be  for  it,  who  find  it 
for  them.  The  poor  may  lay  claim  to  it,  but  few  of  the  rich 
will  ever  go  into  it.  The  whole  charge  that  is  given  in  the 
scripture  for  charity  and  almsgiving ;  all  the  rules  that  are 
given  to  the  rich,  and  to  masters,  to  whom  their  servants 
were  then  properties  and  slaves,  do  clearly  demonstrate  that 
the  gospel  was  not  designed  to  introduce  a  community  of 
goods.  And  even  that  fellowship  or  community,  which  was 
practised  in  the  first  beginnings  of  it,  was  the  effect  of  par- 
ticular men's  charity,  and  not  of  any  law  that  was  laid  on 
them.  '  Barnahus  having  land,  sold  it,  and  laid  the  price  Acts  iv. 
of  it  at  the  apostles'  feet.'  And  when  St.  Peter  chid  Ananias  36,37. 
for  having  vowed  to  give  in  the  whole  price  of  his  land  to 
that  distribution,  and  then  withdrawing  a  part  of  it,  and,  by 
a  lie,  pretending  that  he  had  brought  it  all  in ;  he  affirmed  Acts  v.  3, 
that  the  right  was  still  in  him,  till  he  by  a  vow  had  put  it  out  4- 
of  his  power.  When  God  fed  his  people  by  miracle  with  the 
manna,  there  was  an  equal  distribution  made ;  yet,  when  he 
brought  them  into  the  promised  land,  every  man  had  his  pro- 
perty. The  equal  division  of  the  land  was  the  foundation  of 
that  constitution ;  but  still  every  man  had  a  property,  and 
might  improve  it  by  his  industry,  either  to  the  increasing  of 
his  stock,  the  purchasing  houses  in  towns,  or  buying  of 
estates,  till  the  redemption  at  the  jubilee. 

It  can  never  be  thought  a  just  and  equitable  thing,  that  the 
sober  and  industrious  should  be  bound  to  share  the  fruits  of 
their  labour  with  the  idle  and  luxurious.  This  would  be  such 
an  encouragement  to  those  whom  all  wise  governments  ought 
to  discourage,  and  would  so  discourage  those  who  ought  to 
be  encouraged,  that  all  the  order  of  the  world  must  be  dis- 
solved, if  so  extravagant  a  conceit  should  be  entertained. 
Both  the  rich  and  the  poor  have  rules  given  them,  and  there 
are  virtues  suitable  to  each  state  of  life.  The  rich  ought  to  be 
sober  and  thankful,  modest  and  humble,  bountiful  and  cha- 
ritable, out  of  the  abundance  that  God  has  given  them,  and 
not  to  set  their  hearts  upon  uncertain  richesj.  but  to  trust  in 

2  L 


514 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


A RT.  the  living  God,  and  to  make  the  best  use  of  them  that  they 
tXXl  III.  can>    rpj^e  pOQr  0Ug}!t  to  be  patient  and  industrious,  to 
submit  to  the  providence  of  God,  and  to  study  to  make  sure 
of  a  better  portion  in  another  state,  than  God  has  thought  fit 
to  give  them  in  this  world. 

It  will  be  much  easier  to  persuade  the  world  of  the  truth 
of  the  first  part  of  this  Article,  than  to  bring  them  up  to  the 
practice  of  the  second  branch  of  it.  We  see  what  particular 
care  God  took  of  the  poor  in  the  old  dispensation,  and  what 
variety  of  provision  was  made  for  them ;  all  which  must  cer- 
tainly be  carried  as  much  higher  among  Christians,  as  the  laws 
of  love  and  charity  are  raised  to  a  higher  degree  in  the  gospel. 
Christ  represents  the  essay  that  he  gives  of  the  day  of  judg- 
ment, in  this  article  of  charity,  and  expresses  it  in  the  most 
emphatical  words  possible  ;  as  if  what  is  given  to  the  poor 
were  to  be  reckoned  for  as  if  it  had  been  given  personally  to 
Christ  himself ;  and  in  a  great  variety  of  other  passages  this 
matter  is  so  often  insisted  on,  that  no  man  can  resist  it  who 
reads  them,  and  acknowledges  the  authority  of  the  New 
Testament. 

It  is  not  possible  to  fix  a  determined  quota,  as  was  done 
under  the  Law,  in  which  every  family  had  their  peculiar  allot- 
ment, which  had  a  certain  charge  specified  in  the  Law,  that 
was  laid  upon  it.  But  under  the  Gospel,  as  men  may  be 
under  greater  inequalities  of  fortune  than  they  could  have 
been  under  the  old  dispensation;  so  that  vast  variety  of  men's 
circumstances  makes  that  such  proportions  as  would  be  into- 
lerable burdens  upon  some,  would  be  too  light  aud  dispro- 
portioned  to  the  wealth  of  others.  Those  words  of  our  Sa- 
viour come  pretty  near  the  marking  out  every  man's  measure. 
Luke  xxi.  'These  have  of  their  abundance  cast  into  the  offerings  of 
4.  God ;  but  she  of  her  penury  hath  cast  in  all  the  living  that 

she  had/  Abundance  is  superfluity  in  the  Greek,  which  im- 
Prov.  xxx.  ports  that  which  is  over  and  above  the  '  food  that  is  con- 
8<  venient ;'  that  which  one  can  well  spare  and  lay  aside.  Now, 

by  our  Saviour's  design,  it  plainly  appears,  that  this  is  a  low 
degree  of  charity,  when  men  give  only  out  of  this :  though, 
God  knows,  it  is  far  beyond  what  is  done  by  the  greater  part 
of  Christians.  Whereas  that  which  is  so  peculiarly  acceptable 
to  God  is  when  men  give  out  of  their  penury,  that  is,  out  of 
what  is  necessary  to  them ;  when  they  are  ready,  especially 
upon  great  and  crying  occasions,  even  to  pinch  nature,  and 
straiten  themselves  within  what  upon  other  occasions  they 
may  allow  themselves ;  that  so  they  may  distribute  to  the 
necessities  of  others,  who  are  more  pinched,  and  are  in  great 
extremities.  By  this  every  man  ought  to  judge  himself,  as 
knowing  that  he  must  give  a  most  particular  account  to  God, 
of  that  which  God  hath  reserved  to  himself,  and  ordered  the 
distribution  of  it  to  the  poor,  out  of  all  that  abundance  with 
which  he  has  biased  some  far  beyond  others. 


a 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES.  515 


ART. 
XXXIX. 

ARTICLE  XXXIX.   


Of  a  Christian  Man's  Oath. 


3s  toe  confess  that  bam  antt  rash  J^tocaring  is  fori) fatten  Christian 
fHen  bu  our  Hortt  3)cSuS  Christ,  autt  James  his  Spogtlc;  So  toe 
juttgc  tljat  Christian  Bcligtou  ttoth  not  prohibit,  but  that  a  fHan 
may  Stoear  tohcu  the  fHagistrate  vccmiretb,  in  a  Cause  of  dfaith 
antt  Charity,  So  it  be  ttouc  accorttiug  to  the  prophet's  teaching, 
in  justice,  Shfagmcnt,  antt  Cruth. 

An  oath  is  an  appeal  to  God,  either  upon  a  testimony  that  is 
given,  or  a  promise  that  is  made,  confirming  the  truth  of  the 
one,  and  the  fidelity  of  the  other.  It  is  an  appeal  to  God, 
who  knows  all  things,  and  will  judge  all  men :  so  it  is  an  act 
that  acknowledges  both  his  omniscience,  and  his  being  the 
Governor  of  this  world,  who  will  judge  all  at  the  last  day  ac- 
cording to  their  deeds,  and  must  be  supposed  to  have  a  more 
immediate  regard  to  such  acts,  in  which  men  made  him  a 
party.  An  appeal  truly  made,  is  a  committing  the  matter  to 
God :  a  false  one  is  an  act  of  open  defiance,  which  must 
either  suppose  a  denial  of  his  knowing  all  things,  or  a  belief 
that  he  has  forsaken  the  earth,  and  has  no  regard  to  the 
actions  of  mortals :  or,  finally,  it  is  a  bold  venturing  on  the 
justice' and  wrath  of  God,  for  the  serving  some  present  end, 
or  the  gaining  of  some  present  advantage:  and  which  of  these 
soever  gives  a  man  that  brutal  confidence  of  adventuring  on 
a  false  oath,  we  must  conclude  it  to  be  a  very  crying  sin ; 
which  must  be  expiated  with  a  very  severe  repentance,  or  will 
bring  down  very  terrible  judgments  on  those  who  are  guilty 
of  it. 

Thus,  if  we  consider  the  matter  upon  the  principles  of 
natural  religion,  an  oath  is  an  act  of  worship  and  homage 
done  to  God ;  and  is  a  very  powerful  mean  for  preserving 
the  justice  and  order  of  the  world.  All  decisions  in  justice 
must  be  founded  upon  evidence;  two  must  be  believed  rather 
than  one ;  therefore  the  more  terror  that  is  struck  into  the 
minds  of  men,  either  when  they  give  their  testimony,  or  when 
they  bind  themselves  by  promises,  and  the  deeper  that  this 
goes,  it  will  both  oblige  them  to  the  greater  caution  in  what 
they  say,  and  to  the  greater  strictness  in  what  they  promise. 
Since  therefore  truth  and  fidelity  are  so  necessary  to  the 
security  and  commerce  of  the  world,  and  since  an  appeal  to 
God  is  the  greatest  mean  that  can  be  thought  on  to  bind 
men  to  an  exactness  and  strictness  in  every  thing  with  which 
that  appeal  is  joined;  therefore  the  use  of  an  oath  is  fully 
iustified  upon  the  principles  of  natural  religion.  This  has 
spread  itself  so  universally  through  the  world,  and  began  so 

2  L  2 


516 


AN  EXPOSITION  OF 


ART.  early,  that  it  may  well  be  reckoned  a  branch  of  the  law  and 
XXXIX.  light  of  nature. 

We  find  this  was  practised  by  the  patriarchs ;  Abimelech 
Gen.xxi.  reckoned  that  he  was  safe,  if  he  could  persuade  Abraham  to 
23-         swear  to  him  by  God,  that  he  would  not  deal  falsely  with 
xxvi.  28.  nim  .  anci  Abraham  consented  so  to  swear.    Either  the  same 
Abimelech,  or  another  of  that  name,  desired  that  an  oatli 
might  be  between  Isaac  and  him ;  and  '  they  sware  one  to 
«xi.  53.  another.'    Jacob  did  also  swear  to  Laban.    Thus  we  find  the 
patriarchs  practising  this  before  the  Mosaical  Law.  Under 
that  Law  we  find  many  covenants  sealed  by  an  oath ;  and 
j5Slj'9lx'&  that  was  a  sacred  bond,  as  appears  from  the  story  of  the 
2  Sam!xxi.  Gibeonites.    There  was  also  a  special  constitution  in  the 
1«  Jewish  religion,  by  which  one  in  authority  might  put  others 

under  an  oath,  and  adjure  them  either  to  do  somewhat,  or  to 
Lev.  v.  l.  declare  some  truth.     The  law  was,  that  'when  any  soul 
(i.  e.  man)  sinned,  and  heard  the  voice  of  swearing  (adjura- 
tion), and  was  a  witness  whether  he  hath  seen  it,  or  known 
it,  if  he  do  not  utter  it,  then  he  shall  bear  his  iniquity  ;'  that 
is,  he  shall  be  guilty  of  perjury.    So  the  form  then  was,  the 
judge  or  the  parents  did  adjure  all  persons  to  declare  their 
knowledge  of  any  particular.    They  charged  this  upon  them 
with  an  oath  or  curse,  and  all  persons  were  then  bound  by 
Judg.  xvii.  that  oath  to  tell  the  truth.    So  Micah  came  and  confessed, 
2l  upon  his  mother's  adjuration,  that  he  had  the  eleven  hundred 

shekels,  for  which  he  heard  her  put  all  under  a  curse  : 
1  Sam.  xiv.  and  upon  that  she  blessed  him.    Saul,  when  he  was  pursu- 
24,28,  44.  jng  the  Philistines,  put  the  people  under  a  curse,  if  they 
should  eat  any  food  till  night ;  and  this  was  thought  to  be  so 
obligatory,  that  the  violation  of  it  was  capital,  and  Jonathan 
Matt.  «vi.  was  put  in  hazard  of  his  life  upon  it.    Thus  the  high  priest 
63'  64'     put  our  Saviour  under  the  oath  of  cursing,  when  he  required 
him  to  tell,  whether  he  was  the  Messias  or  not  ?  Upon 
which  our  Saviour  was,  according  to  that  law,  upon  his  oath ; 
and  though  he  had  continued  silent  till  then,  as  long  as  it 
was  free  to  him  to  speak  or  not,  at  his  pleasure ;  yet  then  he 
was  bound  to  speak,  and  so  he  did  speak,  and  owned  himself 
to  be  what  he  truly  was. 

This  was  the  form  of  that  constitution:  but  if,  by  practice, 
it  were  found  that  men's  pronouncing  the  words  of  the  oath 
themselves,  when  required  by  a  person  in  authority  to  do  it ; 
and  that  such  actions,  as  their  lifting  up  their  hand  to  heaven, 
or  their  laying  it  on  a  Bible,  as  importing  their  sense  of  the 
terrors  contained  in  that  book,  were  like  to  mal  e  a  deeper 
impresssion  on  them,  than  barely  the  judge's  charging  them 
with  the  oath  or  curse ;  it  seems  to  be  within  the  c  ^mpass  of 
human  authority,  to  change  the  rites  and  manner  of  this  oath, 
and  to  put  it  in  such  a  method  as  might  probably  work  most 
on  the  minds  of  those  who  were  to  take  it.  The  institution 
in  general  is  plain,  and  the  making  of  such  alterations  seems 
to  be  clearly  in  the  power  of  any  state,  or  society  of  men. 


THE  XXXIX  ARTICLES. 


517 


In  the  New  Testament  we  find  St.  Paul  prosecuting  a  dis-  ART. 
course  concerning  the  oath,  which  God  sware  to  Abraham,  XXXIX- 
'who,  not  having  a  greater  to  swear  by,  swore  by  himself;'  Heb.vi.13, 
and  to  enforce  the  importance  of  that,  it  is  added,  '  an  oath  14,  15. 
for  confirmation  (that  is,  for  the  affirming  or  assuring  of  any  Ver* 16- 
thing)  is  the  end  of  all  controversy.'    Which  plainly  shews 
us  what  notion  the  author  of  that  Epistle  had  of  an  oath ;  he 
did  not  consider  it  as  an  impiety  or  profanation  of  the  name 
of  God. 

In  St.  John's  visions  an  angel  is  represented  as  '  lifting  up  Rev.  x.  5, 
his  hand,  a-:d  swearing  by  him  that  liveth  for  ever  and  ever :'  6- 
and  the  apostles,  even  in  their  Epistles,  that  are  acknow- 
ledged to  be  writ  by  divine  inspiration,  do  frequently  appeal 
to  God  in  these  words,  '  God  is  witness ;'  which  contain  the  Rom.  i.  9. 
whole  essence  of  an  oath.    Once  St.  Paul  carries  the  expres-  Ga,,i-  20- 
sion  to  a  form  of  imprecation,  when  he  calls  'God  to  record 2Cor-1-23, 
upon  (or  against)  his  soul.' 

These  seem  to  be  authorities  beyond  exception,  justifying 
the  us: ■  of  an  oath  upon  a  great  occasion,  or  before  a  com- 
petent authority ;  according  to  that  prophecy  quoted  in  the 
Article,  which  is  thought  to  relate  to  the  times  of  the  Mes- 
sias:  'And  thou  shalt  swear,  The  Lord  liveth,  in  truth,  in  ,T''* 
judgment,  and  in  righteousness ;  and  the  nations  shall  bless 
themselves  in  him,  and  in  him  shall  they  glory.'  These  last 
words  seem  evidently  to  relate  to  the  days  of  the  Messiah: 
so  here  an  oath  religiously  taken  is  represented  as  a  part  of 
that  worship,  which  all  nations  shall  offer  up  to  God  under 
the  new  dispensation. 

Against  all  this  the  great  objection  is,  that  when  Christ  is 
correcting  the  glosses  that  the  Pharisees  put  upon  the  law, 
whereas  they  only  taught  that  men  '  should  not  forswear 
themselves,  but  perform  their  oaths  unto  the  Lord;'  our  Sa- 
viour says,  '  Swear  not  at  all ;  neither  by  the  heaven,  nor  the  341.37' 
earth,  nor  by  Jerusalem,  nor  by  the  head ;  but  let  your 
communication  be  yea,  yea,  and  nay,  nay ;  for  whatsoever  is 
more  than  these,  cometh  of  evil.'  And  St.  James,  speaking 
of  the  enduring  afflictions,  and  of  the  patience  of  Job,  adds, 
'But  above  all  things,  my  brethren,  swear  not;  neither  by  Jam. v.  12. 
the  heaven,  neither  by  the  earth,  neither  by  any  other  oath ; 
but  let  your  yea  be  yea,  and  your  nay,  nay ;  lest  ye  fall  into 
condemnation.'  It  must  be  confessed  that  these  words  seem 
to  be  so  express  and  positive,  that  great  regard  is  to  be  had 
to  a  scruple  that  is  founded  on  an  authority  that  seems  to 
he  so  full.  But  according  to  what  was  formerly  observed  of 
the  manner  of  the  judiciary  oaths  among  the  Jews,  these 
words  cannot  belong  to  them.  Those  oaths  were  bound 
upon  the  party  by  the  authority  of  the  judge ;  in  which  he 
was  passive,  and  so  could  not  help  his  being  put  under  an 
oath :  whereas  our  Saviour's  words  relate  only  to  those  oaths 
which  a  man  took  voluntarily  on  himself,  but  not  to  those 


518 


AN  EXPOSITION,  &c. 


A  R  T.  under  which  he  was  Dound,  according  to  the  law  of  God.  If 
lXXIX-  our  Saviour  had  intended  to  have  forhidden  all  judiciary- 
oaths,  he  must  have  annulled  that  part  of  the  authority  of 
magistrates  and  parents,  and  have  forbid  them  to  put  others 
under  oaths.  The  word  communication,  that  comes  after- 
wards, seems  to  be  a  key  to  our  Saviour's  words,  to  shew 
that  they  ought  only  to  be  applied  to  their  communication 
or  commerce ;  to  those  discourses  that  pass  among  men,  in 
which  it  is  out  too  customary  to  give  oaths  a  very  large  share. 
Or  since  the  words  that  went  before,  concerning  the  perform- 
ing of  vows,  seem  to  limit  the  discourse  to  them,  the  mean- 
ing of  c  swear  not  at  all,'  may  be  this ;  Be  not  ready,  as  the 
Jews  were,  to  make  vows  on  all  occasions,  to  devote  them- 
selves or  others  :  instead  of  those,  he  requires  them  to  use  a 
greater  simplicity  in  their  communication.  And  St.  James's 
words  may  be  also  very  fitly  applied  to  this,  since  men  in 
their  afflictions  are  apt  to  make  very  indiscreet  vows,  without 
considering  whether  they  either  can,  or  probably  will,  pay 
them ;  as  if  thev  would  pretend  by  such  profuse  vows  to 
overcome  or  corrupt  God. 

This  sense  will  well  agree  both  to  our  Saviour's  words  and 
to  St.  James's ;  and  it  seems  most  reasonable  to  believe 
that  this  is  their  true  sense,  for  it  agrees  with  every  thing 
else ;  whereas,  if  we  understand  them  in  that  strict  sense  of 
condemning  all  oaths,  we  cannot  tell  what  to  make  of  those 
oaths  which  occur  in  several  passages  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles : 
and  least  of  all,  what  to  say  to  our  Saviour's  own  answering 
upon  oath,  when  adjured.  Therefore  all  rash  and  vain  swear- 
ing, all  swearing  in  the  communication  or  intercourse  of 
mankind,  is  certainly  condemned,  as  well  as  all  imprecatory 
vows.  But  since  we  have  so  great  authorities  from  the 
scriptures  in  both  Testaments  for  other  oaths ;  and  since  that 
agrees  so  evidently  with  the  principles  of  natural  religion,  we 
may  conclude  with  the  Article,  that  a  man  may  swear  when 
the  magistrate  requireth  it.  It  is  added,  in  a  cause  of  faith 
and  charity;  for  certainly,  in  trifling  matters,  such  reverence 
is  due  to  the  holy  name  of  God,  that  swearing  ought  to  be 
avoided :  but  when  it  is  necessary,  it  ought  to  be  set  about 
with  those  regards  that  are  due  to  the  great  God,  who  is 
appealed  to.  A  gravity  of  deportment,  and  an  exactness  of 
weighing  the  truth  of  what  we  say,  are  highly  necessary  here : 
certainly,  our  words  ought  to  be  few,  and  our  hearts  full  of 
the  apprehensions  of  the  majesty  of  that  God,  with  whom  we 
have  to  do,  before  whom  we  stand,  and  to  whom  we  appeal, 
who  knows  all  things,  '  and  will  bring  every  work  to  judg- 
ment, with  every  secret  thing,  whether  it  be  good,  or  whether 
it  be  evil/ 


519 


APPENDIX. 


No.  1. 

THE  AUGSBURG  CONFESSION. 


To  the  short  account  of  this  confession  already  given,*  the  Editor  is  induced  to  add 
the  following  particulars.f 

'  The  Augsburg  confession  was  prepared  for  the  twofold  purpose  of  rebutting 
the  slanders  of  the  papists,  and  of  publishing  to  Europe  the  doctrines  of  the  re- 
formers.   The  emperor  Charles  V.,  in  order  to  terminate  the  disputes  between  tha 
pope  and  the  princes  who  favoured  the  Reformation,  which  tended  to  distract  his 
empire  by  civil  discord,  and  threw  a  formidable  barrier  into  the  way  of  his  am- 
bitious projects,  had  ordered  the  convention  of  a  Diet,  at  Augsburg,  and  promised 
his  personal  attendance.    The  pope,  also,  who  had  long  been  pressing  on  the 
emperor  the  adoption  of  violent  measures  to  suppress  the  obstinate  heretics,  as  the 
holy  father  termed  them,  cherished  the  flattering  expectation  that  this  diet  would 
give  a  death-blow  to  the  Protestant  cause.    Encouraged  by  the  promise  of  im- 
partial audience  from  the  emperor,  the  elector  of  Saxony  charged  Luther,  Melanc- 
thon,  Bugenhagen,  and  Jonas,  to  make  a  sketch  of  their  doctrines  to  be  used  at 
the  diet.    Such  a  summary  was  written  by  Luther  in  seventeen  sections,  termed 
the  Torgan  Articles.    The  emperor,  however,  instead  of  reaching  Augsburg  on 
the  8th  of  April,  according  to  promise,  did  not  arrive  until  the  15th  of  June.  Me- 
lancthoi.  in  the  mean  time,  expanded  these  Torgan  Articles  into  what  is  now 
denomiiiUted  the  Augsburg  Confession.    This  enlarged  work  was  then  submitted 
to  Luti  :r  at  Coburg,  and  received  his  cordial  sanction.    On  the  25tb  of  June, 
therefore,  at  3  o'clock,  p.  m.  this  memorable  confession  was  publicly  pronounced  in 
the  presence  of  the  emperor,  bis  brother  king  Ferdinand,  the  electors  John  of 
Saxony,  with  his  son  John  Frederick,  George  of  Brandenburg,  Francis  and 
Ernest,  dukes  of  Luneburg  and  Brunswick,  Philip  landgrave  of  Hesse,  Wolf- 
gang, prince  of  Anhalt,  and  about  two  hundred  other  princes  and  divines.  The 
chancellors  of  the  Elector,  Baier  and  Pontanus  arose,  the  former  holding  in  his 
hand  the  German  copy,  and  the  latter  the  Latin  original.    The  emperor  desired 

•  See  note,  page  5. 

♦  For  these  remarks,  together  with  the  translation  of  the  Twenty-one  Articles,  the 
Editor  is  indebted  to  a  work  entitled  '  Elements  of  Popular  Theology,  with  special 
reference  to  the  Doctrines  of  the  Reformation,  as  avowed  before  the  Diet  at  Augs- 
burg, in  1530.  By  S.  S.  Schmuclier,  D.  D.,  Professor  of  Christian  Theology  iu  the  Theo- 
logical Seminary  of  the  general  Synod  of  the  Lutheran  church,  Gettysburg,  Pa.  Ando- 
ver,  1834.'— [Eo.] 


520 


APPENDIX. 


the  Latin  to  be  read ;  but  the  Elector  remonstrated,  alleging,  that  as  the  diet  wa§ 

assembled  on  German  ground,  it  ought  to  use  the  German  language.  The  em- 
peror having  assented,  Dr.  Baier  read  the  German  copy,  and,  it  is  said,  pronounced 
it  with  such  an  emphasis  and  so  powerful  a  voice,  that  every  syllable  was  heard, 
not  only  by  all  in  the  hall,  but  also  by  the  vast  multitudes  who  had  crowded 
around  the  doors  and  windows  of  the  spacious  edifice.  This  confession,  although 
it  did  not  change  the  predetermined  purpose  of  the  politic  Charles,  exerted  a  pro- 
digious influence  in  favour  of  the  reformers  in  the  minds  of  the  numerous  princes, 
divines,  and  literary  men,  who  had  assembled  from  a  distance  on  this  memorable 
occasion.  It  was  soon  after  disseminated  throughout  Europe,  and  has  been  trans- 
lated into  the  Hebrew,  Greek,  Spanish,  Belgic,  Italian,  Slavonic,  French,  and 
English  languages.  The  version  found  in  this  work,  was  made  by  the  writer  from 
the  original  Latin.  This  remark  may  not  be  superfluous,  as  most  of  the  English 
versions  which  he  has  seen  were  made  from  the  German  copy  ;  which  though  en- 
tirely coincident  in  sense  differs  occasionally  in  its  phraseology.  This  Confession, 
which  is  justly  styled  the  mother-symbol  of  the  Reformation,  has  been  adopted  by 
the  major  part  of  all  Protestant  Europe,  and  has  for  about  three  centuries  past 
been  the  standing  symbol  of  Lutherism  in  the  following  kingdoms : 

Germany,  including  Prussia,  part  of  Hungary,  small  part  of 


Lapland  and  Finland  also  contain  numerous  churches  of  the  Augsburg  Confession. 
The  United  Brethren  or  Moravians,  though  peculiar  in  their  church  government, 
have  always  retained  the  Augsburg  Confession  as  their  symbol,  and  yet  adhere  to 
it  more  strictly  than  most  other  portions  of  the  Lutheran  church.  The  whole  num- 
ber of  Christians  in  Europe  who  profess  the  Augsburg  Confession  has  been  rated 
by  good  authors  at  27,000,000,  but  certainly  is  upward  of  20,000,000,  and  em- 
braces in  it  seventeen  reigning  sovereigns.' 


France  

Denmark,  in  which  the  king  must  profess  the  Augsburg 


17,000,000 


Confession  

Norway,  including  Iceland 
Sweden  


1,000,000 
746,000 
2,800,000 


APPENDIX. 


521 


CONFESSIO  AUGUSTANA. 


I.  De  Deo. 

Ecclesije  magno  consensu  apud  nos 
docent,  decretum  Nicenae  synodi,  de 
unitate  essentiae  Divinae,  et  de  tribus 
personis,  verum  et  sine  ulla  dubitatione 
credendum  esse.  Videlicet,  quod  sit 
una  essentia  Divina,  quae  et  appellatur 
et  est  Deus,  aeternus,  incorporcus,  im- 
partibilis,  hnmensa  potentia,  sapientia, 
bonitate,  Creator  et  Conservator  om- 
nium rerum  visibilium  et  invisibilium. 
et  tamcn  tres  sint  personae,  ejusdem  es- 
sentiae et  potentiae,  et  coaeternse,  Pater, 
Pilius,  et  Spiritus  Sanctus.  Et  nomine 
personae  utuntur  ea  significatione,  qua 
usi  sunt  in  hac  causa  scriptores  ecclesi- 
astici,  ut  significet  non  partem  aut  qua- 
litatem  in  alio,  s«d  quod  propne  sub- 
gistit. 

Damnant  omnes  heereses,  contra  hunc 
articulum  exortas,  ut  Manichaeos,  qui 
duo  principia  ponebant,  bonura  et  ma- 
lum. Item  Valentinianos,  Arianos,  Euno- 
mianos,  Mahometistas,  et  omnes  horum 
similes.  Damnant  et  Samosatenos,  vcte- 
res  et  neotericos,  qui,  cum  tantum  unam 
personam  esse  contendant,  de  Verbo  et 
de  Spiritu  Sancto  astute  et  impie  rhe- 
toricantur,  quod  non  sint  personae  dis- 
tinctae,  sed  quod  Verbum  significet  ver- 
bum  vocale  et  Spiritus  motum  in  rebus 
creatum. 


II.  Dk  Pkccato  Originis. 

Item  docent,  quod,  post  lapsum  Adas, 
omnes  homines  secundum  naturam  pro- 
pagati  nascantur,  cum  peccato,  hoc  est, 
sine  metu  Dei,  sine  fiducia,  erga  Deum, 
et  cum  concupiscentia  quodque  hie 
morbus,  seu  vitium  originis  verfi  sit 
peccatum,   damnans  et  afferens  nunc 


THE  AUGSBURG  CONFESSION. 

ARTICLE  L 
Of  God. 

Our  churches  with  one  accord  teach, 
that  the  decree  of  the  council  of  Nice, 
concerning  the  unity  of  the  Divine  es- 
sence, and  concerning  the  three  persons, 
is  true,  and  ought  to  be  confidently  be- 
lieved, viz.  that  there  is  one  Divine  es- 
sence, which  is  called  and  is  God,  eter- 
nal, incorporeal,  indivisible,  infinite  in 
power,  wisdom  and  goodness,  the  Creator 
and  Preserver  of  all  things  visible  and 
invisible:  and  yet  that  there  are  three 
persons,  who  are  of  the  same  essence 
and  power,  and  are  co-eternal,  the  Fa- 
ther, the  Son,  and  the  Holy  Spirit.  And 
the  term  person  they  use  in  the  same 
sense,  in  which  it  is  employed  by  eccle- 
siastical writers  on  this  subject ;  to  sig- 
nify not  a  part  or  quality  of  something 
else,  but  that  which  exist3  of  itself. 

[They  condemn  all  heresies  which 
have  sprung  up  against  this  Article, 
such  as  that  of  the  Manichaeans,  who 
maintained  two  principles,  a  bad  and  a 
good  one.  Likewise  the  Valentinians, 
Arians,  Eunomians,  Mahometans,  and  all 
such  like.  They  condemn  also  the  fol- 
lowers of  Samosatenus,  the  older  and 
later  ones,  who,  when  they  contend  that 
there  is  only  one  Person,  subtilely  and 
impiously  discourse  of  the  Word  and 
Holy  Spirit,  that  they  are  not  distinct 
persons,  but  that  the  Word  signifies  the 
vocal  word,  and  the  Spirit  the  motion 
created  in  things.*] 

ARTICLE  II. 

Or  Natural  Depravity. 

Our  churches  likewise  teach,  that  since 
the  fall  of  Adam,  all  men  who  are  natu- 
rally engendered,  are  born  with  a  de- 
praved nature,  that  is,  without  the  fear 
of  God  or  confidence  towards  him,  but 
with  sinful  propensities :  and  that  this 
disease,  or  natural  depravity,  is  really 


•  The  passages  included  within  these  marks  [  ],  having  been  omitted  in  the  Author's 
translation,  are  supplied  by  the  Editor. 


522 


APPENDIX. 


quoque  aeternam  mortem  his,  qui  non 
renascuntur  per  baptismum  et  Spiritum 
Sanctum. 

Damnant  Pelagianos,  et  alios,  qui 
vitium  originis  negant  esse  peccatum, 
et  ut  extenuent  gloriam  meriti  et  bene- 
ficiorum  Christi,  disputant  hominem  pro- 
priis  viribus  rationis  coram  Deo  justifi- 
cari  posse. 


III.  De  Filio  Dei. 

Item  docent,  quod  Verbum,  hoc  est, 
Filius  Dei,  assumserit  humanamnaturam 
in  utero  beatae  Maria;  Virginis,  ut  sint 
duae  naturae,  divina  et  humana,  in  uni- 
tate  persona;  inseparabiliter  conjunctae, 
unus  Christus,  vere  Deus,  et  vere  homo, 
natus  ex  virgine  Maria,  vere  passus, 
crucifixus,  mortuus  et  sepultus,  ut  re- 
conciliaret  nobis  Patrem,  et  hostia  es- 
set  non  tantum  pro  culpa  originis,  sed 
etiam  pro  omnibus  actualibus  hominum 
peccatis.  Idem  descendit  ad  inferos,  et 
vere  resurrexit  tertia  die,  deinde  ascen- 
dit  ad  coelos,  ut  sedeat  ad  dexteram 
Patris,  et  perpetuo  regnet  et  dominetur 
omnibus  creaturis,  sanctificet  credentes 
in  ipsum,  misso  in  corda  eorum  Spiritu 
Sancto,  qui  regat,  consoletur  ac  vivifi- 
ed cos,  ac  defendat  adversus  diabolum, 
ct  vim  peccati.  Idem  Christus  palam 
est  rediturus,  ut  judicet  vivos  et  mor- 
tuos,  etc.,  juxta  Symbolum  Apostolorum. 


IV.  De  Justifications. 

Idem  docent,  quod  homines  non  pos- 
sint  justificari  coram  Deo  propriis  viri- 
bus, meritis  aut  operibus,  sed  gratis 
justificentur  propter  Christum  per  fidem, 
cum  credunt  se  in  gratiam  recipi,  et 
peccata  remitti  propter  Christum,  qui 
sua  morte  pro  nostris  peccatis  satisfecit. 
Hanc  fidem  imputat  Deus  pro  justitia 
coram  ipso,  Rom.  3.  et  4. 


sin,  and  still  condemns  and  causes  eter- 
nal death  to  those,  who  are  not  born 
again  by  baptism  and  the  Holy  Spirit. 

[They  condemn  the  Pelagians  and 
others  who  deny  that  original  corruption 
is  sin,  and  who,  that  they  may  diminish 
the  glory  of  the  merits  and  benefits  of 
Christ,  allege  that  man  may,  by  the  pro- 
per operation  of  reason,  be  justified  be- 
fore God.] 

ARTICLE  III. 

Of  the  Son  of  God  and  his  media- 
torial Work. 

They  likewise  teach,  that  the  Word, 
that  is,  the  Son  of  God,  assumed  hu- 
man nature,  in  the  womb  of  the  bless- 
ed Virgin  Mary,  so  that  the  two  natures, 
human  and  divine,  inseparably  united  in 
one  person,  constitute  one  Christ,  who 
is  true  God  and  man,  born  of  the  Virgin 
Mary ;  who  truly  suffered,  was  crucified, 
died  and  was  buried,  that  he  might  re- 
concile the  Father  to  us,  and  be  a  sacri- 
fice not  only  for  original  sin,  but  also 
for  all  the  actual  sins  of  men.  He  like- 
wise descended  into  hell,  and  truly  arose 
on  the  third  day  ;  and  then  ascended  to 
heaven,  that  he  might  sit  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  Father,  might  perpetually 
reign  over  all  creatures,  and  might 
sanctify  those  who  believe  in  him,  by 
sending  into  their  hearts  the  Holy  Spirit, 
who  governs,  consoles,  quickens,  and 
defends  them  against  the  devil  and  the 
power  of  sin.  The  same  Christ  will 
return  again  openly,  that  he  may  judge 
the  living  and  the  dead,  Sec,  according 
to  the  Apostolic  Creed. 

ARTICLE  IV. 
Of  Justification. 
They  in  like  manner  teach,  that  men 
cannot  be  justified  before  God  by  their 
own  strength,  merits,  or  works ;  but 
that  they  are  justified  gratuitously  for 
Christ's  sake,  through  faith  ;  when  they 
believe,  that  they  are  received  into  fa- 
vour, and  that  their  sins  are  remitted 
on  account  of  Christ,  who  made  satis- 
faction for  our  transgressions  by  his 
death.  This  faith  God  imoutes  to  us  as 
righteousness 


APPENDIX. 


523 


V.  De  Ministerio  Eccles. 

Ut  banc  fidera  consequamur,  institu- 
tum  est  ministerium  docendi  Evangelii 
et  porrigendi  sacramenta.  Nam  per 
verbum  et  sacramenta,  tanquam  per 
instrumenta  donatur  Spiritus  Sanctus, 
qui  fidem  efficit,  ubi  et  quando  visum 
est  Deo,  in  iis,  qui  audiunt  Evangelium, 
scilicet,  qudd  Deus  non  propter  nostra 
merita,  sed  propter  Christum  justificet 
hos,  qui  credunt,  se  propter  Christum 
in  gratiam  recipi.  Damnant  Anabap- 
tistas,  et  alios,  qui  sentiunt  Spiritum 
Sanctum  contingere  sine  verbo  externo 
hominibus  per  ipsorum  praeparationes  et 
opera. 


VI.  De  Nova  Obedientia. 

Item  docent,  quod  fides  ilia  debeat 
bonos  fructus  parere,  et  quod  oporteat 
bona  opera,  mandata  a  Deo,  facere, 
propter  voluntatem  Dei,  non  ut  confida- 
mus  per  ea  opera  justificationem  coram 
Deo  mereri.  Nam  remissio  peccatorum 
et  justificatio  fide  apprehenditur,  sicut 
testatur  et  vox  Christi.  Cum  feceritis 
hsec  omnia,  dicite,  servi  inutiles  sumus. 
Idem  docent  et  veteres  scriptores  eccle- 
siastici ;  Ambrosius  enim  inquit :  Hoc 
constitutum  est  a  Deo,  ut  qui  credit  in 
Christum,  salvus  sit,  sine  opere,  sola 
fide  gratis  accipiens  remissionem  pecca- 
torum. 


VII.  De  Ecclesia. 

Item  docent,  quod  una  sancta  eccle- 
sia perpetuo  mansura  sit:  Est  autem 
ecclesia  congregatio  sanctorum,  in  qua 
evangelium  recte  docetur,  et  recte  ad- 
ministrantur  sacramenta.  Et  ad  veram 
unitatem  ecclesia?,  satis  est  consentire 
de  doctrina  evangelii  et  administratione 
lacramentorum.    Nec  necesse  est  ubi- 


ARTICLE  V. 

Of  the  Ministerial  Office  (and 
Means  of  Grace). 

In  order  that  we  may  obtain  this 
faith,  the  ministerial  office  has  been  in- 
stituted, whose  members  are  to  preach 
the  gospel,  and  administer  the  sacra- 
ments. For  through  the  instrumentality 
of  the  word  and  sacraments,  as  means  of 
grace,  the  Holy  Spirit  is  given,  who,  in 
his  own  time  and  place,  produces  faith 
in  those  who  hearken  to  the  gospel 
message,  namely,  that  God,  for  Christ's 
sake,  aud  not  on  account  of  any  merit 
in  us,  justifies  those  who  believe  in 
Christ. 

[They  condemn  the  Anabaptists  and 
others,  who  think  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
comes  upon  men  by  their  own  prepara- 
tions and  works,  without  the  external 
word.] 

ARTICLE  VI. 

Concerning  new  Obedience  (or  a 
Christian  Life). 

They  likewise  teach,  that  this  faith 
must  bring  forth  good  fruits ;  and  that 
it  is  our  duty  to  perform  those  gooa 
works  which  God  has  commanded,  be- 
cause he  has  enjoined  them,  and  not  in 
the  expectation  of  thereby  meriting  jus- 
tification before  him.  For,  remission 
of  sins  and  justification  are  secured  by 
faith  ;  as  the  declaration  of  Christ  him- 
self implies :  '  When  ye  shall  have  done 
all  those  things,  say,  we  are  unprofitable 
servants.' 

[The  same  thing  is  taught  by  the  an- 
cient ecclesiastical  writers :  for  Ambrose 
says,  '  this  has  been  ordained  by  God, 
that  he  who  believes  in  Christ  is  saved 
without  works,  receiving  remission  of 
sins  freely  through  faith  alone.'] 

ARTICLE  VII. 
Of  the  Church. 
They  likewise  teach,  that  there  will 
always  be  one  holy  church.  The  church 
is  the  congregation  of  the  saints,  in 
which  the  gospel  is  correctly  taught, 
and  the  sacraments  are  properly  admi- 
nistered. And  for  the  true  unity  of  the 
church  nothing  more  is  required,  than 
agreement  concerning  the  doctrines  of 


524 


APPENDIX. 


que  esse  similes  traditiones  humanas, 
seu  ritus  aut  ceremonias,  ab  hominibus 
institutas.  Sicut  inquit  Paulus:  Un* 
fides,  unum  baptisma,  unus  Deus  et 
Pater  omnium,  &c. 


VIII.  Quid  sit  Ecclksia. 

Quanquam  ecclesia  proprie  sit  con- 
gregatio  sanctorum,  et  vere  credenti- 
um ;  tamen,  cum  in  hac  vita  multi  hy- 
pocritas  et  mali  admixti  sint,  licet  uti 
sacramentis,  quae  per  malos  administran- 
tur,  juxta  vocem  Christi.  Sedent  scribae 
et  pharisaei  in  cathedra  Moysis,  &c. 
Et  sacramenta  et  verbum  propter  ordi- 
nationem  et  mandatum  Christi  sunt  ef- 
ficacia,  etiamsi  per  malos  exhibeantur. 
Damnant  Donatistas  et  similes,  qui  ne- 
gabant  licere  uti  ministerio  malorum  in 
ecclesia,  et  sentiebant,  ministerium  ma- 
lorum inutile  et  inefficax  esse. 


IX.  De  Baptismo. 

De  baptismo  docent,  quod  sit  neces- 
sarius  ad  salutem,  quodque  per  baptis- 
mum offeratur  gratia  Dei.  Et  quod 
pueri  sint  baptizandi,  qui  per  baptismum 
oblati  Deo,  recipiantur  in  gratiam  Dei. 
Damnant  Anabaptistas,  qui  improbant 
baptismum  puerorum  et  affirmant  pue- 
ros  sine  baptismo  salvos  fieri. 


X.  De  Ccena  Domini. 

De  ccena  Domini  docent,  quod  cor- 
pus et  sanguis  Christi  vere  adsint,  et 
distribuantur  vescentibus  in  ccena  Do- 
mini et  improbant  secus  doccntes. 


XI.  De  Confessione. 

De  confessione  docent  quod  absolu- 
tio  privata  in  ecclesiis  retinenda  sit  quan- 
quam in  confessione  non  sit  necessaria 
omnium  delictorum  enumeratio.  Est 


the  gospel,  and  the  administration  of 
the  sacraments.  Nor  is  it  necessary, 
that  the  same  human  traditions,  that  is, 
rites  and  ceremonies  instituted  by  men, 
should  be  every  where  observed.  As 
Paul  says :  '  One  faith,  one  baptism, 
one  God  and  Father  of  all,'  &c. 

ARTICLE  VIII. 
What  the  Church  is. 

Although  the  church  is  properly  a 
congregation  of  saints  and  true  believers ; 
yet  as,  in  the  present  life,  many  hypo- 
crites and  wicked  men  are  mingled  with 
them,  it  is  lawful  for  us  also  to  receive 
the  sacraments,  when  administered  by 
unconverted  men,  agreeably  to  the  de- 
claration of  our  Saviour, '  that  the  scribes 
and  pharisees  sit  in  Moses'  seat,'  &c. 

[They  condemn  the  Donatists  and 
such  like  who  denied  that  it  is  lawful  to 
make'  use  of  the  ministry  of  wicked  men 
in  the  church,  and  who  thought  the  mi- 
nistry of  such  useless  and  without  effica- 
cy.] 

ARTICLE  IX. 
Of  Baptism. 

Concerning  baptism  our  churches 
teach,  that  it  is  a  necessary  ordinance, 
that  it  is  a  means  of  grace,  and  ought  to 
be  administered  also  to  children,  who 
are  thereby  dedicated  to  God,  and  re- 
ceived into  his  favour. 

[They  condemn  the  Anabaptists  who 
reject  the  baptism  of  children ;  and  who 
affirm  that  infants  may  be  saved  without 
baptism.  ] 

ARTICLE  X. 
Of  the  Lord's  Supper. 
In  regard  to  the  Lord's  supper  they 
teach,  that  the  body  and  blood  of  Christ 
are  actually  present  under  the  emblems 
of  bread  and  wine ;  and  are  dispensed 
to  the  communicants. 

ARTICLE  XL 
Of  Confession. 

In  regard  to  confession  they  teach, 
that  private  absolution  ought  to  be  re- 
tained in  the  churches ;  but  that  an  enu- 
meration of  all  our  transgressions  is  not 


APPENDIX. 


525 


cnim  imposs'bilis  juxta  Psalmum  ziz. 
12.  '  Delicta  quis  intcUigit  ?' 


XII.  De  Pcenitintia. 

De  poenitentia  docent,  quod  lapsis 
post  baptismum  contingere  possit  remis- 
sio  peccatorum  quocunque  tempore,  cum 
convertuntur.  Et  quod  ecclesiatalibus 
redeuntibus  ad  poenitentiam  absolutionem 
impertiri  debeat.  Constat  autem  poa- 
nitcntia  proprie  his  duabus  partibus  : 
altera  est,  contritio  seu  terrores  incussi 
conscientiae  agnito  peccato.  Altera  est, 
fides,  quae  concipitur  ex  evangelio,  seu 
absolutione,  et  credit  propter  Chris- 
tum remitti  peccata,  et  consolatur 
conscientiam,  et  ex  terroribus  liberat. 
Deinde  sequi  debent  bona  opera,  quae 
sunt  fructus  poenitentiae.  Damnant 
Anabaptistas,  qui  negant  semel  justifi- 
catos  posse  amittere  Spiritum  Sanctum. 
Item,  qui  contendunt,  quibusdam  tantam 
perfectionem  in  hac  vita  contingere,  ut 
peccare  non  possint.  Damnantur  et 
Novatiani,  qui  nolebant  absolvere  lapsos 
post  baptismum  redeuntes  ad  poeniten- 
tiam. Rejiciuntur  et  isti,  qui  non  docent 
remissioncm  peccatorum  per  fidem  con- 
tingere, sed  jubent  nos  mereri  gratiam 
per  satisfactiones  nostras. 


XIII.  De  Usu  Sacramentorum. 

De  usu  sacramentorum  docent,  quod 
sacramenta  instituta  sint,  non  modo  ut 
sint  notae  professionis  inter  homines, 
sed  magis  ut  sint  signa  et  testimonia 
voluntatis  Dei  erga  nos,  ad  excitandam 
et  confirmandam  fidem  in  his,  qui  utun- 
tur,  proposita.  Itaque  utendum  est  sa- 
crament is,  ita  ut  fides  accedat,  quae  cre- 
dat  promissionibus,  quae  per  sacramenta 
exhibentur  et  ostenduntur.  Damnant 
igitur  illos,  qui  docent,  quod  sacramenta 
ex  opere  operato  justificent,  nec  docent 


requisite  in  confession.  For  this  is  an 
impossibility,  according  to  the  declara- 
tion of  the  Psalmist :  '  Who  can  under- 
stand his  errors  ?' 

ARTICLE  XII. 

Of  Repentance. 

Concerning  repentance  they  teach, 
that  those  who  have  relapsed  into  sin 
after  baptism,  may  at  any  time  obtain 
pardon,  when  they  repent :  and  that  the 
church  ought  to  grant  absolution  (restore 
to  church-privileges)  to  such  as  manifest 
repentance.  But  repentance  properly 
consists  of  two  parts.  The  one  is  con- 
trition or  dread  on  account  of  acknow- 
ledged sin.  The  other  is  faith,  which 
is  produced  by  the  gospel,  or  by  meang 
of  absolution  :  which  believes  that  par- 
don for  sin  is  bestowed  for  Christ's  sake ; 
which  tranquillizes  the  conscience,  and 
liberates  it  from  feai.  Such  repentance 
must  be  succeeded  by  good  works  as  its 
fruits.  They  condemn  the  doctrine  of 
such  as  deny,  that  those  who  have  once 
been  justified,  may  lose  the  Holy  Spirit. 
In  like  manner  those  who  contend,  that 
some  persons  attain  so  high  a  degree  of 
perfection  in  this  life,  that  they  cannot 
sin.  They  reject  also  those,  who  are 
unwilling  to  absolve  (restore  to  church- 
privileges)  such  as  have  backslidden 
after  baptism,  even  if  they  repent :  as 
also  those  who  teach,  that  remission  of 
sins  is  not  obtained  through  faith  ;  but 
require  us  to  merit  grace  by  our  good 
works. 

ARTICLE  XIII. 

Or  the  Use  of  the  Sacraments. 

Concerning  the  use  of  the  sacraments 
our  churches  teach,  that  they  were  insti- 
tuted not  only  as  marks  of  a  Christian 
profession  amongst  men  ;  but  rather  as 
signs  and  evidences  of  the  divine  dispo- 
sition towards  us,  tendered  for  the  pur- 
pose of  exciting  and  confirming  the  faith 
of  those  who  use  them.  Hence  the  sa- 
craments ought  to  be  received  with  faith 
in  the  promises  which  are  exhibited  and 
proposed  by  them.  They  therefore  con- 
demn those  who  maintain,  that  the  so- 


526 


APPENDIX. 


fidera  requiri  in  usu  sacramentorum, 
quae  credat  remitti  peccata. 


XIV.  De  Ordine  Ecclesiastico. 

De  ordine  ecclesiastico  docent,  quod 
nemo  debeat  in  ecclesia  publice  docere, 
aut  sacramenta  administrare,  nisi  rite 
vocatus. 

XV.  De  Ritibus  Ecclesiasticis. 

De  ritibus  ecclesiasticis  docent,  quod 
ritus  illi  servandi  sint,  qui  sine  peccato 
servari  possunt,  et  prosunt  ad  tranquilli- 
tatem  et  bonum  ordinem  in  ecclesia,  si- 
cut  certae  ferise,  festa  et  similia.  De 
talibus  rebus  tamen  admonentur  ho- 
mines, ne  conscientiae  onerentur,  tan- 
quam  talis  cultus  ad  salutem  necessa- 
rius  sit.  Admonentur  etiam,  quod  tra- 
ditiones  humanae  institute  ad  placandum 
Deum,  ad  promerendam  gratiam,  et 
satisfaciendum  pro  peccatis,  adversentur 
evangelio  et  doctrinae  fidei.  Quare  vota 
et  traditiones  de  cibis  et  diebus,  &c, 
instituta?  ad  promerendam  gratiam,  et 
satisfaciendum  pro  peccatis,  inutiles  sint 
et  contra  evangelium. 


XVI.  De  Rebus  Civilibus. 

De  rebus  civilibus  docent,  quod  legi- 
timae  ordinationes  civiles  sint  bona  opera 
Dei,  quod  Christianis  liceat  gerere  ma- 
gistrate, exercere  judicia,  judicare  res 
ex  Imperatoriis  et  aliis  praesentibus 
legibus,  supplicia  jure  constituare,  jure 
bellare,  militare,  lege  contrahere,  tenere 
proprium,  jusjurandum  postulantibus 
magistratibus  dare,  ducere  exorurn, 
nubere.  Damnant  Anabaptistas,  qui 
interdicunt  haec  civilia  officia  Chris- 
tianis. Damnant  et  illos,  qui  evange- 
licam  perfectionem  non  collocant  in 
timore  Dei  et  fidei,  sed  in  deserendis 
civilibus  officiis,  quia  evangelium  tradit 
justitiam  aeternam  cordis.  Interim  non 
dissipat  Politiani  aut  oeconomiam,  sed 


craments  produce  justification  in  their 
recipients  as  a  matter  of  course  (ex  opere 
operato),  and  who  do  not  teach  that  faith 
is  necessary,  in  the  reception  of  the  sa- 
craments, to  the  remission  of  sins. 

ARTICLE  XIV. 
Of  Church  Orders. 
Concerning  church  orders  they  teach, 
that  no  person  ought  publicly  to  teach 
in  the  church,  or  to  administer  the  sa- 
craments, without  a  regular  call. 

ARTICLE  XV. 
Of  Religious  Ceremonies. 
Concerning  ecclesiastical  ceremonies 
they  teach,  that  those  ceremonies  ought 
to  be  observed,  which  can  be  attended 
to  without  sin,  and  which  promote  peace 
and  good  order  in  the  church,  such  as 
certain  holy-days,  festivals,  &c.  Con- 
cerning matters  of  this  kind,  however, 
caution  should  be  observed,  lest  the  con- 
sciences of  men  be  burdened,  as  though 
such  observances  were  necessary  to  sal- 
vation. Men  should  also  be  apprised, 
that  human  traditionary  observances,  in- 
stituted with  a  view  to  appease  God,  to 
merit  his  favour,  and  make  satisfaction 
for  sins,  are  contrary  to  the  gospel  and 
the  doctrine  of  faith.  Wherefore  vows 
and  traditionary  observances  concerning 
meats,  days,  &c.  instituted  to  merit 
grace  and  make  satisfaction  for  sins, 
are  useless,  and  contrary  to  the  gospel. 

ARTICLE  XVI. 
Of  Political  Affairs. 
In  regard  to  political  affairs  our 
churches  teach,  that  legitimate  political 
enactments  are  good  works  of  God; 
that  it  is  lawful  for  Christians  to  hold 
civil  offices,  to  pronounce  judgment  and 
decide  cases  according  to  the  imperial 
and  other  existing  laws ;  to  inflict  just 
punishment,  wage  just  wars,  and  serve 
in  them ;  to  make  lawful  contracts ; 
hold  property  ;  to  make  oath  when  re- 
quired by  the  magistrate,  to  marry  and 
be  married.  They  condemn  the  Ana- 
baptists, who  interdict  to  Christians  the 
performance  of  these  civil  duties.  They 
also  condemn  those  who  make  evange- 
lical perfection  consist  not  in  the  fear  of 
God  and  in  faith,  but  in  the  abandon- 


APPENDIX. 


527 


maxime  postulat  conservare  tanquam 
ordinationes  Dei,  et  in  talibus  ordina- 
tionibus  exercere  caritatem.  Itaque 
necessario  debent  Christiani  obedire 
magistratibus  suis  et  legibus.  Nisi  cum 
jubent  peccare,  tunc  enim  magis  debent 
obedire  Deo,  quam  horainibus,  Actor. 
5.  v.  29. 


XVII.   Db   CliniSTI   REDITU   AD  JU- 
DICIUM. 

Item  docent,  quod  Christ  us  apparebit 
in  consummatione  mundi  adjudicandum, 
et  mortuos  omnes  rcsuscitabit,  piis  et 
electis  dabit  vitam  aetemam  et  perpetua 
gaudia,  impios  autem  homines  ac  dia- 
bolos  condemnabit,  ut  sine  fine  cru- 
cientur.  Damnant  Anabaptistas,  qui 
sentiunt,  hominibus  damnatis  ac  diabolis 
finem  poenarum  futurum  esse.  Dam- 
nant et  alios,  qui  nunc  spargunt  Judiacas 
opiniones,  quod  ante  resurrectionem 
mortuorum,  pii  regnum  mundi  occu- 
paturi  sint,  ubique  oppressis  impiis. 


XVIII.  De  Libero  Arbitrio. 
De  libero  arbitrio  docent,  quod  hu- 
mana  voluntas  habeat  aliquam  libertatem 
ad  efficiendam  civilem  justitiam,  et  di- 
ligendas  res  ratione  subjectas.  Sed  non 
habet  vim  sine  Spiritu  Sancto  effici- 
endae  justitiae  Dei,  seu  justitiee  spiri- 
tualis,  quia  animalis  homo  non  percipit 
ea,  quae  sunt  Spiritus  Dei ;  sed  haec  fit 
in  cordibus,  cum  per  verbum  Spiritus 
Sanctus  concipitur.  Haec  totidem  verbis 
dicit  Augustinus  lib.  3.  Hypognosticon. 
Esse  fatemur  liberum  arbitrium  omnibus 
hominibus,  habens  quidem  judicium  ra- 
tionis,  non  per  quod  sit  idoneum  in  iis, 
quae  ad  Deum  pertinent,  sine  Deo  aut 
inchoare  aut  certe  peragere,  sed  tantum 
in  operibus  vitae  prsesentis  tam  bonis, 
quam  etiam  malis  ;  Bonis  dico,  quae  de 
bono  naturae  oriuntur,  i.  e.  velle  laborare 
in  agro,  velle  manducare  et  bibere,  velle 


ment  of  all  civil  duties  :  because  the 
gospel  teaches  the  necessity  of  ceaseless 
righteousness  of  heart,  whilst  it  does 
not  reject  the  duties  of  civil  and  do- 
mestic life,  but  directs  them  to  be  ob- 
served as  of  divine  appointment,  and 
performed  in  the  spirit  of  Christian  be- 
nevolence. Hence  Christians  ought  ne- 
cessarily to  yield  obedience  to  the  civil 
officers  and  laws  of  the  land ;  unless 
they  should  command  something  sinful ; 
in  which  case  it  is  a  duty  to  obey  God 
rather  than  man.    Acts  v.  29. 

ARTICLE  XVII. 
Of  Christ's  return  to  Judgment. 
Our  churches  also  teach,  that  at  the 
end  of  the  world,  Christ  will  appear  for 
judgment ;  that  he  will  raise  all  the 
dead  ;  that  he  will  give  to  the  pious  and 
elect  eternal  life  and  endless  joys,  but 
will  condemn  wicked  men  and  devils  to 
be  punished  without  end.  They  reject 
the  opinions  of  the  Anabaptists,  who 
maintain,  that  the  punishment  of  devils 
and  condemned  men  will  have  an  end : 
in  like  manner  they  condemn  those, 
who  circulate  the  Judaizing  notion,  that, 
prior  to  the  resurrection  of  the  dead, 
the  pious  will  engross  the  government 
of  the  world,  and  the  wicked  be  every 
where  oppressed.  [German :  The  pi- 
ous will  establish  a  separate  temporal 
government,  and  all  the  wicked  be  ex- 
terminated.] 

ARTICLE  XVIII. 
Of  Free  Will. 

Concerning  free  will  our  churches 
teach,  that  the  human  will  possesses 
some  liberty  for  the  performance  of  civil 
duties,  and  for  tha  choice  of  those 
things  lying  within  the  control  of  rea- 
son. But  it  does  not  possess  the  power, 
without  the  influence  of  the  Holy  Spirit, 
of  being  just  before  God,  or  yielding 
spiritual  obedience :  for  the  natural 
man  receiveth  not  the  things  which  are 
of  the  Spirit  of  God  :  but  this  is  accom- 
plished in  the  heart,  when  the  Holy 
Spirit  is  received  through  the  word. 

[The  same  is  declared  by  Augustin  in 
similar  words :  '  We  confess  that  the  will 
of  man  is  free,  having  indeed  the  judg- 
ment of  reason,  not  by  which  it  may,  in 
those  things  that  pertain  to  God.be  able, 
without  Him,  either  to  begin  or  accom- 
plish a?"  th;T ;  but  oolv  IB  actions,  good 


528 


APPENDIX. 


habere  amicum,  velle  habere  indumenta, 
velle  fabricare  domum,  uxorem  velle 
ducere,  pecora  nutrire,  artem  discere 
divcrsarum  rerum  bonarum,  velle  quic- 
quid  bonum  ad  praesentem  pertinet 
vitam.  Qua:  omnia  non  sine  divino  gu- 
bernaculo  subsistunt,  imo  ex  ipso  et  per 
ipsum  sunt  et  esse  cceperant.  Malis 
vero  dico,  ut  est :  velle  idolum  colere, 
velle  homicidium,  etc.  Damnant  Pela- 
gianos,  et  alios,  qui  docent,  quod  sine 
Spiritu  Sancto,  solis  naturae  viribus, 
possimus  Deum  super  omnia  diligere, 
item  praecepta  Dei  facere,  quoad  sub- 
stantiam  actuum.  Quanquam  enim  ex- 
terna opera  aliquo  modo  effieere  natura 
possit :  potest  enim  continere  manus  a 
furto,  a  caede  ;  tamen  interiores  motus 
non  potest  effieere,  ut  timorem  Dei, 
fiduciam  erga  Deum,  castitatem,  patien- 
tiam,  etc. 


XIX.  De  Causa  Peccati. 

De  causa  peccati  docent,  quod  ta- 
metsi  Deus  creat  et  conservat  naturam, 
tamen  causa  peccati  est  voluntas  ma- 
lorum,  videlicit,  diaboli  et  impiorum, 
qua;  non  adjuvante  Deo,  avertit  se  a 
Deo,  sicut  Christus  ait  Joh.  8.  Cum 
loquitur  mendacium,  ex  seipso  loquitur. 


XX.  De  Bonis  Operibus. 
Falso  accusantur  nostri,  quod  bona 
opera  prohibeant.  Nam  scripta  eo- 
rum,  qua;  extant  de  decern  przeceptis. 
et  alia  simili  argumento  testantur, 
quod  utiliter  docuerint  de  omnibus 
vitas  generibus  et  officiis,  quae  genera 
vitae,  quae  opera  in  qualibet  vocatione 
Deo  placeant.  De  quibus  rebus  olim 
parum  docebant  Concionatores,  tan- 
tum  puerilia  et  non  necessaria  opera 
urgebant,  ut  certas  ferias,  certa  jejunia, 
fraternitates,  peregrinationes,  cultus 
sanctorum,  rosaria,  monachatum  et  si- 
milia.  Hsec  adversarii  nostri  admoniti 
non  dediscunt,  nec  perinde  praedicant 
haec  inutilia  opera,  ut  olim.  Praeterea 
incipiunt  fidei  mentionem  facere,  de 
qua  olim  mirum  erat  silentium.  Do- 
cent, nos  non  t.mtum  operibus  justifi- 


as  well  as  evil,  of  this  present  life.  By 
good,  I  mean  those  which  arise  from  the 
good  of  nature  ;  for  instance,  the  desire 
to  labour,  to  eat  and  drink,  to  have  a 
friend,  have  clothing,  build  a  house,  mar- 
ry a  wife,  feed  cattle,  learn  the  arts  of  all 
useful  things,  to  choose  any  thing  which 
concerns  this  present  life;  all  which, 
however,  do  not  subsist  independently  of 
the  Divine  government ;  nay,  rather,  they 
are  of,  and  owe  their  being  to.  Him.  But 
by  evil,  I  mean,  the  desire  to  worship  an 
idol,  conceive  murder,'  &c.  &c.  They 
condemn  the  Pelagians,  and  others,  who 
teach  that  it  is  possible,  by  the  sole 
power  of  reason,  without  the  aid  of  the 
Holy  Spirit,  to  love  God  above  all 
things,  and  to  do  his  commands.  For, 
although  nature  may  be  able  to  do,  after 
a  certain  manner,  external  actions,  as  to 
keep  one's  hands  from  theft,  from  mur- 
der, &c. ;  yet  it  cannot  perform  the  in- 
ner motions,  such  as,  the  fear  of  God, 
faith  in  God,  chastity,  patience,  &c] 

ARTICLE  XIX. 
Of  thk  Author  or  Sin. 
On  this  subject  they  teach,  that  al- 
though God  is  the  Creator  and  Pre- 
server of  universal  nature  ;  the  cause  of 
sin  must  be  sought  in  the  depraved  will 
of  the  devil  and  wicked  men,  which, 
when  destitute  of  divine  aid,  turns  itself 
away  from  God:  agreeably  to  the  de- 
claration of  Christ,  •  When  he  speaketh  a 
lie,  he  speaketh  of  his  own.'  John  viii.  44. 

ARTICLE  XX. 

Of  Good  Works. 
Our  writers  are  falsely  accused  of 
prohibiting  good  works.  Their  publi- 
cations on  the  ten  commandments,  and 
other  similar  subjects,  shew,  that  they 
gave  good  instructions  concerning  all 
the  different  stations  and  duties  of  life, 
and  explained  what  course  of  conduct, 
in  any  particular  calling,  is  pleasing 
to  God.  Concerning  these  things 
preachers  formerly  said  very  little,  but 
urged  the  necessity  of  puerile  and  use- 
less works,  such  as  certain  holy-days, 
fasts,  brotherhoods,  pilgrimages,  wor- 
ship of  saints,  rosaries,  monastic  vows,&c. 
These  useless  things,  our  adversaries, 
havingbeen  admonished,  no  longer  teach 
as  formerly.  Moreover,  they  now  begin 
to  make  mention  of  faith,  about  which 
they  formerly  observed  a  marvellous  si- 


APPENDIX. 


529 


cari,  sed  conjungunt  fidem  et  opera,  et 
dicunt,  nos  fide  et  operibus  justificari. 
Quae  doctrina  tolerabilior  est  priore,  et 
plus  affere  potest  consolationis,  quam 
vetus  ipsorum  doctrina.  Cum  igitur 
doctrina  de  fide,  quam  oportet  in  ecclc- 
sia  praecipuam  esse,  tarn  diu  jacuerit 
ignota,  quemadmodum  fateri  omnes  ne- 
cesse  est,  de  fidei  justitia  altissimum 
silentium  fuisse  in  concionibus,  tantum 
doctrinam  operum  versatam  esse  in  Ec- 
clesiis.  nostri  de  fide  sic  admonuerunt 
Ecclesias.  Principio,  quod  opera  nos- 
tra non  possint  reconciliare  Deum,  aut 
merere  remissionem  peccatorum,  et  gra- 
tiam, et  justificationem,  sed  hanc  tan- 
tum fide  consequimur,  credentes  quod 
propter  Christum  recipiamur  in  gra- 
tiam,  qui  solus  positus  est  mediator  et 
propitiatorium,  per  quam  reconcilietur 
pater.  Itaque  qui  confidit,  operibus  se 
mereri  gratiam,  is  aspernatur  Christi 
meritum  et  gratium,  et  quaerit  sine 
Christo  humanis  viribus  viam  ad  Deum, 
cum  Christus  de  se  dixerit :  Ego  sum 
via,  Veritas  et  vita.  Haec  doctrina  de 
fide  ubique  in  Paulo  tractatur,  (  Eph.  2.) 
1  Gratia  salvi  facti  estis  per  fidem,  et  hoc 
non  ex  vobis.  Dei  donum  est  non  ex 
operibus,'  etc.  Et  ne  quis  cavilletur,  a 
nobis  novam  Pauli  interpretationem  ex- 
cogitari,  tota  haec  causa  habet  testimo- 
nia  Patrum.  Nam  Augustinus  multis 
voluminibus  defendit  gratiam  et  justiti- 
am  fidei  contra  merita  operum.  Et 
similia  docet  Ambrosius  de  vocatione 
Gentium,  et  alibi.  Sic  enim  inquit  de 
vocatione  gentium  :  Vilesceret  redem- 
tio  sanguinis  Christi,  nec  misericordiae 
Dei  humanorum  operum  praerogativa 
succumberet,  si  justificatio  quae  fit  per 
gratiam,  merites  praecedentibus  debe- 
retur,  ut  non  munus  largientis,  sed  mer- 
ces  esset  operantis.  Quanquam  autem 
haec  doctrina  contemnitur  ab  imperitis, 
tamen  experiuntur  piae  ac  pavidae  con- 
scientiae,  plurimum  earn  consolationis 
afferre,  quia  conscientiae  non  possunt 
reddi  tranquillae  per  ulla  opera,  sed 
tantum  fide,  ciim  certo  statuunt,  quod 
propter  Christum  habeant  placatum  De- 
um. Quemadmodum  Paulus  docet, 
(Rom.  v.)  *  Justificati  per  fidem,  pacem 
habemus  apud  Deum.'  Tota  haec  doc- 
trina ad  illud  certamen  perterrefactae 
conscientiae  referenda  est,  nec  sine  illo 

2 


lence.  TJiey  now  teach,  that  we  are 
not  justified  by  works  alone,  but  join 
faith  to  works,  and  maintain  that  we 
are  justified  by  faith  and  works.  This 
doctrine  is  more  tolerable  than  their 
former  belief,  and  is  calculated  to  im- 
part more  consolation  to  the  mind.  In- 
asmuch, then,  as  the  doctrine  concern- 
ing faith,  which  should  be  regarded  as 
a  principal  one  by  the  church,  had  so 
long  been  unknown ;  for  all  must  con- 
fess, that  concerning  the  righteousness 
of  faith,  the  most  profound  silence 
reigned  in  their  sermons,  and  the  doc- 
trine concerning  works  alone  was  dis- 
cussed in  the  churches ;  our  divines 
have  admonished  the  churches  as  fol- 
lows:—  First,  that  our  works  cannot 
reconcile  us  to  God,  or  merit  the  remis- 
sion of  sins,  or  grace,  or  justification : 
but  this  we  can  attain  only  by  faith, 
when  we  believe  that  we  are  accepted 
by  grace,  for  Christ's  sake,  who  alone  is 
appointed  our  mediator  and  propitiatory 
sacrifice,  by  which  the  Father  is  recon- 
ciled. He,  therefore,  who  expects  to 
merit  grace  by  his  works,  casts  con- 
tempt on  the  merits  of  Christ,  and  is 
seeking  the  way  to  God,  in  his  own 
strength,  without  the  Saviour ;  who  ne- 
vertheless has  told  us,  '  I  am  the  way, 
the  truth,  and  the  life.'  This  doctrine 
concerning  faith,  is  incessantly  incul- 
cated by  the  apostle  Paul,  (Ephes.  ii.) 
'  Ye  are  saved  by  grace,  through  faith, 
and  that  not  of  yourselves,  it  is  the  gift 
of  God,'  &c.  And  lest  any  one  should 
cavil  at  our  interpretation,  and  charge 
it  with  novelty,  we  state  that  this  whole 
matter  is  supported  by  the  testimony  of 
the  fathers.  For  Augustin  devotes  se- 
veral volumes  to  the  defence  of  grace, 
and  the  righteousness  of  faith,  in  op- 
position to  the  merit  of  good  works. 
And  Ambrosius,  on  the  calling  of  tho 
Gentiles,  &c.  inculcates  the  same  doc- 
trine. But  although  this  doctrine  is 
despised  by  the  ignorant ;  the  con- 
sciences of  the  pious  and  timid  find  it 
a  source  of  much  consolation,  for  they 
cannot  attain  tranquillity  in  any  works, 
but  in  faith  alone,  when  they  entertain 
the  confident  belief  that,  for  Christ's 
sake,  God  is  reconciled  to  them.  Thus 
Paul  teaches  us,  Rom.  v.  '  Being  justi- 
fied by  feith,  we  have  peace  with  God.' 

M 


530 


APPENDIX. 


certatnine  intelligi  potest.  Quare  male 
judicant  de  ea  re  homines  imperiti  et 
prophani,  qui  Christianam  justitiam  nihil 
esse  somniant,  nisi  civilem  et  philoso- 
phicam  justitiam.  Olim  vexabantur  con- 
scientiae  doctrina  operum  non  audiebant 
ex  evangelio  consolationem.  Quosdam 
conscientia  expulit  in  desertum,  in  mo- 
nasteria,  sperantes  ibi  se  gratiam  meri- 
turos  esse  per  vitam  monasticam.  Alii 
alia  excogitaverunt  opera,  ad  prome- 
rendam  gratiam  et  satisfaciendum  pro 
peccatis.  Ideo  magnopere  fuit  opus, 
hanc  doctrinam  de  fide  in  Christum 
tradere,  et  renovare,  ne  deesset  consola- 
tio  pavidis  conscientiis,  sed  scirent,  fide 
in  Christum  apprehendi  gratiam  et  re- 
missionem  peccatorum  et  justificatio- 
nem.  Admonentur  etiam  homines,  quod 
hie  nomen  fidei  non  significet  tantum 
historiae  notitiam,  qualis  est  in  impiis 
et  diabolo,  sed  significet  fidem,  quae 
credit  non  tantum  historiam,  sed  etiam 
effectum  historiae,  videlicet  hunc  articu- 
lum,  Remissionem  peccatorum,  qudd  vi- 
delicet per  Christum  habeamus  gratiam, 
justitiam  et  remissionem  peccatorum. 
Jam  qui  scit,  se  per  Christum  habere 
propitium  Patrem,  is  vere  novit  Deum, 
scit  se  ei  curae  esse,  invocat  eum ;  Deni- 
que  non  est  sine  Deo  sicut  gentis.  Nam 
diaboli  et  impii  non  possunt  hunc  articu- 
lum  credere,  Remissionem  peccatorum. 
Ideo  Deum  tanquam  hostem  oderunt,  non 
invocant  eum,  nihil  boni  ab  eo  expec- 
tant. Augustinus  etiam  de  fidei  nomine 
hoc  modo  admonet  lectorem  et  docet, 
in  scripturis  nomen  fidei  accipi,  non  pro 
notitia,  qualis  est  in  impiis,  sed  pro 
fiducia,  quae  consolatur  et  erigit  per- 
terrefactas  mentes.  Praeterea  docent 
nostri,  quod  necesse  sit  bona  opera 
facere,  non  ut  confidamus  per  ea  gratiam 
mereri,  sed  propter  voluntatem  Dei. 
Tantum  fide  apprehenditur  remissio 
peccatorum  ac  gratia.  Et  quia  per 
fidem  accipitur  Spiritus  Sanctus,  jam 
corda  renovantur,  et  induunt  novus  affec- 
tus,  ut  parere  bona  opera  possint.  Sic 
enim  ait  Ambrosius :  Fides  bonae  vo- 
luntatis, et  justae  actionis  genetrix  est. 
Nam  humanae  vires,  sine  Spiritu  Sancto, 
plenae  sunt  impiis  affectibus,  et  sunt 
imbecilliores,  quam  ut  bona  opera  pos- 
sint efficere  coram  Deo.  Adhaec,  sunt 
in  potestate  diaboli,  qui  impellit  hominis 


This  whole  doctrine  must  be  referred  to 
the  conflict  in  the  conscience  of  the 
alarmed  sinner,  nor  can  it  be  otherwise 
understood.  Hence  the  ignorant  and 
worldly-minded  are  much  mistaken, 
who  vainly  imagine  that  the  righteous- 
ness of  the  Christian  is  nothing  else 
than  what  in  common  life  and  in  the 
language  of  philosophy  is  termed  mo- 
rality. Formerly  the  consciences  of 
men  were  harassed  by  the  doctrine  of 
works,  nor  did  they  receive  any  conso- 
lation from  the  gospel.  Some  followed 
the  dictates  of  conscience  into  deserts, 
and  into  monasteries ;  hoping  there  to 
merit  the  divine  favour  by  a  monastic 
life.  Others  invented  different  kinds  of 
works,  to  merit  grace,  and  make  satis- 
faction for  their  sins.  There  was  there- 
fore the  utmost  necessity,  that  this  doc- 
trine concerning  faith  in  Christ  should 
be  inculcated  anew  ;  in  order  that  timid 
minds  might  find  consolation,  and  know 
that  justification  and  the  remission  of  sins 
are  obtained  by  faith  in  the  Saviour. 
The  people  are  also  now  instructed, 
that  faith  does  not  signify  a  mere  his- 
torical belief,  such  as  wicked  men  and 
devils  have ;  but  that  in  addition  to  a 
historical  belief,  it  includes  an  acquaint- 
ance with  the  consequences  of  the  his- 
tory, such  as  remission  of  sins,  by  grace 
through  Christ,  righteousness,  &c.  &c. 
Now  he  who  knows  that  the  Father  is 
reconciled  to  him  through  the  Son,  pos- 
sesses a  true  acquaintance  with  God, 
confides  in  his  providence,  and  calls 
upon  his  name :  and  is  therefore  not 
without  God  as  are  the  Gentiles.  For 
the  devil  and  wicked  men  cannot  be- 
lieve the  article  concerning  the  remis- 
sion of  sins.  But  they  hate  God  as  an 
enemy,  do  not  call  upon  his  name,  nor 
expect  any  thing  good  at  his  hands.  Au- 
gustin,  in  speaking  of  the  word  faith, 
admonishes  the  reader  that  in  scripture 
this  word  does  not  signify  mere  know- 
ledge, such  as  wicked  men  possess,  but 
that  confidence  or  trust  by  which 
alarmed  sinners  are  comforted  and  lifted 
up.  We  moreover  teach,  that  the  per- 
formance of  good  works  is  necessary, 
because  it  is  commanded  of  God,  and 
not  because  we  expect  to  merit  grace 
by  them.  Pardon  of  sins  and  grace  are 
obtained  only  by  faith.    And  becaune 


APPENDIX. 


531 


ad  varia  peccata,  ad  impias  opiniones, 
ad  manifesta  scelera.  Quemadmodum 
est  videre  in  philosophis  qui  et  ipsi 
cor.ati  honeste  vivere,  tamen  id  non 
potuerunt  efficere,  sed  contaminati  sunt 
multis  manifestis  sceleribus.  Talis  est 
imbecilitas  hominis,  cum  est  sine  fide  et 
sine  Spiritu  Sancto,  et  tantum  humanis 
viribus  se  gubernat.  Hinc  facile  appa- 
ret.hancdoctrinam  non  esse  accusandam, 
quod  bona  opera  prohibeat,  sed  multo 
magis  laudandam,  quod  ostendit,  quo- 
modo  bona  opera  facere  possimus.  Nam 
sine  fide  nullo  modo  potest  humana  na- 
tura  primi  aut  secundi  praecepti  opera 
facere.  Sine  fide  non  invocat  Deum,  a 
Deo  nihil  expectat,  non  tolerat  crucem, 
sed  quaerit  humana  praesidia,  eonfidit  hu- 
manis praesidiis.  Ita  regnant  in  corde 
omncs  cupiditates,  et  humana  concilia, 
cum  abest  fides  et  fiducia  erga  Deum. 
Quare  et  Christus  dixit :  Sine  me  nihil 
potestis  facere,  Joh.  15.  Et  Ecclesia 
canit .  Sine  tuo  numine,  nihil  est  in 
homine,  nihil  est  innoxium. 


the  Holy  Spint  is  received  by  faith, 
the  heart  of  man  is  renovated,  and  new 
affections  produced,  that  he  may  be 
able  to  perform  good  works.  Accord- 
ingly Ambrosius  states,  faith  is  the 
source  of  holy  volitions  and  an  upright 
life.    For  the  faculties  of  man,  un- 
aided by  the  Holy  Spirit,  are  replete 
with  sinful  propensities,  and  too  feeble 
to  perform  works  that  are  good  in  the 
sight  of  God.  They  are  moreover  under 
the  influence  of  Satan,  who  urges  men 
to  various  crimes,  and  impious  opinions, 
and  manifest  offences  ;  as  may  be  seen 
in  the  examples  of  the  philosophers  who, 
though  they  endeavoured  to  lead  per- 
fectly moral  lives,  failed  to  accomplish 
their  design,  and  were  guilty  of  many 
notorious  crimes.     Such  is  the  imbe- 
cility of  man,  when  he  undertakes  to 
govern  himself  by  his  own  strength 
without   faith   and   the    Holy  Spirit. 
From  all  this  it  is  manifest,  that  our 
doctrine,  instead  of  deserving  censure 
for  the  prohibition  of  good  works,  ought 
much  rather  to  be  applauded,  for  teach- 
ing the  manner  in  which  truly  good 
works  can  be  performed.     For  without 
faith,  human  nature  is  incapable  of  per- 
forming the  duties  cither  of  the  first  or 
second  table.    Without  it,  man  does 
not  call  upon  God,  nor  expect  any  thing 
from  him,  but  seeks  refuge  amongst 
men,  and  reposes  on  human  aid.  Hence 
when  faith  and  confidence  in  God  are 
wanting,  all  evil  desires  and  human 
schemes  reign  in  the  heart  ;  as  Christ 
says,  '  without  me  ye  can  do  nothing,' 
John  xv.  ;  and  the  church  responds, 
Without  thy  favour  there  is  nothing  good 
in  man. 


ARTICLE  XXI. 

XXI.  De  Cultu  Sanctorum.  Of  the  Invocation  of  Sainxs. 

De  cultu  sanctorum  doccnt,  quod  Concerning  the  invocation  of  saints 

memoria  sanctorum  proponi  potest,  ut  our   churches  teach,  that   the  saints 

imitemur  fidem  eorum,  et  bona  opera  ought  to  be  held  in  remembrance,  in 

juxta  vocationem ;  Ut   Caesar  imitari  order  that  we  may,  each  in  his  own 

potest  exemplum  Davidis  in  bello  ge-  calling,  imitate  their  faith  and  good 

rendo  ad  depellendos  Turcas  a  patria.  works  ;  that  the  emperor  may  imitate 

Nam  uterque  rex  est.    Sed  scriptura  the  example  of  David,  in  carrying  on 

non  docet  invocare  sanctos,  seu  petere  war  to  expel   the   Turks  from  our 

auxilium  a  Sanctis.  Quia  unum  Christum  country  ;  for  both  are  kings.    But  the 

nobis  proponit  mediatorem,  propitiato-  sacred  volume  does  not  teach  us  to 

rium,  Pontificem  et  intercessorem.    Hie  invoke  saints  or  to  seek  aid  from  them, 

invocandus  est,  et  promisit,  se  exaudi-  For  it  proposes  Christ  to  us  as  our 

2m2 


532 


APPENDIX. 


turum  esse  preces  nostras,  et  hunc  cul- 
tum  maxime  probat,  videlicit  ut  invo- 
cetur  in  omnibus  aflictionibus,  1  Joh.  ii. 
Si  quis  peccat,  habemus  advocatum 
apud  Deum,  etc.  Haec  fere  summa  est 
doctrinae  apud  nos,  in  qua  cerni  potest, 
nihil  inesse,  quod  discrepit  a  scripturis, 
vel  ab  Ecclesia  Catholica,  vel  ab  Ecele- 
sia  Romana  quatenus  ex  scriptoribus 
nota  est.  Quod  cum  ita  sit,  inclemen- 
ter  judicant  isti,  qui  nostras  pro  haere- 
ticis  haberi  postulant,  sed  dissensio  est 
de  quibusdam  abusibus,  qui  sine  certa 
auctoritate  in  Ecclesias  irrepserunt,  in 
quibus  etiam,  si  qua  esset  dissimilitudo, 
tamen  decebat  haec  lenitas  Episcopos, 
ut  propter  confessionem,  quam  modd 
recensuimu3,  tolerarent  nostros,  quia 
ne  canones  quidem  tam  duri  sunt,  ut 
eosdem  ritus  ubique  esse  postulent, 
neque  similes  unquam  omnium  Ecclesi- 
arum  ritus  fuerunt.  Quanquam  apud 
nos  magna  exparte  veteres  ritus  diligen- 
ter  servantur.  Falsa  enim  calumnia  est, 
quod  omnes  ceremoniae,  omnia  velera 
instituta  in  Ecclesiis  nostris  aboleantur. 
Verum  publica  querela  fuit,  abusus 
quosdam,  in  vulgaribus  ritibus  haerere. 
Hi  quia  non  poterant  bona  conscientia 
probari,  aliqua  ex  parte  correcti  sunt. 


only  mediator,  propitiation,  high  priest, 
and  intercessor.  On  his  name  we  are 
to  call,  and  he  promises,  that  he  will 
hear  our  prayers,  and  highly  approves 
of  this  worship,  viz.  :  that  he  should  be 
called  upon  in  every  affliction,  1  John 
ii.  :  '  If  any  one  sin,  we  have  an  advo- 
cate with  the  Father,'  &c.  This  is  the 
substance  of  our  doctrines,  from  which 
it  is  evident,  that  they  contain  nothing 
inconsistent  with  the  scriptures,  or 
opposed  either  to  the  catholic  (univer- 
sal) or  to  the  Roman  church,  so  far 
as  they  accord  with  scripture.  Under 
these  circumstances,  those  certainly 
judge  harshly,  who  would  have  us  re- 
garded as  heretics.  But  the  difference 
of  opinion  between  us  relates  to  certain 
abuses,which  have  crept  into  the  churches 
without  any  good  authority ;  in  regard 
to  which,  if  we  do  differ,  the  bishops 
ought  to  treat  with  lenity  and  tolerate 
us,  on  account  of  the  confession,  which 
we  have  just  made.  For,  even  the 
canons  of  the  church  are  not  so  rigid, 
as  to  require  every  where  a  uniformity 
of  rites ;  nor  have  the  rites  of  all  the 
churches  ever  been  the  same.  Never- 
theless, the  ancient  rites  of  the  church 
we  have  in  general  carefully  retained. 
For  it  is  a  slanderous  charge,  that  all 
the  ancient  customs  and  institutions  are 
abolished  in  our  churches.  But  there 
was  a  general  complaint,  that  some 
abuses  had  crept  into  the  customary 
rites  ;  and  these,  because  we  could  not 
with  a  good  conscience  retain  them,  we 
have  in  part  corrected. 


•THE  CORRUPTIONS  IN  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH  WHICH 
THE  REFORMERS  CORRECTED.' 
In  addition  to  the  preceding  confession  of  their  faith,  the  confessors  also  submitted 
to  the  Diet  a  list  of  the  corruptions  which  had  crept  into  the  Roman  church,  and 
which  had  been  corrected  by  them.  As  this  list  of  abuses  corrected,  13  seldom 
found  annexed  to  the  modern  editions  of  the  confessions,  and  will  moreover  not  be 
entirely  superfluous  at  the  present  day,  we  here  present  them  to  the  reader,  from 
the  authentic  German  edition  of  Dr.  Baumgarten.' 

CHAPTER  I. 
Op  Communion  in  one  Kind. 
As  there  is  nothing  contained  in  the  doctrines  of  our  ohurches,  inconsistent  with 
scripture,  or  with  the  catholic  church  ;  and  as  we  have  merely  rejected  certain  abuses, 

•  The  Translation  of  these  chapters,  on  the  abuses  which  crept  into  the  church,  is  from 
the  work  of  Dr.  Scbmucker,  already  referred  to,  with  the  exception  of  cc.  iii  iv.  and 
"ii .,  which  having  been  very  much  abridged  or  omitted  by  Dr.  S.,  tbe  Editor  ha*  supplied. 


APPENDIX. 


533 


some  of  which  had  in  the  course  of  time  crept  into  the  church,  whilst  others  were 
forcibly  introduced  into  it ;  necessity  demands  that  we  should  give  some  account 
of  them,  ai.d  assign  the  reasons  which  induced  us  to  admit  the  alterations,  in  order 
that  your  imperial  majesty  may  perceive  that  nothing  was  done  in  this  matter  in  an 
unchristian  or  presumptuous  manner,  hut  that  we  were  compelled  to  admit  these 
alterations  by  the  word  of  God,  which  is  justly  to  be  held  in  higher  regard  than  any 
customs  of  the  church.  In  our  churches,  communion  is  administered  to  the  laity  in 
both  kinds,  because  we  regard  this  as  a  manifest  command  and  precept  of  Christ, 
Matt.  xxvi.  27.  '  Drink  ye  all  of  it.'  In  this  passage  Christ  teaches,  in  the  plainest 
terms,  that  they  should  all  drink  out  of  the  cup.  And  in  order  that  no  one  may 
be  able  to  cavil  at  these  words,  and  explain  them  as  referring  to  the  clergy  alone, 
Paul  informs  us,  that  the  entira  church  at  Corinth  received  the  sacrament  in  both 
kinds,  1  Cor.  xi.  26.  And  this  custom  was  retained  in  the  church,  as  is  proved  by 
history  and  the  writings  of  the  fathers.  Cyprian  frequently  mentions  the  fact  that 
in  his  day,  the  cup  was  given  to  the  laity.  St.  Jerome  also  says,  the  priests  who 
administer  the  sacrament,  dispense  the  blood  of  Christ  to  the  people.  And  pope 
Gelasius  himself  commanded,  that  the  sacrament  should  not  be  divided.  (Distinct. 
2.  de  Consecrat.  cap.  Comp?rimus. )  There  is  no  canon  extant  which  commands  that 
one  kind  alone  should  be  received.  Nor  can  it  be  ascertained  when,  or  by  whom,  the 
custom  of  receiving  bread  alone  was  introduced,  although  cardinal  Cusanus  mentions 
the  time  when  it  was  approved.  Now  it  is  evident,  that  such  a  custom,  introduced 
contrary  to  the  divine  command,  and  also  in  opposition  to  the  ancient  canons,  is 
wrong.  It  was  therefore  improper  to  coerce  and  oppress  the  conscience  of  those 
who  wished  to  receive  the  sacrament,  agreeably  to  the  appointment  of  Christ,  and 
compel  them  to  violate  the  institution  of  our  Lord.  And  inasmuch  as  the  dividing 
of  the  sacrament  is  contrary  to  its  institution  by  Christ,  the  host  is  not  carried 
about  in  procession  amongst  us. 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Celibacy  of  the  Priests. 

There  has  been  general  complaint  among  persons  of  every  rank  on  account  of 
the  scandalous  licentiousness  and  lawless  lives  of  the  priests ;  who  were  guilty  of 
lewdness,  and  whose  excesses  had  risen  to  the  highest  pitch.  In  order  to  put  an 
end  to  such  odious  conduct,  to  adultery,  and  other  lewd  practices,  several  of  our 
ministers  have  entered  the  matrimonial  state.  They  themselves  declare,  that  in 
taking  this  step  they  were  influenced  by  the  dictates  of  conscience,  and  a  sacred 
regard  for  the  holy  volume,  which  expressly  informs  us,  that  marriage  was  ap- 
pointed of  God  to  prevent  licentiousness:  as  Paul  says,  (1  Cor.  vii.  2.)  *  To 
avoid  fornication,  let  every  man  have  his  own  wife.'  Again,  '  It  is  better  to  marry 
than  to  bum  ;'  (1  Cor.  vii.  9.)  and  according  to  the  declaration  of  Christ,  that  not 
all  men  can  receive  this  word,  (Matt.  xix.  12.)  In  this  passage  Christ  himself, 
who  well  knew  what  was  in  man,  declares  that  few  persons  are  qualified  to  live  in 
celibacy  :  for  '  God  created  us  male  and  female,'  (Gen.  i.  27.)  And  experience 
has  abundantly  proved  how  vain  is  the  attempt  to  alter  the  nature  or  meliorate  the 
character  of  God's  creatures  by  mere  human  purposes  or  vows,  without  a  peculiar 
gift  or  grace  of  God.  It  is  notorious  that  the  effort  has  been  prejudicial  to  purity 
of  morals ;  and  in  how  many  cases  it  has  occasioned  distress  of  mind,  and  the  most 
terrific  apprehensions  of  conscience,  is  known  by  the  confessions  of  numerous 
individuals.  Since  then  the  word  and  law  of  God  cannot  be  altered  by  human 
vows  or  enactments,  the  priests  for  this  and  other  reasons  have  entered  into  the 
conjugal  state.  It  is  moreover  evident  from  the  testimony  of  history  and  the 
writings  of  the  fathers,  that  it  was  customary  in  former  ages  for  priests  and  deacons 
to  be  married.  Hence  the  injunction  of  Paul  to  Timothy,  (1  Tim.  iii.  2.)  '  A 
bishop  then  must  be  blameless,  the  husband  of  one  wife.'  It  is  but  four  hundred 
years  since  the  clergy  in  Germany  were  compelled  by  force  to  abandon  the  matri- 


534 


APPENDIX. 


monial  life,  and  submit  to  £,  vcw  of  celibacy ;  and  so  generally  and  resolutely  did 
they  resist  this  tyranny,  that  the  archbishop  of  Mayence,  who  published  this  papal 
edict,  was  well  nigh  losing  his  life  in  a  commotion  excited  by  the  measure.  And 
in  so  precipitate  and  arbitrary  a  manner  was  that  decree  executed,  that  the  pope 
not  only  prohibited  all  future  marriage  of  the  priests,  but  even  cruelly  rent  asunder 
the  social  ties  of  those  who  had  long  been  living  in  the  bonds  of  lawful  wedlock, 
thus  violating  alike  not  only  the  laws  of  God,  and  the  natural  and  civil  rights  of  the 
citizen,  but  even  the  canons  which  the  popes  themselves  made,  and  the  decrees  of  the 
most  celebrated  councils  !  It  is  the  deliberate  and  well-known  opinion  of  many  dis- 
tinguished, pious,  and  judicious  men,  that  this  compulsory  celibacy  and  prohibition 
of  matrimony  ( which  God  himself  instituted  and  left  optional),  has  been  productive 
of  no  good,  but  is  the  prolific  source  of  numerous  and  abominable  vices.  Yea,  even 
one  of  the  popes,  Pius  II.,  himself  declared,  as  history  informs  us,  that  though  there 
may  be  several  reasons  why  the  marriage  of  priests  should  be  prohibited,  there  are 
many  more  and  weightier  ones  why  it  should  not.  And  doubtless  this  was  the  delibe- 
rate declaration  of  Pius, who  was  a  sensible  and  wise  man.  We  would  therefore  con- 
fidently trust,  that  your  majesty,  as  a  Christian  emperor,  will  graciously  reflect,  that  in 
these  latter  days,  to  which  reference  is  made  in  the  sacred  volume,  the  world  has  be- 
come still  more  degenerate,  and  mankind  more  frail  and  liable  to  temptation.  It  will 
be  well  to  beware,  lest,  by  the  prohibition  of  marriage,  licentiousness  and  vice  be  pro- 
moted in  the  German  States.  For  on  this  subject  no  man  can  devise  better  or 
more  salutary  laws  than  those  enacted  by  God,  who  himself  instituted  marriage  for 
the  promotion  of  virtue  amongst  men.  The  ancient  canons  also  enjoin  that  the 
rigour  of  human  enactments  must  on  some  subjects  be  accommodated  to  the  infir- 
mities of  human  nature,  in  order  to  avoid  greater  evils.  Such  a  course  would  in 
this  case  be  necessary  and  Christian  :  for  what  injury  could  result  to  the  church, 
from  the  marriage  of  the  clergy,  and  others  who  are  to  serve  in  the  church  ?  yea. 
it  is  probable  that  the  church  will  be  but  imperfectly  supplied  with  ministers, 
should  this  rigorous  prohibition  of  marriage  be  continued.  If  therefore  it  is 
evident  from  the  divine  word  and  command,  that  matrimony  is  lawful  in  ministers, 
and  history  teaches  that  their  practice  formerly  was  conformed  to  this  precept  ;  if 
it  is  evident  that  the  vow  of  celibacy  has  been  productive  of  the  most  scandalous 
and  unchristian  conduct,  of  adultery,  unheard-of  licentiousness,  and  other  abomi- 
nable crimes,  among  the  clergy,  as  some  of  the  dignitaries  at  Rome  have  themselves 
often  confessed  and  lamented,  it  is  a  lamentable  thing  that  the  Christian  estate  of 
matrimony  has  not  only  been  presumptuously  forbidden,  but  in  some  places  speedy 
punishment  been  inflicted  as  though  it  were  a  heinous  crime  1  Matrimony  is  more- 
over declared  a  lawful  and  honourable  estate,  by  the  laws  of  your  imperial  majesty 
and  by  the  code  of  every  empire  in  which  justice  and  law  prevailed.  Of  late, 
however,  innocent  subjects,  and  especially  ministers,  are  cruelly  tormented  on 
account  of  their  marriage.  Nor  is  such  conduct  a  violation  of  the  divine  laws 
alone  ;  it  is  equally  opposed  to  the  canons  of  the  church.  The  apostle  Paul 
denominates  that  a  doctrine  of  devils  which  forbids  marriage,  (1  Tim.  iv.  1,  3.) 
And  Christ  says,  (John  viii.  44.)  '  The  devil  is  a  murderer  from  the  beginning.' 
For  that  may  well  be  regarded  as  a  doctrine  of  devils  which  forbids  marriage  and 
enforces  the  prohibition  by  the  shedding  of  blood.  But  as  no  human  law  can 
abrogate  or  change  a  command  of  God,  neither  can  any  vows  produce  this  effect. 
Therefore  Cyprian  also  admonishes,  that  if  any  woman  do  not  observe  the  vow  of 
chastity,  it  is  better  for  her  to  be  married :  (  Lib.  i. )  and  all  the  canons  observe  more 
lenity  and  justice  toward  those  who  assumed  the  vow  of  celibacy  in  youth,  as  is  ge- 
nerally the  case  with  priests  and  monks. 

CHAPTER  III. 
Of  the  Mass. 

Our  churches  are  falsely  accused  that  they  abolish  the  mass ;  for  the  mass  is 
retained  by  us3  and  is  celebrated  with  high  reverence.    Also  almost  all  the  usual 


APPENDIX. 


5.35 


ceremonies  are  observed,  except  that  in  some  places  German  are  mixed  with  the 
Latin  songs,  which  are  added  for  the  purpose  of  teaching  the  people  ;  for  cere- 
monies serve  to  teach  the  inexperienced.  And  not  only  Paul  commandeth  to  use 
in  the  diurcb  a  tongue  which  the  people  understand  ;  but  also  it  is  constituted  and 
ordained  by  the  law  of  man. 

The  people  are  accustomed  to  use  the  sacrament  together,  if  any  be  prepared  for  it ; 
and  that  also  doth  increase  the  reverence  and  the  religion  of  public  ceremonies ; 
for  none  are  admitted  and  allowed  to  receive  the  sacrament,  but  such  as  are  first 
examined.  They  are  also  admonished  of  the  dignity  and  use  of  the  sacrament, 
how  great  comfort  it  brings  to  fearful  and  trembling  consciences,  to  the  intent  that 
they  may  learn  to  believe  God,  and  ask  and  look  for  all  good  things  from  him. 

This  honour  delights  God ;  such  use  of  the  sacraments  nourishes  piety  towards 
God.    Therefore  it  does  not  appear  that  the  mass  is  celebrated  with  mere  reve- 
rence among  our  adversaries  than  with  us.     It  is  undoubtedly  and  evidently  known 
also  that  this  hath  been  a  common  and  very  grievous  complaint  of  all  good  men  of 
a  long  season,  that  the  masses  have  been  shamefully  abused  and  applied  to  lucre  ; 
and  every  man  sees  how  wide  this  abuse  doth  appear  in  all  temples,  and  by  what  sort 
of  men  masses  are  said,  only  for  reward  or  stipend  ;  how  many  celebrate  contrary 
to  the  injunctions  of  the  canons.     But  Paul  grievously  threatens  those  who 
treat  the  sacrament  unworthily,  when  he  says,  '  whoso  eateth  this  bread  and 
drinketh  this  cup  of  the  Lord  unworthily,  shall  be  guilty  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
the  Lord.'    Therefore  when  our  priests  were  admonished  of  that  sin,  private 
masses  ceased  with  us,  because  almost  all  private  masses  were  done  for  lucre  and 
advantage.    And  the  bishops  knew  of  these  abuses  well,  and  if  they  had  corrected 
them  in  time,  there  would  have  been  less  dissension  than  there  now  is.  Before, 
by  reason  of  their  dissimulation  and  unwillingness  to  hear  and  see  what  was 
amiss,  they  suffered  many  vices  to  creep  into  the  church.     Now  they  begin,  when 
too  late,  to  complain  of  the  calamities  and  miseries  of  the  church,  when  indeed 
all  this  tumult  has  arisen  from  no  other  source  than  these  abuses,  which  were  so 
manifest  that  they  could  be  endured  no  longer.    There  are  now  great  dissensions 
touching  the  mass  and  sacrament  ;  and  peradventure  the  world  is  punished  for  so 
long  profaning  and  abusing  masses,  which  the  bishops  have  suffered  for  so  many 
ages  in  the  churches,  when  they  both  could  and  ought  to  have  amended  them  :  for  it 
is  written  in  the  decalogue,  that  he  that  abuseth  the  name  of  God  shall  not  be  un- 
punished.   But  since  the  world  began,  nothing  that  God  ever  ordained  hath  been  so 
abused  and  turned  to  filthy  lucre  as  the  mass  has  been.     An  opinion  came  in  which 
increased  private  masses  above  measure  :  viz.  that  Christ  by  his  passion  did  satisfy 
for  original  sin,  but  did  institute  and  ordain  the  mass  that  it  should  be  an  oblation 
few  daily  sins,  both  mortal  and  venial.     From  this  sprung  a  common  opinion 
that  the  mass  is  a  work  that  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  quick  and  dead,  by  reason 
of  the  work  wrought.    Then  arose  the  dispute  whether  one  mass  for  many  were 
as  much  worth  as  if  for  each  individual  a  separate  mass  had  been  said.  Thi3 
disputation  brought  forth  an  infinite  multitude  of  masses.     Of  these  opinions 
our  preachers  and  learned  men  gave  warning  that  they  dissented  from  holy  scrip- 
ture, and  tarnished  the  glory  of  the  passion  of  Christ.    For  the  passion  of  Christ 
was  an  oblation  and  satisfaction  not  only  for  original  sin, but  also  for  all  other  sins; 
as  it  is  written  in  the  Hebrews,  '  We  are  sanctified  by  the  offering  of  the  body  of 
Jesus  Christ  once  for  all ;'  also  '  by  one  oblation  he  hath  perfected  for  ever  them 
that  are  sanctified."    Also  the  scripture  teaches,  that  we  are  justified  before  God 
t«v  faith  in  Christ,  when  we  believe  that  our  sins  are  forgiven  us  for  Christ's  sake. 
Now  if  the  mass  takes  away  the  sins  of  the  quick  and  dead  even  by  its  own 
proper  virtue,  their  justification  is  the  work  of  masses  and  not  of  faith  ;  which  thing 
scripture  denies.    But  Christ  commands  to  do  it  in  remembrance  of  him.  Where- 
fore the  mass  was  instituted,  that  faith  in  them  that  use  the  sacrament  should 
remember  what  benefits  it  receives  by  Christ,  and  so  should  raise  up  and  comfort 
the  trembling  and  fearful  conscience.    For  to  remember  Christ  is  to  remember  the 


536 


APPENDIX. 


benefits  of  Christ,  and  to  think  that,  truly  and  in  very  deed,  they  ate  exhibited  to 
us.  Neither  is  it  enough  for  us  to  remember  the  history ;  for  this  wicked  men  and 
Jews  may  remember.  Wherefore  the  mass  is  to  be  celebrated  that  the  sacrament 
may  be  administered  to  those  who  have  need  of  comfort.  Ambrose  said,  '  because 
I  always  sin,  I  ought  always  to  take  medicine.'  Now  forasmuch  as  the  mass  is 
such  a  communication  of  the  sacrament,  one  common  mass  is  kept  by  us  every  holy 
day  ;  and  also  on  other  days,  if  any  desire  the  sacrament,  it  is  given  to  them  that 
ask  it.  And  this  manner  is  not  new  in  the  church.  For  the  old  fathers  before 
Gregory  speak  nothing  of  the  private,  but  very  much  of  the  common,  mass.  Chry- 
sostom  says,  '  That  the  priest  standeth  daily  at  the  altar,  and  some  he  calls  to 
communion,  and  others  he  keeps  away.'  And  it  appears  by  the  old  canons 
that  some  one  priest  did  celebrate  the  mass,  and  from  him  all  the  other  priests 
and  deacons  received  the  body  of  the  Lord  ;  for  so  are  the  words  of  the 
canon  of  Nice,  Let  deacons  in  order  after  the  priests  receive  communion  from 
the  bishop  or  priests.  And  Paul,  speaking  of  the  communion,  commands, 
that  one  should  tarry  for  another  that  there  may  be  a  common  participation. 
Forasmuch  then  as  the  mass,  according  to  us,  has  the  example  of  the  church 
taken  out  of  the  holy  scriptures  and  fathers,  we  trust  that  it  cannot  be  improved ; 
especially  since  the  common  and  public  ceremonies  are,  for  the  most  part,  kept 
in  the  usual  way,  only  the  number  of  masses  is  unlike;  which,  for  great  and 
manifest  abuses,  it  were  profitable  at  least  to  moderate.  For  in  times  past  mass 
was  not  celebrated  every  day,  not  even  in  great  congregations,  and  where  most 
people  assembled  together,  as  the  Tripartite  history,  lib.  ix.  cap.  38.  testifies. 
Again,  in  Alexandria  scriptures  are  read  on  Wednesdays  and  Fridays,  and  doctors 
expound  them,  and  all  things  are  done  without  the  solemn  custom  of  the  oblation. 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Of  Confession. 

Confession  is  not  done  away  in  our  churches ;  for  the  body  of  the  Lord  is  not 
delivered  to  any  except  they  are  first  examined  and  absolved.  And  the  people  are 
most  diligently  instructed  in  the  faith  of  absolution  :  of  which  before  this  time 
there  was  little  mention.  The  people  are  taught  to  hold  the  absolution  in  great 
esteem ;  because  it  is  the  voice  of  God,  and  pronounced  by  His  command.  The 
power  of  the  keys  is  highly  extolled,  by  shewing  how  much  comfort  it  brings  to 
troubled  consciences ;  and  that  God  requires  faith  that  we  should  give  credence  to 
that  absolution  as  to  a  voice  sounding  from  heaven ;  and  that  faith  in  Christ  truly 
obtains  and  receives  remission  of  sins. 

Before  this,  satisfactions  were  too  much  magnified,  but  there  was  no  mention 
of  faith  and  the  merits  of  Christ,  and  of  the  righteousness  of  faith ;  wherefore  in 
this  our  churches  are  not  to  be  blamed.  For  even  our  adversaries  are  compelled 
to  admit,  that  the  doctrine  of  penance  is  most  diligently  treated  and  opened  by  our 
divines.  But  concerning  confession  they  teach  that  the  enumeration  of  sins  is  not 
necessary ;  and  that  consciences  are  not  to  be  charged  with  the  care  of  reckoning 
up  all  faults,  for  it  is  impossible  to  rehearse  all  sins,  as  the  prophet  records,  say- 
ing, 'Who  can  understand  his  errors?'  Jeremiah  also  says,  'The  heart  of  man  is 
deceitful  above  all  things,  and  desperately  wicked.'  Wherefore  if  no  sins  should  be 
forgiven  but  those  which  can  be  rehearsed,  consciences  could  never  be  quieted ; 
for  many  sins  they  neither  see  nor  remember.  Also,  old  writers  witness  that  the 
numbering  of  sins  is  not  necessary,  for,  in  the  decrees,  Chrysostom  is  cited  speak- 
ing thus :  '  I  say  not  to  thee  that  thou  shew  thyself  openly,  nor  accuse  thyself 
before  others,  but  I  wish  thee  to  obey  the  prophet,  saying,  '  declare  thy  way  before 
God  ;'  therefore  confess  thy  sins,  with  prayer,  unto  God  the  true  judge.  Lay  open 
the  sins  not  with  the  tongue,  but  with  the  memory  of  thy  conscience,'  &c.  &c. 
And  the  gloss  concerning  penance  acknowledges  that  confession  is  of  human 
authority. 


APPENDIX. 


537 


CHAPTER  V. 

Op  Diversity  of  Meats. 

The  doctrine  was  formerly  inculcated,  that  the  diversity  of  meats  and  other 
human  traditions  were  useful  in  order  to  merit  grace  and  make  satisfaction  for  sin. 
Hence  new  fasts,  new  ceremonies,  and  new  orders,  were  daily  invented,  and 
strenuously  insisted  on  as  necessary  parts  of  worship,  the  neglect  of  which  was 
attended  with  heinous  guilt.  Thus  occasion  was  given  to  many  scandalous  cor- 
ruptions in  the  church.  In  the  first  place,  the  grace  of  Christ  and  the  doctrine 
concerning  faith  are  thereby  obscured.  Yet  these  doctrines  are  inculcated  in  the 
gospel  with  great  solemnity,  the  merits  of  Christ  are  represented  as  of  the  utmost 
importance,  and  faith  in  the  Redeemer  is  placed  far  above  all  human  merits.  Hence 
the  apostle  Paul  inveighs  bitterly  against  the  observance  of  the  Mosaic  ritual  and 
human  traditions,  in  order  to  teach  us  that  we  acquire  righteousness  and  grace  not 
by  our  own  works,  but  by  faith  in  Christ.  This  doctrine  was  however  entirely 
obscured  by  the  notion  that  grace  must  be  merited  by  legal  observances,  fasts, 
diversities  of  meats,  habits,  &c.  Secondly,  such  traditions  were  calculated  to 
obscure  the  divine  law ;  for  these  traditions  are  elevated  far  above  the  word  of 
God.  No  one  was  regarded  as  leading  a  Christian  life,  who  did  not  observe  these 
holy  days,  and  pray,  and  fast,  and  dress,  in  this  peculiar  manner.  Truly  good 
works  were  regarded  as  mere  worldly  matter,  such  as  fulfilling  the  duties  of  our 
calling,  the  labours  of  a  father  to  support  his  family  and  educate  them  in  the  fear  of 
the  Lord,  that  mothers  should  take  charge  of  their  children,  that  the  government 
should  rule  the  country,  &.c.  Such  works  which  God  has  commanded,  were  pro- 
nounced worldly  and  imperfect,  but  these  traditions  had  the  credit  of  being  the 
only  holy  and  perfect  works.  For  these  reasons,  to  the  making  of  such  traditions 
there  was  no  end.  Thirdly,  these  traditions  became  extremely  burdensome  to  the 
consciences  of  men.  For  it  was  not  possible  to  observe  them  all,  and  yet  the 
people  were  taught  to  regard  them  as  necessary  parts  of  worship.  Gerson  asserts 
that  many  were  tVus  driven  to  despair,  and  some  put  an  end  to  their  own  existence, 
because  they  heard  of  no  consolation  in  the  grace  of  Christ.  How  much  the  con- 
sciences of  men  were  perplexed  on  these  subjects,  is  evident  from  the  writings  of 
those  divines  (summistis)  who  undertook  to  compile  these  traditions,  and  point  out 
what  was  just  and  proper.  So  complicated  an  undertaking  did  they  find  it,  that  in 
the  mean  time  the  salutary  doctrines  of  the  gospel  on  more  important  subjects, 
such  as  faith  and  consolation  in  affliction,  and  others  of  like  import,  were  totally 
neglected.  Accordingly  many  pious  men  of  those  times  complained  that  these 
traditions  served  only  to  excite  contention  and  prevent  devout  souls  from  attaining 
the  true  knowledge  of  Christ.  Gerson  and  several  others  uttered  bitter  complaints 
on  this  subject.  And  Augustin  also  complains,  that  th?  consciences  of  men  ought 
not  to  be  burdened  with  these  numerous  and  useless  traditions.  Our  divines  were 
therefore  compelled  by  necessity,  and  not  by  contempt  of  their  spiritual  superiors, 
to  correct  the  erroneous  views  which  had  grown  out  of  the  misapprehension  of 
these  traditions.  For  the  gospel  absolutely  requires  that  the  doctrine  of  faith  be 
steadily  inculcated  in  the  churches ;  but  this  doctrine  cannot  be  rightly  understood 
by  those  who  expect  to  merit  grace  by  works  of  their  own  appointment.  We 
therefore  teach  that  the  observance  of  these  human  traditions  cannot  merit  grace, 
or  atone  for  sins,  or  reconcile  us  unto  God ;  and  ought  therefore  not  to  be  repre- 
sented as  a  necessary  part  of  Christian  duty.  The  proofs  of  this  position  are 
derived  from  scripture.  Christ  excuses  his  apostles  for  not  observing  the  traditions, 
6aying,  '  In  vain  do  they  worship  me,  teaching  for  doctrines  the  commandments  of 
men.'  As  He  calls  this  a  vain  service,  it  cannot  be  a  necessary  one.  And,  again, 
'Not  that  which  goeth  into  the  mouth  defileth  a  man.'  (Matth.  xv.  3,  9,  11.) 
Again,  Paul  says,  '  The  kingdom  of  God  is  not  meat  and  drink.'  (Rom.  xiv.  17.) 
'  Let  no  man  therefore  judge  you  in  meat  or  in  drink.'  (Col.  ii.  16.)  Peter 
'  Why  tempt  ye  God  to  put  a  yoke  upon  the  neck  of  the  disciplcb  which 


538 


APPENDIX. 


neither  our  fathers  nor  we  were  able  able  to  bear  ?  But  we  believe  that  through 
the  grace  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  we  shall  be  saved.'  (Acts  xv.  10,  11.)  Here 
Peter  expressly  forbids  that  the  consciences  of  men  should  be  burdened  with  mere 
external  ceremonies,  either  those  of  the  Mosaic  ritual  or  others.  And  Paul  calls 
those  prohibitions  which  forbid  meats  and  to  be  married,  'doctrines  of  devils.' 
(1  Tim.  iv.  1,  3.)  For  it  is  diametrically  contrary  to  the  gospel  either  to  institute 
or  perform  such  works  with  a  view  to  merit  pardon  of  sin,  or  under  the  impression 
that  no  one  can  be  a  Christian  who  does  not  observe  them.  The  charge,  however, 
that  we  forbid  the  mortification  of  our  sinful  propensities,  as  Jovian  asserts,  is 
groundless.  For  our  writers  have  always  given  instruction  concerning  the  cross 
which  it  is  the  duty  of  Christians  to  bear.  We  moreover  teach,  that  it  is  the  duty 
of  every  one,  by  fasting  and  other  exercises,  to  avoid  giving  any  occasion  to  sin,  but 
not  to  merit  grace  by  such  works.  But  this  watchfulness  over  our  body  is  to  be 
observed  always,  not  on  particular  days  only.  On  this  subject  Christ  says,  '  Take 
heed  to  yourselves  lest  at  any  time  your  hearts  be  overcharged  with  surfeiting.' 
(Luke  xxi.  34.)  Again, '  The  devils  are  not  cast  out  but  by  fasting  and  prayer.' 
(Matth.  xvii.  21.)  And  Paul  says,  '  I  keep  under  my  body,  and  bring  it  into  sub- 
jection.' ( 1  Cor.  ix.  27. )  By  which  he  wishes  to  estimate,  that  this  bodily  discipline 
is  not  designed  to  merit  grace,  but  to  keep  the  body  in  a  suitable  condition  for  the 
several  duties  of  our  calling.  We  do  not  therefore  object  to  fasting  itself,  but  to 
the  fact  that  it  is  represented  as  a  necessary  duty,  and  that  specific  days  have  been 
fixed  for  its  performance. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Of  Monastic  Vows. 
In  speaking  of  Monasticism  it  will  be  requisite  to  consider  the  light  in  which  it 
has  been  viewed,  the  disorders  which  have  occurred  in  monasteries,  and  the  fact 
that  many  things  are  yet  daily  done  in  them  contrary  both  to  the  word  of  God  and 
the  papal  directions.  In  the  time  of  St.  Augustin  the  monastic  life  was  optional ; 
subsequently,  when  the  doctrine  and  the  discipline  of  monasteries  were  corrupted, 
vows  were  invented,  in  order  that  the  evil  might  be  remedied  as  it  were  by  a  species 
of  incarceration.  In  addition  to  these  monastic  vows,  other  burdens  were  invented, 
by  which  persons  were  oppressed  even  during  their  minority.  Many  adopted  this 
mode  of  life  through  ignorance,  who,  though  of  riper  years,  were  fully  acquainted 
with  their  infirmity.  All  these,  in  whatever  way  they  may  have  been  enticed  or 
coerced  into  these  vows,  are  compelled  to  remain,  although  even  the  papal  regu- 
lations would  liberate  many  of  them.  This  severity  has  frequently  been  censured 
by  many  pious  persons  in  former  times ;  for  they  well  knew  that  both  boys  and 
girls  were  often  thrust  into  these  monasteries  merely  for  the  purpose  of  being  sup- 
ported. They  saw  also  the  deplorable  consequences  of  this  course,  and  many  have 
complained  that  the  canons  have  been  so  grossly  violated.  Monastic  vows  were 
also  represented  in  a  very  improper  light.  They  were  represented  as  equal  to 
baptism,  and  as  a  method  of  deserving  pardon  and  justification  before  God,  yea  as 
being  not  only  a  meritorious  righteousness,  but  also  the  fulfilment  of  the  commands 
and  counsels  of  the  gospel.  They  also  taught  that  the  monastic  life  was  more 
meritorious  than  all  the  professions  which  God  appointed  :  such  as  that  of  minister, 
civil  officers,  &c.  as  their  own  books  will  prove,  and  they  cannot  deny.  In  short, 
he  that  has  been  enticed  into  a  monastery,  will  learn  but  little  of  Christ.  Formerly 
schools  were  kept  in  monasteries,  in  which  the  scriptures  and  other  things  were 
taught,  so  that  ministers  and  bishops  could  be  selected  from  them.  Now  they 
pretend  that  the  monastic  life  is  so  meritorious  in  the  sight  of  God,  as  to  be  a 
state  of  perfection  far  superior  to  those  modes  of  life  which  God  himself  has  com. 
manded.  In  opposition  to  all  this  we  teach,  that  all  who  do  not  feel  inclined  to  a 
life  of  celibacy,  have  the  power  and  right  to  marry.  Their  vows  to  the  contrary 
cannot  annul  the  command  of  God  .  nevertheless,  to  avoid  fornication,  '  let  every 


APPENDIX. 


539 


m:\n  have  Iris  own  wife,  and  let  -every  woman  have  her  own  husband.'  (1  Cor.  vii.  2.) 
To  this  course  we  are  urged  and  compelled,  both  by  the  divine  precepts,  and  the 
general  nature  of  man,  agreeably  to  the  declaration  of  God  himself ;  '  It  is  not 
good  for  man  to  be  alone,  I  will  make  him  an  help  meet  for  him.'  (Gen.  ii.  18.) 
Although  the  divine  precept  concerning  marriage  already  absolves  many  from  their 
monastic  vows,  our  writers  assign  many  other  reasons  to  demonstrate  that 
they  are  not  binding.  Every  species  of  worship  invented  by  men,  without  a 
divine  precept,  in  order  to  merit  justification  and  grace,  is  contrary  to  the 
gospel  and  the  will  of  God.  As  Christ  himself  says,  '  But  in  vain  do  they  worship 
me,  teaching  for  doctrines  the  commandments  of  men.'  (Matt. xv.  9.)  Coincident 
with  this  is  the  doctrine  of  Paul,  that  we  should  not  seek  our  righteousness  in  our 
own  services,  invented  by  men  ;  that  true  righteousness  in  the  sight  of  God  must  be 
sought  in  faith,  and  in  our  confidence  in  the  mercy  of  God  through  Christ,  his  only 
Son.  But  it  is  notorious,  that  the  monks  represent  their  fictitious  righteousness 
as  amply  sufficient  to  merit  the  pardon  of  sin  and  divine  grace.  But  what  is  this 
else  than  to  rob  the  merits  of  Christ  of  their  glory,  and  to  deny  the  righteousness  of 
faith  ?  Hence  it  follows,  that  these  vows  were  unjust  and  a  false  worship,  and  of 
course  not  binding.  For  a  vow  to  do  any  thing  contrary  to  the  divine  command, 
that  is  an  '  oath  improper  in  itself,  is  not  obligatory,  as  even  the  canons  declare ; 
for  an  oath  cannot  bind  us  to  sin.'  St.  Paul  says  to  the  Galatians,  '  Christ  is  be- 
come of  no  effect  unto  you,  whosoever  of  you  are  justified  by  the  law  ;  ye  are 
fallen  from  grace.'  (GaL  v.  4.)  Those  therefore  who  would  be  justified  by  their 
vows,  have  abandoned  the  grace  of  God  through  Christ ;  for  they  rob  Christ  of  his 
glory.,  who  alone  can  justify  us,  and  transfer  this  glory  to  their  vows  and  monastic 
life.  It  is  moreover  a  corruption  of  the  divine  law  and  of  true  worship,  to  hold  up 
the  monastic  life  to  the  people  as  the  only  perfect  one.  For  Christian  perfection 
consists  in  this,  that  we  love  and  fear  God  with  all  our  heart,  and  yet  combine  with 
it  sincere  reliance  and  faith  in  him  through  Christ :  that  it  is  our  privilege  and 
duty  to  supplicate  the  throne  of  grace  for  such  things  as  we  need  in  all  our  trials, 
and  in  our  respective  callings ;  and  to  give  diligence  in  the  performance  of  good 
works.  It  is  in  this  that  true  perfection  consists,  and  the  true  worship  of  God,  but 
not  in  begging,  or  in  a  black  or  a  white  cap.  This  extravagant  praise  of  celibacy, 
is  calculated  to  disseminate  among  the  people  erroneous  views  on  the  sanctity  of 
the  married  life.  Examples  are  on  record,  of  persons  who  abandoned  their  wives 
and  children,  and  business,  and  shut  themselves  up  in  a  monastery,  under  the  vain 
impression  that  thus  they  came  out  from  the  world,  and  led  a  holier  life.  They 
forgot  that  we  ought  to  serve  God  according  to  his  own  directions,  and  not  the 
inventions  of  men. 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Of  the  Power  of  the  Church. 
There  have  been  great  disputes  respecting  the  power  of  bishops,  in  which  many 
men  have  injuriously  mingled  together  the  power  of  the  church  and  the  power  of 
the  sword.  From  this  confusion  the  greatest  wars  and  commotions  have  proceeded; 
while  the  pontiffs,  relying  upon  the  power  of  the  keys,  have  not  only  instituted  new 
modes  of  worship — have  not  only,  with  reservation  of  cases,  and  with  violent  com- 
munications, burdened  consciences;  but  have  also  attempted  to  transfer  the  king- 
doms of  the  world,  and  to  take  away  the  empire  from  emperors.  Well  disposed 
and  learned  men  have  long  since  reproved  these  vices  in  the  church.  Therefore 
our  preachers,  for  the  comforting  of  consciences,  have  been  compelled  to  shew  the 
difference  between  the  ecclesiastical  power,  and  the  power  of  the  sword;  and  have 
taught  that  hoth  of  them  are,  because  of  God's  commandment,  to  be  had  in  great 
reverence  and  honour  as  the  highest  benefits  of  God  upon  earth.  And  thus  our 
learned  men  think  that  the  power  of  the  keys,  or  the  power  of  the  bishop,  is,  ac- 
cording to  the  gospel,  a  power  to  preach  the  gospel,  to  remit  and  retain  sins,  and 


540 


APPENDIX. 


to  minister  the  sacraments.  For  with  this  commandmeLt  Christ  sent  forth  hi» 
apostles,  saying,  *  As  my  Father  hath  sent  me,  even  so  I  send  you.'  '  Receive 
ye  the  Holy  Ghost ;  whose  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  them,  and  whose 
sins  ye  retain,  they  are  retained.'  (John  xx.)  Also,  in  the  gospel  according  to 
Mark,  he  says,  '  Go,  preach  the  gospel  to  every  creature,'  &c.  (Mark  xvi.) 

This  power  is  to  be  exercised  only  in  teaching  or  preaching  the  word,  and  by 
administering  the  sacraments  either  to  many  or  few,  as  the  case  may  be ;  for  here 
are  granted,  not  corporal  things  but  eternal  things,  as  eternal  righteousness,  the 
Holy  Ghost,  eternal  life.  These  things  cannot  come  but  by  the  ministration  of 
the  word  and  sacraments.  As  Paul  saith,  '  The  gospel  is  the  power  of  God  unto 
salvation,  to  every  one  that  believeth,'  (Rom.  i.)  Therefore,  since  the  power  of 
the  church  granteth  eternal  things,  and  is  exercised  only  by  the  ministration  ot 
the  word,  it  does  not  interfere  with  civil  administration,  just  as  the  art  of 
singing  hinders  not  civil  or  political  administration  ;  for  political  administration  is 
occupied  about  other  things  than  the  gospel.  For  the  magistrate  does  not  defend 
minds,  but  bodies  and  corporal  things,  against  manifest  injuries,  and  restrains  men 
with  the  sword  and  corporal  punishment,  for  the  maintenance  of  justice  and  peace. 
Therefore  the  power  of  the  church  and  the  civil  power  should  not  be  mixed  and 
confounded  together :  the  ecclesiastical  has  its  own  commandments  to  teach  the 
gospel  and  to  administer  the  sacraments.  Let  it  not  therefore  break  into  another's 
office — let  it  not  transfer  the  kingdoms  of  the  world — let  it  not  abrogate  the  laws 
of  princes — let  it  not  take  away  lawful  obedience — let  it  not  interrupt  judgments  in 
any  civil  ordinances  or  contracts — let  it  not  prescribe  laws  to  governors  concerning 
the  form  of  the  commonwealth ;  since  Christ  said,  '  My  kingdom  is  not  of  this 
world,'  (John  xviii.)  Also,  in  another  place,  he  saith,  '  Who  made  me  a  judge  or  a 
divider  over  you?'  (Luke  xii.)  And  Paul  saith  to  the  Philippians,  'Our  conversa- 
tion is  in  heaven,'  (  Phil.  iii. )  And  to  the  Corinthians,  '  The  weapons  of  our  war- 
fare are  not  carnal,  but  mighty  through  God  to  the  pulling  down  of  thoughts,'  &c. 
(2  Cor.  x.)  In  like  manner,  our  teachers  distinguish  the  offices  of  both  these 
powers,  and  teach  to  honour  them  both,  and  to  acknowledge  that  each  of  them  is  a 
gift  and  benefit  of  God. 

If  bishops  have  any  power  of  the  sword,  that  power  they  have  not  as  bishops  by 
the  commandment  of  the  gospel,  but  by  the  law  of  man,  bestowed  upon  them  by 
kings  and  emperors,  for  the  civil  administration  of  their  own  goods.  So  that  this 
is  different  from  that  of  the  administration  of  the  gospel.  Therefore,  whensoever 
any  question  is  made  of  the  jurisdiction  of  bishops,  the  temporal  power  ought  to  be 
separated  from  the  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction.  Undoubtedly,  according  to  the 
gospel,  and  as  they  say,  de  jure  divino,  no  power  belongs  to  the  bishops  as 
bishops,  that  is,  to  those  to  whom  is  committed  the  ministration  of  the  word  and 
sacraments,  save  only  this  power  to  remit  sins,  also  to  judge  of  doctrines,  and  to 
reject  a  doctrine  contrary  to  the  gospel,  and  to  exclude  from  the  communion  of  the 
church  wicked  men  whose  wickedness  is  known,  and  this  by  the  word,  without 
the  secular  arm.  In  this  the  churches  are  bound  by  the  law  of  God  to  render 
obedience,  according  to  that,  '  He  that  heareth  you,  heareth  me,'  (Luke  x.) 

But  when  they  teach  any  thing  against  the  gospel,  then  the  churches  have  a  com- 
mandment of  God  prohibiting  obedience,  as  this,  '  Beware  of  false  prophets  ;' 
(Matt,  vii.)  and  Paul  to  the  Gulatians,  '  If  an  angel  from  heaven  preach  any  other 
gospel,  let  him  be  accursed,'  (Gal.  i.)  Also  to  the  Corinthians,  'We  can  do 
nothing  against  the  truth,  but  for  the  truth,'  (2  Cor.  xiii.)  Also,  in  another  place 
he  saith,  '  Power  is  given  to  us  for  edification,  and  not  for  destruction.'  So  also 
do  the  canon  laws  command,  2  q.  7  cap.  Sacerdotes,  et  cap.  eves.  And  St.  Austin, 
in  reply  to  the  epistle  of  Petilia,  says,  '  If  catholic  bishops  be  deceived  any  where 
by  chance,  and  think  any  thing  against  the  canonical  scriptures  of  God,  we 
ought  not  to  consent  to  them.'  If  bishops  have  any  other  power,  or  jurisdic- 
tion, in  determining  of  certain  causes,  as  of  matrimony  or  of  tithes,  they  have  it  by 
man's  law ;  where,  when  the  ordinaries  fail  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  because 


APPENDIX. 


541 


of  their  subjects,  for  the  continuance  of  peace  among  them,  princes  are  bound, 
whether  they  will  or  not,  to  see  the  law  administered.  Moreover,  it  is  disputed, 
whether  bishops  or  pastors  have  the  right  to  ordain  ceremonies  in  the  churches, 
and  to  make  laws  of  meats,  of  holy  days,  and  degrees  of  ministers  or  orders,  &c. 
Those  that  suppose  that  power  is  vested  in  bishops,  allege  this  testimony .  '  I  have 
yet  many  things  to  say  unto  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear  them  now,  but  when  the 
Spirit  of  truth  is  come,  he  shall  teach  you  all  truth,'  (John  xvi. )  They  allege 
also  the  example  of  the  apostles,  who  made  a  prohibition  that  the  people  should 
abstain  from  blood  and  things  strangled  ;  (Acts  xv.)  They  allege  the  Sabbath 
changed  into  Sunday,  the  Lord's  day,  contrary  to  the  Decalogue,  as  it  appears ; 
neither  is  there  any  example  more  boasted  of  than  the  changing  of  the  Sabbath- 
day.  Great,  say  they,  is  the  power  and  authority  of  the  church,  since  it  dispensed 
with  one  of  the  ten  commandments. 

But  as  touching  this  question  our  divines  thus  teach,  that  bishops  have  no  power  to 
decree  and  ordain  any  thing  against  the  gospel,  as  is  shewed  above.  The  canon 
laws  teach  the  same  thing,  (ix.  dist.)  Moreover,  it  is  contrary  to  scripture  to 
make  traditions,  or  to  exact  obedience  to  them,  that  by  that  observance  we  may 
satisfy  for  sin,  or  deserve  grace  or  righteousness.  For  thus  the  glory  of  the  merit 
of  Christ  is  injured,  when  by  such  observances  we  go  about  to  deserve  justification. 
Now  it  is  evident,  that  because  of  this  persuasion,  traditions  have  grown  almost  to  an 
infinite  number  in  the  church  ;  and  the  doctrine  of  faith,  and  righteousness  of  faith, 
in  the  mean  while,  hath  been  oppressed.  For  still  more  holy  days  were  made,  and 
fasting  days  commanded ;  new  ceremonies,  and  new  honourings  of  saints,  were  insti- 
tuted. For  the  devisers  and  actors  of  such  things  thought  to  get  remission  of  sins 
and  justification  by  these  works.  So  formerly  penitential  canons  increased,  01 
which  we  still  see  some  remains  in  these  satisfactions.  Likewise  the  authors  of 
traditions  act  contrary  to  the  command  of  God,  when  they  place  sin  in  meats,  days, 
and  such  like  things  ;  and  burden  the  church  with  the  bondage  of  the  law,  as  if 
there  ought  to  be  among  Christians,  for  the  meriting  of  righteousness,  a  worship 
of  God  like  unto  that  of  which  we  read  in  Leviticus,  the  ordering  whereof  God 
committed,  as  they  say,  to  the  apostles  and  bishops.  And  the  pontiffs  appear  to 
be  deceived  by  the  example  of  Moses's  law  :  hence  those  burdens,  that  certain 
meats  defile  and  pollute  the  conscience,  and  that  it  is  deadly  sin  to  omit  and  leave 
unsaid  canonical  hours  ;  that  fastings  deserve  remission  of  sins,  and  that  they  are 
necessary  to  the  righteousness  of  the  New  Testament ;  that  sin,  in  a  case  re- 
served, cannot  be  forgiven  without  the  authority  of  the  reserver,  where,  indeed, 
the  canons  themselves  speak  only  of  the  reservation  of  the  canonical  penalty, 
and  not  of  the  reservation  of  sin.  From  whence  and  of  whom  have  the  bishops 
the  power  and  authority  to  impose  these  traditions  upon  the  church,  to  wound  con- 
sciences? For  there  are  clear  testimonies  which  prohibit  the  making  of  such 
traditions  either  to  deserve  remission  of  sins,  or  as  necessary  to  the  righteousness  of 
the  New  Testament,  or  to  salvation.  For  Paul  to  the  Colossians  saith,  '  Let  no 
man  therefore  judge  you  in  meat,  or  in  drink,  or  in  respect  of  an  holy  day,'  &c. 
Also,  'if  ye  be  dead  with  Christ  from  the  rudiments  of  the  world,  why,  as  though 
living  in  the  world,  are  ye  subject  to  ordinances,  (touch  not,  taste  not,  &c. )  after 
the  commandments  and  doctrines  of  men  ?'  Also  to  Titus  he  openly  prohibited  tra- 
ditions, warning,  '  that  they  should  not  give  heed  to  Jewish  fables,  and  command- 
ments of  men,  that  turn  from  the  truth  ;'  and  Christ,  speaking  of  them  that  enforce 
traditions,  says  in  this  wise, '  Let  them  alone,  they  are  blind,  leaders  of  the  blind 
and  he  reproves  such  modes  of  worship,  saying,  '  Every  plant  which  my  heavenly 
Father  hath  not  planted,  shall  be  rooted  up.' 

If  bishops  have  the  power  of  lading  churches  with  infinite  traditions,  and  grieving 
consciences,  why  doth  scripture  so  often  prohibit  the  making  and  following  traditions  ? 
— and  why  doth  it  call  them  doctrines  of  devils  ? — did  the  Holy  Ghost  forewarn  us 
of  these  things  in  vain  ?  Wherefore  it  must  needs  follow,  that  since  ordinances, 
instituted  as  things  necessary,  or  with  an  opinion  to  deserve  remission  of  sin,  aro 


542 


APPENDIX. 


contrary  to  the  gospel  :  that  it  is  not  lawful  for  any  bishop  to  institute  such.  For 
it  is  necessary  that  the  doctrine  of  Christian  liberty  be  kept  still  in  the  churches, 
which  is,  that  the  btndage  of  the  law  is  not  necessary  to  justification,  as  it  is  writ- 
ten in  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  '  Be  not  entangled  again  with  the  yoke  of 
bondage.'  The  pre-eminence  of  the  gospel  must  still  be  retained,  which  declares, 
that  we  obtain  remission  of  sins  and  justification  freely  by  faith  in  Christ,  and  not 
for  certain  observations  or  rites  devised  by  men.  What  shall  we  think  then  of  the 
Lord's  day,  and  the  like  rites  of  the  temples  ?  To  this  our  learned  men  respond, 
that  it  is  lawful  for  bishops  or  pastors  to  make  ordinances,  that  things  be  done 
orderly  in  the  church  ;  not  that  we  should  purchase  by  them  remission  of  sins,  or 
that  we  can  satisfy  for  sins,  or  that  consciences  are  bound  to  judge  them  necessary, 
or  to  think  that  tbey  sin,  who,  without  offending  others,  break  them.  So  Paul 
ordains  that  in  the  congregation  women  should  cover  their  heads,  and  that  inter- 
preters and  teachers  be  heard  in  order  in  the  church.  It  is  convenient  that  the 
churches  should  keep  such  ordinances  for  the  sake  of  charity  and  tranquillity,  that 
so  one  should  not  offend  another,  that  all  things  may  be  done  in  the  churches 
in  order,  and  without  tumult,  but  yet  so  that  the  conscience  be  not  charged,  as  to 
think  that  they  are  necessary  to  salvation,  or  to  judge  that  they  sin,  who,  without 
hurting  others,  break  them.  As  that  no  one  should  say  that  a  woman  sins,  who 
goeth  abroad  bareheaded,  offending  none.  Even  such  is  the  observation  of  the 
Lord's  day,  of  Easter,  of  Pentecost,  and  the  like  holy  days  and  rites.  For  they 
that  judge  that  by  the  authority  of  the  church  the  observing  of  Sunday,  instead  of 
the  Sabbath-day,  was  ordained  as  a  thing  necessary,  do  greatly  err.  The  scripture 
permits  and  grants  that  the  keeping  of  the  Sabbath-day  is  now  free,  for  it  teaches 
that  the  ceremonies  of  Moses's  law,  since  the  revelation  of  the  gospel,  are  not 
necessary.  And  yet  because  it  was  needful  to  ordain  a  certain  day,  that  the  people 
might  know  when  they  ought  to  come  together,  it  appears  that  the  church  did 
appoint  Sunday,  which  day,  as  it  appears,  pleased  them  rather  than  the  Sabbath-day. 
even  for  this  cause,  that  men  might  have  an  example  of  Christian  liberty,  and  might 
know  that  the  keeping  and  observance  of  either  Saturday,  or  of  any  other  day, 
is  not  necessary.  There  are  wonderful  disputations  concerning  the  changing  of  the 
law — the  ceremonies  of  the  new  law — the  changing  of  the  Sabbath-day, — which  ail 
have  sprung  from  a  false  persuasion  and  belief  of  men,  who  thought  that  there 
must  needs  be  in  the  church  an  honouring  of  God,  like  the  Levitical  law,  and  that 
Christ  committed  to  the  apostles,  and  bishops,  authority  to  invent  and  find 
out  ceremonies  necessary  to  salvation.  These  errors  crept  into  the  church  when 
the  righteousness  of  faith  was  not  clearly  taught.  Some  dispute  that  the  keeping 
of  the  Sunday  is  not  fully,  but  only  in  a  certain  manner,  the  ordinance  of  God. 
They  prescribe  of  holv  davs,  how  far  it  is  lawful  to  work.  Such  manner  of  dis- 
putations whatever  else  they  be,  are  but  snares  of  consciences.  For  although  they 
busy  themselves  to  modify  and  qualify  their  traditions,  tempering  the  rigour  of 
them  with  favourable  declarations ;  yet  notwithstanding  as  long  as  the  opinion 
that  they  are  necessary  doth  remain  (which  must  needs  remain  where  righteousness 
of  faith  and  Christian  liberty  are  not  known),  this  equity  and  favour  can  never  be 
perceived  nor  known.  The  apostles  commanded  to  abstain  from  blood ;  who  doth 
now  observe  and  keep  it?  And  yet  they  that  do  not  keep  it,  sin  not;  for  undoubt- 
edly the  apostles  would  not  burden  the  conscience  with  such  bondage,  but  they 
prohibited  it  for  a  time,  for  avoiding  of  slander ;  for  the  perpetual  will  and  mind 
of  the  gospel  is  to  be  considered  in  a  decree.  Scarcely  any  canons  are  diligently 
kept,  and  many  daily  go  out  of  use,  even  with  those  who  defend  traditions. 
Neither  can  consciences  be  assisted  or  consulted,  unless  this  equity  is  ob- 
served, that  is,  that  we  know  that  canons  and  decrees  are  to  be  kept  without  the 
opinion  of  necessity,  and  that  consciences  are  not  hurt,  though  traditions  be  for- 
gotten and  be  utterly  set  aside.  Certainly  bishops  might  easily  preserve  lawfu1 
obedience,  if  thev  would  not  compel  men  to  keep  traditions,  which  cannot  be  kep> 
frith  a  good  conscience.  They  command  priests  to  live  unmarried ;  they  receive  none 


APPENDIX. 


543 


unless  they  swear  in  effect  that  they  will  not  teach  the  pure  doctrine  of  the  gospel. 
Our  churches  do  not  require  that  bishops  should  repair  and  re-establish  concord  at 
the  expense  of  their  honour  (and  yet  it  would  become  good  pastors  so  to  do),  but 
they  only  require  that  they  would  release  unjust  burdens  which  are  novelties,  being 
received  contrary  to  the  custom  of  the  catholic  church.  We  will  not  deny,  but  that 
in  the  beginning  some  constitutions  were  grounded  upon  reasonable  and  probable 
causes,  which  yet  are  not  now  agreeable  nor  suited  to  later  times.  It  appears, 
also,  that  some  were  wrongfully  received ;  wherefore  it  might  please  the  gentleness 
of  the  pontificate  now  to  mitigate  and  release  them,  since  such  change  would  not 
break  the  unity  of  the  church.  For  many  traditions  have,  in  process  of  time, 
been  changed,  as  the  canons  themselves  testify.  But  if  it  cannot  be  obtained  that 
those  observations  should  be  released  which  cannot,  without  sin,  be  complied  with  ; 
we  must  needs  follow  the  rule  of  the  apostles,  which  commands  rather  to  obey 
God  than  men.  Peter  forbids  bishops  to  be  lords  and  emperors  over  the  church. 
Now,  it  is  not  intended  by  us  to  take  away  jurisdiction  from  the  bishops,  but  this 
one  thing  we  require  of  them,  that  they  would  suffer  the  gospel  to  be  purely  taught, 
and  that  they  would  release  a  few  certain  ordinances,  which  cannot  be  observed 
without  sin.  But  if  they  will  not  remit  or  release  any  thing,  let  them  look  to 
their  charge  how  they  shall  render  their  accounts  to  God,  in  that  they,  by  reason  of 
their  obstinacy,  are  the  cause  of  this  schism. 

Conclusion. 

The  foregoing  are  the  principal  subjects  of  dispute  between  us.  It  were  indeed 
easy  to  enumerate  many  other  abuses  and  errors,  but  for  the  sake  of  brevity  we 
have  omitted  them.  Much  complaint,  for  example,  has  existed  concerning  indul- 
gences, pilgrimages,  and  the  abuse  of  excommunication.  The  clergy  have  also  had 
endless  disputes  with  the  monks  about  confession  and  numberless  other  subjects. 
These  things  we  have  omitted,  in  order  that  those  of  greater  importance  may  be 
the  more  carefully  weighed. 

(Signed)        JOHN,  the  Elector  of  Saxony. 

GEORGE,  Earl  of  Brandenburg. 

ERNEST,  Duke  of  Luneberg. 

PHILIP,  Landgrave  of  Hesse. 

JOHN  FREDERICK,  Duke  of  Saxony. 

FRANCIS,  Duke  of  Luneberg. 

WOLFGANG,  Prince  of  Anhalt. 

The  Senate  and  Magistracy  of  Nuremberg. 

The  Senate  of  Reutlingen. 


544 


APPENDIX. 


No.  II. 


BULLA  PII  QUARTI 

Super  formd  Juramenti  professionis  fidei. 
Datum  liomte,  Anno  1564. 

Apostolicas  et  ecclesiasticas  tradi- 
tiones,  reliquasq.  ejusdem  Ecclesiae 
observationes  et  constitutiones  firmis- 
sime  admitto,  et  amplector.  Item  sa- 
cramscrinturam  juxtaeum  sensum,  quern 
tenuit  et  tenet  sancta  mater  Ecclesia, 
cujus  est  judicare  de  vero  sensu,  et  in- 
terpretatione  sacrarum  scripturarum,  ad- 
mitto :  nec  earn  unquam,  nisi  juxta 
unanimem  consensum  Patrum  accipiam, 
et  interpretabor.  Profiteor  quoque  sep- 
tern  esse  vere  et  proprie  sacramenta 
novae  legis  a  Jesu  Christo,  Domino 
nostro,  instituta,  atque  ad  salutem  hu- 
mani  generis,  licet  non  omnia  singulis 
necessaria,  scilicet  Baptismum,  Confir- 
mationem,  Eucharistiam,  Poenitentiam, 
Extremam  Unctionem,  Ordinem  et 
Matrimonium  :  Illaque  gratiam  con- 
ferre :  et  ex  his  baptismum,  confirma- 
tionem,  et  ordinem,  sine  sacrilegio  rci- 
terari  non  posse.  Receptos  quoque  et 
approbatos  Ecclesiae  Catholicae  ritus,  in 
supradictorum  omnium  sacramentorum 
solemni  administratione  recipio  et  ad- 
mitto. Omnia  et  singula,  qu«  de  pre- 
cato  originali,  et  de  justiticatione  in 
sacrosancta  Tridentina  Synodo  definita 
et  declarata  fuerunt,  amplector  et  re- 
cipio. Profiteor  pariter  in  missa  offerri 
Deo  verum,  propnum  et  propitiatorium 
sacriricium,  pro  vivis  et  defunctis  :  atque 
in  sanctissimo  Eucharistiae  Sacramento 
esse  vera,  reaiiter,  et  substantiality 
corpus  et  sanguinem,  una  cum  anima 
et  divinitate  Domini  nostri  Jesu  Christi, 
fierique  conversionom  totius  substantias 
panis,  in  corpus,  et  totius  substantia?  vini, 
in  sanguinem  :  quam  conversionem  Ca- 
tholica  Ecclesia  transubstantiationem 
appcllat.  Fateor  etiam  sub  altera  tantum 
specie,  totum  atque  integrum  Christum, 
verumque  sacramentum  sumi.  Con- 


THE  NEW  CREED    OF  THE 
CHURCH  OF  ROME* 

1.  The  apostolic  and  ecclesiastical 
traditions,  and  other  observances  and 
constitutions  of  the  church,  do  I  firmly 
admit  and  embrace. 

2.  Also  the  sacred  scripture,  accord- 
ing to  that  sense  which  our  holy  mother 
the  churcn  nath  holden  and  doth  hold 
(whose  office  it  is  to  judge  of  the  true 
sense  and  interpretation  ot  holy  scrip- 
tures) do  I  admit,  neither  will  I  ever 
receive  and  expound  it  but  according 
to  the  uniform  consent  of  the  fathers. 

3.  I  do  also  profess  that  there  are  truly 
and  properly  seven  sacraments  of  the 
new  law,  instituted  by  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  and  necessary  to  the  salvation  of 
mankind,  though  all  be  not  necessary 
for  every  man :  that  is  to  say,  baptism, 
confirmation,  the  eucharist,  penance, 
extreme  unclion,  orders,  and  marriage  : 
and  that  they  confer  grace,  and  that 
among  these,  baptism,  confirmation,  and 
orders,  cannot  be  reiterated  without  sa- 
crilege. Also  the  received  and  ap- 
proved rites  of  the  Catholic  church 
used  in  the  solemn  administration  of  all 
the  aforesaid  sacraments,  I  receive  and 
admit. 

4.  All  and  every  the  things  which, 
concerning  original  sin  and  justification, 
were  defined  and  declared  in  the  holy 
council  of  Trent,  I  embrace  and  receive. 

5.  Also  I  confess  that  in  the  mass  is 
offered  to  God  a  true,  proper,  and  pro- 
pitiatory sacrifice  for  the  quick  and  the 
dead.  And  that  in  the  most  holy  eu- 
charist  is  truly,  really,  and  substantially 
the  body  and  blood,  with  the  soul  and 
divinity,  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ :  and 
that  there  is  made  a  conversion  of  the 
whole  substance  of  the  bread  into  his 
body,  and  of  the  whole  substance  of  the 
wine  into  his  blood,  which  conversion 


•  As  this  new  creed  is  of  great  importance  iu  our  controversy  with  the  papal  church, 
the  original,  copied  verbatim  et  literatim  from  the  authorized  document,  is  likewise 
given. 


APPENDIX. 


545 


stant&r  tcneo  purgatorium  esse,  ani- 
masque  ibi  detentas  fidelium  suffragiis 
juvari :  Similiter  et  sanctos  una  cum 
Cbristo  regnantes,  venerandos,  atque  in- 
vocandos  esse,  eosque  orationes  Deo  pro 
nobis  offerre,  atque  eorum  reliquias  esse 
venerandas.  Firmissime  assero,  ima- 
gines Christi  ac  Deiparae  semper  Vir- 
gims,  necnon  aliorum  sanctorum,  ha- 
bendas  et  retinendas  esse :  atq.  eis 
debitum  honorem,  ac  venerationem  im- 
pertiendam.  Indulgentiarum  etiam  po- 
testatem  a  Cbristo  in  Ecclesia  relictam 
fuisse,  illarumque  usum  Christiano 
populo  maxime  salutarem  esse  affirmo. 
SanctamCatholicam,  et  Apostolicam  Ro- 
n:anam  Ecclesiam,  omnium  Ecclesiarum 
matrem  et  magistram  agnosco  :  Roma- 
noq.  Pontifici,  B.  Petri,  Apostolorum 
principis,  successori,  ac  Jesu  Christi 
Vicario  veram  obedientiam  spondeo  ac 
juro :  caetera  item  omnia  a  sacris  cano- 
nibus,  et  oecumenicis  concihis,  ac  prae- 
cipue  a  sacrosancta  Tridentina  Synodo 
tradita,  definita,  et  declarata,  indubitan- 
ter  recipio,  atque  profiteor,  simulque 
contraria  omnia,  atque  haereses  quas- 
cunque  ab  Ecclesia  damnatas,  rejectas, 
et  anathematizatas,  ego  pariter  damno, 
rejicio  et  anathematize  Hanc  veram 
Catholicam  fidem,  (extra  quam  nemo 
salvus  esse  potest)  quam  in  praesenti 
sponte  profiteor,  et  veraciter  teneo, 
eandem  integram  et  inviolatam,  usque 
ad  extremum  vitae  spiritum,  constantis- 
sime  (Deo  adjuvante)  retinere  et  confi- 
teri,  atque  a  meis  subditis,  vel  illis 
quorum  cura  ad  me  in  munere  meo 
spectabit,  teneri,  doceri,  et  praedicari, 
quantum  in  me  erit.  curaturum.  Ego 
idem  N.  spondeo,  voveo,  ac  juro.  Sic 
me  Deus  adjuvet,  et  haec  sancta  Dei 
Evangelia. 

Volumus  autem,  quod  prassentes  li- 
terae,  in  cancelleria  nostra  Apostolica, 
de  more,  legantur.  Et  ut  omnibus 
faciliiis  pateant,  in  ejus  Quinterno 
describantur  ac  etiam  imprimantur. 
Nulli  ergo  omnino  hominum  liceat  hanc 
paginam  nostras  voluntatis  et  mandati 
iufringere,  vel  ei  ausu  tcmerario  con- 
traire.  Si  quis  autem  hoc  attentare 
praesuinserit,  indignationem  omnipoten- 
tis  Dei,  a  beatorum  Petri  et  Pauli, 
Apostolorum  ejus.se  noveritincursurum. 


the  catholic  church  calls  transub'tan- 
tiation. 

6.  I  confess  also,  that  under  one  kind 
only,  all  and  whole  Christ,  and  the  trr.e 
sacrament,  is  received. 

7.  I  do  constantly  hold  that  there  is  a 
purgatory,  and  that  the  souls  detained 
there  are  holpen  by  the  suffrages  of  the 
faithful. 

8.  And  likewise  that  the  saints  reign- 
ing with  Christ,  are  to  be  worshipped 
and  prayed  unto.  And  that  they  offer 
their  prayers  unto  God  for  us :  and  that 
their  relics  are  to  be  worshipped. 

9.  And  most  firmly  I  avouch,  that 
the  images  of  Christ,  and  of  the  mother 
of  God,  always  a  virgin,  and  of  other 
saints,  are  to  be  had  and  retained,  and 
that  to  them  due  honour  and  veneration 
is  to  be  given. 

10.  Also,  that  the  power  of  indul- 
gences was  left  by  Christ  in  the  church ; 
and  I  affirm  the  use  thereof  to  be  most 
wholesome  to  Christ's  people. 

11.  That  the  holy,  catholic  and  apos- 
tolic Roman  church  is  the  mother  and 
mistress  of  all  churches,  I  acknowledge  : 
and  I  vow  and  swear  true  obedience  to 
the  bishop  of  Rome,  the  successor  of 
St.  Peter,  the  prince  of  the  apostles, 
and  the  vicar  of  Jesus  Christ. 

12.  And  all  other  things  likewise  do 
I  undoubtedly  receive  and  confess,  which 
are  delivered,  defined,  and  declared  by 
the  sacred  canons,  and  general  coun- 
cils, and  especially  the  holy  council  of 
Trent  :  and  withal,  I  condemn,  reject, 
and  accurse,  all  things  that  are  contrary 
hereun.a,  and  all  heresies  whatsoever, 
condemned,  rejected,  and  accursed 
by  the  church  :  and  I  will  be  careful 
that  this  true  Catholic  faith  (out  of 
which  no  man  can  be  saved,  which  at 
this  time  I  willingly  profess  and  truly 
hold)  be  constantly  (with  God's  help) 
retained  and  confessed,  whole  and  in- 
violate, to  the  last  gasp  ;  and  by  those 
that  are  under  me,  or  such  as  I  shall 
have  charge  over  in  my  calling,  holden, 
taught,  and  preached  to  the  uttermost  of 
my  power  :  I  the  said  N.  promise,  vow, 
and  swear,  so  God  help  me,  and  his  holy 
gospels. 

Our  pleasure  is,  that  these  present 
letters,  according  to  custom,  be  read  in 
N 


546 


APPENDIX. 


Datum  Romap,  apud  sanctum  Petrum, 
anno  Incarnationis  Dominica?  Millicemo 
Quingantesimo  sexagesimo  quarto  Idi- 
bus  Novem.  Pontiticatus  nostri  anno 
quinto. 

FED.  CARDINALIS  CjESIUS 
CM.  GLORIERIUS. 


our  Apostolic  chancery:  and  that  they 
may  be  the  more  easily  known  unto  all 
men,  that  they  be  there  copied  and 
imprinted. 

It  shall  not  be  lawful,  therefore,  for 
any  man  to  infringe  this  our  will  and 
commandment,  or  by  audacious  boldness 
to  contradict  the  same. 

Which  if  any  man  shall  presume  to 
attempt :  let  him  know  that  he  shall 
incur  the  indignation  of  Almighty  God, 
and  of  Saint  Peter  and  Saint  Paul,  bis 
blessed  apostles.  Dated  at  Rome  in 
the  year  of  the  incarnation  of  our  Lord 
1564.  Id.  November;  the  5th  year  of 
our  Danacv. 


APPENDIX. 


547 


No.  III. 

SESSIO  22.  CAPUT  9. 
Prolegomenon  Canonum  Sequentium. 
Quia  vero  adversus  veterem  banc,  in  sacrosancto  evangelio  Apostolorum  tra- 
ditionibus,  sanctorumque  patrum  doctrina  fundatam  fidem,  hoc  tempore  multo  dis- 
seminati  sunt  errores,  multaque  a  multis  docentur  et  disputantur ;  sacrosancta 
synodus  post  multos,  gravesque  his  de  rebus  mature  habitos  tractatus,  unanimi 
patrum  omnium  consensu,  quse  huic  purissimas  fidei  sacraeque  doctrinae  adversantur, 
damnare,  et  a  sancta  ecclesia  eliminare,  per  subjectos  hos  canones  constituit. 

De  Sacrificio  Missa:. 

CANON  I. 

Si  quis  dixerit  in  missa  non  offerri  Deo  verum  et  proprium  sacrificium ;  aut 
quod  offerri  non  sit  aliud,  quam  nobis  Christum  ad  manducandum  dari ;  ana- 
thema sit. 

CANON  II. 

Si  quis  dixerit,  illis  verbis,  '  Hoc  facite  in  meam  commemorationem  ;'  Christum 
non  instituisse  Apostolos  sacerdotes ;  aut  non  ordinasse,  ut  ipsi,  aliique  sacerdotes 
offerrent  corpus,  et  sanguinem  suum  ;  anathema  sit. 

CANON  III. 

Si  quis  dixerit,  missze  sacrificium  tantum  esse  laudis,  et  gratiarum  actionis,  aut 
nudam  commemorationem  sacrificii  in  cruce  peracti,  non  autem  propitiatorium ;  vel 
soli  prodesse  sumenti ;  neque  pro  vivis  et  defunctis  pro  peccatis,  poenis  satisfac- 
tionibus  et  aliis,  necessitatibus  offerri  debere  ;  anathema  sit. 

CANON  IV. 

Si  quis  dixerit,  blasphemiam  irrogari  sanctissimo  Christi  sacrificio,  in  cruce 
peracto,  per  missas  sacrificium  ;  aut  illi  per  hoc  derogari ;  anathema  sit. 

CANON  V. 

Si  quis  dixerit,  imposturam  esse,  missas  celebrare  in  bonorem  sanctorum  et  pro 
illorum  intercessione,  apud  Deum  obtinenda,  sicut  ecclesia  intendit ;  anathema  sit. 

CANON  VI. 

Si  quis  dixerit,  canonem  missas  errores  continere,  ideoque  abrogandum  esse; 
anathema  sit. 

CANON  VII. 

Si  quis  dixerit,  coeremonia3,  vestes,  et  externa  signa,  quibus  in  missaram  cele- 
bratione  ecclesia  catholica  utitur,  irritabula  impietatis  esse,  magis  quam  officia 
pietatis ;  anathema  sit. 

CANON  VIII. 

Si  quis  dixerit,  missas,  in  quibus  solus  sacerdos  sacramentaliter  communicat, 
iliicitas  esse  ideoque  abrogandas  ;  anathema  sit. 

CANON  IX. 

Si  quis  dixerit,  ecclesiae  Romanae  ritum,  quo  summissa  voce  pars  canonis  et 
verba  consecrationis  proferuntur,  damnandum  esse ;  aut  lingua  tantum  vulgari  mis- 
sam  celebrari  debere  ;  aut  aquam  non  miscendam  esse  vino  in  calice  offerendo,  eo 
quod  sit  contra  Christi  institutionem ;  anathema  sit. , 

Cone.  Trident.  Sessio  xxii.  cap.  ix.  de  Sacrificio  Mista.  . 

2  N  2 


548 


APPENDIX. 


No.  IV. 

MISSALE  ROMANUM,  EX  DECRETO  SACROSANCTI  CONCILII 
TRIDENTINI  REST1TUTUM.  S.  P1I  V.  JUSSU  EDITUM,  CLE- 
MENTIS  VIII.,  ET  URBANI  PAPiE  OCTAVI  AUCTORITATE 
RECOGNITUM. 


De  Defectibus  in  Celebratione  Missarvm  occurrentibus. 
Sacerdos  celebraturus,  omnem  adhibeat  diligentiam,  ne  desit  aliquid  ex  requisitis 
ad  Sacramentum  Eucharistiae  conficiendum.  Potest  autem  defectus  contingere  ex 
parte  materia?  consecrandae,  et  ex  parte  forms  adhibendas,  et  ex  parte  ministri 
conficientis.  Quidquid  enim  horurn  deficit,  scilicet  materia  debita,  forma  cum 
intentione,  et  Ordo  Sacerdotalis  in  conficiente,  non  conficitur  Sacramentum. 
Et  his  existentibus,  quibuscumque  aliis  deficientibus,  Veritas  adest  Sacramenti. 
Alii  vero  sunt  defectus,  qui  in  Missae  celebratione  occurrentes,  et  si  veritatem  Sacra- 
menti non  impediant ;  possunt  tamen  aut  cum  peccato,  aut  cum  scandalo  contingere. 

II.    De  DEFECTIBUS  MATERIA. 

Defectus  ex  parte  materia;  possunt  contingere,  si  aliquid  desit  ex  iis,  qus  ad 
ipsam  requiruntur.  Requiritur  enim  ut  sit  panis  triticeus,  et  vinum  de  vite ;  et  ut 
hujusmodi  materia  consecranda  in  actu  consecrationis  sit  coram  Sacerdote. 

III.  De  defectu  panis. 
Si  panis  non  sit  triticeus,  vel  si  triticeus,  admixtus  sit  gTanis  alterius  generis  in 
tanta  quantitate,  ut  non  maneat  panis  triticeus,  vel  si  alioqui  corruptus,  non  confi- 
citur Sacramentum. 

2.  Si  sit  confectus  de  aqua  rosacea,  vel  alterius  distillationis,  dubium  est  an 
conficiatur. 

7.  Si  Hostia  consecrata  dispareat,  vel  casu  aliquo,  ut  vento,  aut  miraculo,  vel  ab 
aliquo  animali  accepta,  et  nequeat  reperiri ;  tunc  altera  consecretur. 

IV.  De  defectu  vini. 

Si  vinum  sit  factum  penitus  acetum,  vel  penitus  putridum,  vel  de  uvis  acerbis, 
scu  non  maturis  expressum,  vel  ei  admixtum  tantum  aqua?,  et  vinum  sit  corruptum; 
non  conficitur  Sacramentum. 

6.  Si  quis  percipiat  ante  consecrationem,  vel  post  consecrationem,  totum  vinum 
esse  acetum,  vel  alias  corruptum,  idem  servetur  quod  supra,  ac  si  deprehenderet 
non  esse  positum  vinum,  vel  solam  aquam  fuisse  appositam  in  Calice. 

8.  Si  materia  qua?  esset  apponenda,  ratione  defectus  vel  panis,  vel  vini,  non 
posset  ullo  modo  haberi,  si  id  sit  ante  consecrationem  Corporis,  ulterius  procedi 
non  debet  •  si  post  consecrationem  Corporis,  aut  etiam  vini,  jcprehenditur  defectus 
alterius  speciei,  altera  jam  consecrata  :  tunc  si  nullo  modo  haberi  possit,  proce- 
dendum  erit,  et  Missa  absolvenda,  ita  tamen  ut  prajtermittantur  verba,  et  signa, 
qua:  pertinent  ad  speciem  deficientem.  Quod  si  expectando  aliquamdiu  haberi 
possit,  expectandum  erit,  ne  sacrificium  remaneat  imperfectum. 

V.  De  defectibus  form*. 
Defectus  ex  parte  formae  possunt  contingere,  si  aliquid  desit  ex  iis,  qu»  ad  inte- 
gritatem  verborum  in  ipsa  consecratione  requiruntur. 

VI.  De  defectibus  ministri. 
Defectus  ex  parte  Ministri  possunt  contingere  quoad  ea,  quae  in  ipso  requirun- 
iar.     Hec  autem  sunt  :   In  primis  intentio,  deinde  dispositio  anim«e,  dispositio 
corporis,  dispositio  vestimentonun,  dispositio  in  ministerio  ipso,  quoad  ea,  qu»  in 
jpso  possuxt  occurrere. 


APPENDIX. 


549 


VII.    De  DEFECTU  INTENTIONIS. 

Si  quis  non  intendit  conficere,  sed  delusorie  aliquid  agere.  Item  si  aliquae 
Hostia;  cx  oblivione  remaneant  in  Altari,  vel  aliqua  pars  vini,  vel  aliqua.  Hostia 
lateat,  cum  non  intendat  consecrare  nisi  quas  videt.  Item  si  quis  habeat  coram  sa 
undecim  Hostias,  et  intendat  consecrare  solum  decern,  non  determinans  quas  decern 
intendit,  in  his  casibus  noa  consecrat,  quia  requiritur  intentio. 

IX.  De  defectibus  dispositions  corporis. 
Si  quis  non  est  jejunus  post  mediam  noctem  etiam  post  sumptionem  solius  aquae, 
vel  altenus  potus,  aut  cibi,  per  modum  etiam  medicinae,  et  in  quantumcumque 
parva  quantitate.  non  potest  communicare,  nec  celebrare. 

2.  Si  autem  ante  mediam  noctem  cibum,  aut  potum  sumpscrit,  etiam  si  postmo- 
dum  non  dormierit,  nec  sit  digestus,  non  peccat :  sed  ob  perturbationem  mentis,  ex 
qua  devotio  tolhtur,  consulitur  aliquando  abstinendum. 

3.  Si  reliquiae  cibi  remanentes  in  ore  transglutiantur,  non  impcdiunt  Commu- 
nionem,  ciim  non  transglutiantur  per  modum  cibi,  sed  per  modum  saliva?.  Idem 
dicendum  si  lavando  cs  deglutiatur  stilla  aqua;  pra?tcr  intentionem. 

5.  Si  praecesserit  pollutio  nocturna,  quae  causata  fuerit  ex  praecedenti  cogitatione, 
qua?  sit  peccatum  mortale,  vel  eveuerit  propter  nimiam  crapulum,  abstinendum  est 
a  communione,  et  celebratione,  nisi  aliud  Coni'essario  videatur. 

X.  De  defectibus  in  ministerio  ipso  Occurrentibus. 

Possunt  etiam  defectus  occurrere  in  ministerio  ipso,  si  aliquid  ex  requisitis  ad 
iiluG  desit :  ut  si  celebretur  in  loco  non  sacro,  vel  non  deputato  ab  Episcopo,  vel 
in  Altari  non  co.isecrato,  vel  tribus  mappis  non  cooperto ;  si  non  adsint  luminaria 
cerea ;  si  non  sit  tempus  debitum  celebrandi,  quod  est  ab  aurora  usque  ad  meri- 
diem coramuniter:  si  celebrans ;  saltern  Matutinum  cum  Laudibus  non  dixerit :  si 
omittat  aliquid  ex  vestibus  sacerdotalihus  :  si  vestea  sacerdotales,  et  mappae  non 
shit  ab  Episcopo,  vel  ab  alio  banc  habente  potestatem  benedicta?  :  si  non  adsit 
clericus,  vel  alius  deserviens  in  Missa,  vel  adsit,  qui  descrvire  non  debet,  utmulier: 
si  non  adsit  Calix  cum  Patena  conveniens,  cujus  cuppa  debet  esse  aurea,  vel  argen- 
tea,  vel  stannea ;  non  a?rea,  vel  vitrea :  si  Corporalia  non  sint  munda,  quae  debent 
esse  ex  lino,  nec  serico  in  medio  ornata,  et  ab  Episcopo  vel  ab  alio  hanc  habente 
potestatem  benedicta,  ut  etiam  superius  dictum  est ;  si  celebret  capite  cooperto 
sine  dispensatione ;  si  non  adsit  Missale  licet  memoriter  sciret  Missam,  quam  in- 
tendit dicere. 

5.  Si  musca,  vel  aranea,  vel  aliquid  aliud  ceciderit  in  Calicem  ante  consecra- 
tionem,  projiciat  vinum  in  locum  decentem  et  aliud  ponat  in  Calice,  misceat  parum 
aqua?,  offerat,  ut  supra,  et  prosequatur  Missam  :  si  post  consecrationem  ceciderit 
musca,  aut  aliquid  ejusmodi,  et  fiat  nausea  sacerdoti,  extrahat  cam,  et  lavet  cum 
vino,  finita  Missa  comburat,  et  combustio  ac  lotio  hujusmodi  in  sacrarium  projiciatur. 
Si  autem  non  fuerit  ei  nausea,  nec  ullum  penculum  timeat,  sumat  cum  sanguine. 

6.  Si  aliquid  venenosum  ceciderit  in  Calicem,  vel  quo  provocaret  vomitum, 
vinum  consecratum  reponendum  est  in  alio  Calice,  et  aliud  vinum  cum  aqua  appo- 
nendum  denuo  consecrandum,  et  finita  Missa  sanguis  repositus  in  panno  lineo,  vel 
stuppa  tamdiu  servatur,  donee  species  vini  fuerint  desiccata?,  et  tunc  stuppa  com- 
buratur,  et  combustio  sacrarium  projiciatur. 

7.  Si  aliquod  venenatum  contigerit  Hostiam  consecratam,  tunc  alteram  consecret, 
et  sumat  modo  quo  dictum  est :  et  ilia  servetur  in  tabernaculo  loco  separato  donee 
species  corrumpantur  et  corrupts?  deinde  mittantur  in  sacrarium. 

8.  Si  sumendo  sanguinem  particula  remanserit  in  Calice,  digito  ad  labium  Ca- 
licis  earn  adducat,  et  sumat  ante  purificationem,  vel  infundat  vinum,  et  sumat. 

9.  Si  Hostia  ante  consecrationem  inveniatur  fracta,  nisi  populo  evidenter  appa- 
reat,  talis  Hostia  consecretur;  si  autem  scandalum  populo  esse  possit,  alia  accipiatur, 
ct  offcrratur:  quod  si  illius  Hostia?  jam  er&t  facta  oblatio,  earn  post  ablutionem 


550 


APPENDIX. 


sumat.  Quod  si  ante  oblationem  Hostia  appareat  confracta,  accipiatur  altera 
integra,  si  citra  scandalum,  aut  longam  moram  fieri  potcrit. 

10.  Si  propter  frigus,  vel  negligentiam,  Hostia  consecrata  dilabatur  in  Calicem 
propterea  nihil  est  reiterandum,  sed  Sacerdos  Missam  prosequatur,  faciendo  csre- 
monias,  et  signa  consueta  cum  residua  parte  Hostia,  quae  non  est  madefacta  san- 
guine, si  commode  potest.  Si  vero  tota  fuerit  madefacta,  non  extrahat  earn,  sed 
omnia  dicat  omittendo  signa,  et  sumat  pariter  Corpus,  et  sanguinem,  signans  se 
cum  Ca'ice,  dicens:  Corpus  et  Sanguis  Domini  nostri,  &c. 

1"  Si  in  hieme  sanguis  congletur  in  Calice,  involvatur  Calix  pannis  calefac- 
ti'  .  si  id  non  proficeret,  ponatur  in  ferventi  aqua  prope  Altare,  dummodo  in  Cali- 
cem non  intret,  donee  liquefiat. 

12.  Si  per  negligentiam  aliquid  de  Sanguine  Christi  reciderit,  si  quidem  super 
terram,  seu  super  tabulam,  lingua  lambatur,  et  locus  ipse  radatur  quantum  satis  est, 
ct  abrasio  comburatur ;  cinis  vero  in  sacrarium  recondatur.  Si  vero  super  lapidem 
altaris  ceciderit,  sorbeat  sacerdos  stillam,  et  locus  bene  abluatur,  et  ablutio  in  sa- 
crarium projiciatur.  Si  super  linteum  Altaris,  et  ad  aliud  linteum  stilla  pervenerit : 
si  usque  ad  tertium,  linteamini  ter  abluantur  ubi  stilla  ceciderit,  Calice  supposito,  et 
aqua  ablutionis  in  sacrarium  projiciatur. 

13.  At  si  contingat  totum  Sanguinem  post  consecrationem  effundi,  si  quidem 
aliquid  vel  parum  remansit,  illud  sumatur,  et  de  effuso  reliquo  sanguine  fiat  ut  dic- 
tum est.  Si  vero  nihil  omnino  remansit,  ponat  iterum  vinum,  et  quam,  et  conseret 
ab  eo  loco.  Simili  modn  postquam  coennlum  est,  facta  priiis  tamen  Calicis  oblatione, 
ut  supra. 

14.  Si  Sacerdos  evomat  Eucharistiam,  si  species  integra?  appareant,  reverenter 
sumantur,  nisi  nausea,  fiat ;  tunc  enim  species  consecratas  caute  separentur,  et  in 
aliquo  loco  sacro  reponantur,  donee  corrumpantur,  et  postea  in  sacrarium  projici- 
antur.  Quod  si  species  non  appareant,  comburatur  vomitus,  et  cineres  in  sacra- 
rium mittantur. 

15.  Si  Hostia  consecrata,  vel  aliqua  ejus  particula  dilabatur  in  terram,  reveren- 
ter accipiatur,  et  locus,  ubi  cecidit  mundetur,  et  aliquantulum  abradatur,  et  pulvis, 
seu  abrasio  hujusmodi  in  sacrarium  immittatur.  Si  ceciderit  extra  Corporale  in 
mappam,  seu  alio  quovis  modo  in  aliquod  linteum,  mappa  vel  linteum,  hujusmodi 
diligenter  lavetur,  et  lotio  ipsa  in  sacrarium  effundatur. 

16.  Possunt  etiam  defectus  in  ministeno  ipso  occurrere,  si  Sacerdos  ignoret  ritus, 
et  caeremonias  ipsas  in  eo  scrvandas :  de  quibus  omnibus  in  superioribus  Rubricis 
oopiose  dictum  est. 


INDEX. 


ABRAi.  iM,  the  possibility  of  a  tradi- 
tion from  Adam  to  him,  93.  the  oc- 
casion and  design  of  a  revelation  to 
him,  ib. 

Absolute  decrees.    See  Decrees. 

Absolution,  in  what  sense  it  ought  to  be 
pronounced,  356.  the  bad  effects  of 
the  hasty  absolutions  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  369.  as  used  in  the  church  of 
England,  is  only  declaratory,  370. 
this  agreeable  to  the  practice  of  the 
primitive  church,  371.  a  prayer  used 
in  the  church  of  Rome  after  absolu- 
tion, ib.  this  does  not  mend  it,  ib. 
when  this  practice  was  introduced,  ib. 

Abstinence.    See  Fasting. 

Action,  whether  God  is  the  first  and  im- 
mediate cause  of  every  action,  38. 
what  it  is  that  denominates  an  action 
good  or  bad,  174.  distinction  between 
those  that  are  universally  binding  on 
all,  and  such  as  bind  only  some  sort  of 
men,  179.  the  judgments  to  be  made 
of  thom  from  appearances,  ib. 

Aets  of  the  Apostles,  when  and  by  whom 
wrote,  74. 

Acts,  no  successive  acts  in  God,  30. 

Adam,  wherein  the  image  of  God,  in 
which  he  was  created,  consisted,  143, 
144.  whether  the  death  he  was  threat- 
ened with  was  only  natural,  141,  145. 
whether  by  covenant  he  was  consti- 
tuted to  represent  all  his  posterity,  147. 
of  the  propagation  of  his  sin,  148. 
See  Original  Sin. 

Adoration,  God  only  the  proper  object 
of  it,  57.  what  it  is,  ib.  Christ  pro- 
posed in  the  New  Testament  as  the 
object  of  it,  ib.  ought  not  to  be  given 
to  any  creature,  58.    See  Host. 

Adultery,  on  the  part  of  the  wife,  dis- 
solves marriage,  377.  this  agreeable 
both  to  the  law  of  nature  and  the  gos- 
pel, ib.  and  to  the  practice  of  the  pri- 


mitive church,  ib.  the  contrary  doc- 
trine of  a  modern  date,  378. 

Agobard,  bishop  of  Lyons,  wrote  with 
great  vehemence  against  the  worship 
of  images,  310. 

Ahab,  his  feigned  humiliation  rewarded, 
174. 

Air,  greatly  improved  by  the  industry  of 
man,  36. 

Almsgiving,  a  main  part  of  charity,  370. 
See  Charity. 

Altar,  but  one  in  a  church  among  the 
primitive  Christians,  464. 

Amalric  expressly  denied  the  corporal 
presence,  443.  is  condemned  by  the 
Lateran  council,  and  his  body  raised 
and  burnt  on  that  account,  ib. 

Ambassador,  his  extensive  power,  359. 

Ambrose,  the  variation  of  that  prayer  of 
consecration,  which  goes  under  his 
name,  from  that  used  in  the  mass, 
436. 

Ananias,  wherein  the  guilt  of  his  sin  lay, 
513. 

Anathemas,  the  form  of  denouncing  them 
against  heretics  very  ancient,  480. 
what  was  meant  by  them,  ib.  a  great 
number  of  them  denounced  by  the 
council  of  Trent,  ib.  those  ill-founded 
cannot  hurt,  ib.    See  Censures. 

Angels,  good  or  bad,  are  capable  of  do- 
ing many  things  beyond  our  reach,  78. 
are  perfect  moral  agents,  and  yet  can- 
not sin,  153.  worshipping  them  ex- 
pressly forbid  in  the  New  Testament, 
322.  invocation  of  them  disclaimed  in 
the  first  ages  of  Christianity,  323. 

Animal  spirits,  their  subtile  nature,  40. 
their  influence  on  our  managing  mat- 
ter, 78.  receive  their  quality  from 
that  of  the  blood,  144.  are  the  imme- 
diate organs  of  ♦hought  and  subtfler 
parts  of  the  blood,  154.  a  conjecture 
how  they  may  excite  thought,  156. 


552 


INDEX. 


Annihilation  only  in  the  power  of  God, 
3d.  a  common  mistake  about  it  recti- 
fied, ib.  created  beings  have  not  a  ten- 
dency to  it,  ib. 

Antiquity,  not  a  note  of  the  trv.e  church, 
240. 

Apocrypha,  the  Christian  churches  were 
for  some  ages  strangers  to  these  books, 
113.  were  first  mentioned  by  Athana- 
sius,  114.  where  and  by  whom  wrote, 
ib.  were  left  out  of  the  canon  by  the 
council  of  Laodicea,  ib.  were  first  re- 
ceived into  it  by  that  of  Trent,  ib. 
were  always  denied  to  be  a  part  of  it 
by  the  best  and  most  learned  writers, 
ib.    See  Maccabees. 

Apostles  were  not  the  authors  of  the 
Creed  which  goes  by  their  name,  2. 
137.  how  far  they  complied  with  Ju- 
daism, 8,  268.  the  difficulties  they 
met  with  in  propagating  Christianity, 
76.  could  not  be  impostors,  ib.  nor 
imposed  on,  78.  their  being  endowed 
with  extraordinary  inspiration,  no  ar- 
gument for  a  succession  of  infallibility, 
281.  of  the  powers  with  which  our 
Saviour  sent  them,  333.  were  not 
constituted  priests  by  our  Saviour's 
words,  '  Do  this,'  in  the  sacrament, 
453.  did  not  derive  their  authority 
from  St.  Peter,  being  all  equal  to  him, 
499. 

Apparitions,  there  are  many  histories  of 
them  well  attested,  41.  to  disbelieve 
all  unreasonable,  ib. 

Apollinarian  heresy,  what  it  was,  431. 
was  confuted  by  many  great  men  of 
different  ages,  ib. 

Aquarii,  those  who  used  water  instead 
of  wine  in  the  sacrament,  455.  their 
reason  for  so  doing,  ib.  are  severely 
condemned  by  St.  Cyprian,  ib. 

Aquinas,  Thomas,  his  notion  of  provi- 
dence and  free-will,  198.  his  distinc- 
tion to  avoid  making  God  the  author 
of  sin,  199.  his  doctrine  concerning 
image- worship,  312. 

Arians,  their  opinion  that  Christ  is  a 
creature  of  a  spiritual  nature,  61. 
councils  decree  differently  concerning 
this,  276. 

Arminians,  their  opinions  of  free-will 
and  predestination,  195.  were  con- 
demned by  the  synod  of  Dort,  204. 
the  occasion  of  their  becoming  the 


distinction  of  a  party  instead  of  doc- 
trinal points,  ib.    See  Remonstrant*. 
Artemon   held  the   same  opinion  of 

Christ  as  the  Socinians,  61. 
Articles  of  the  Church  of  England,  ob- 
jections against  them,  1.  reasons  for 
their  descending  to  so  many  particu- 
lars, 5.  the  fundamental  Article  of 
the  Reformation,  6.  how  or  by  whom 
the  Articles  were  prepared,  ib.  what 
the  sanction  of  public  authority  to 
them  implies,  7.  whether  they  are 
Articles  of  peace  only,  or  of  doc- 
trine, ib.  to  the  laity,  only  Articles 
of  church-communion,  8.  distinction 
between  articles  of  faith  and  articles 
of  doctrine,  ib.  what  the  clergy  are 
bound  to  by  their  subscriptions,  9.  a 
royal  declaration  to  end  disputes 
about  this  matter,  10.  may  have  dif- 
ferent senses,  ib.    this  illustrated  by 
the  third  Article,  ib.  care  taken  to 
settle  the  true  reading  of  them,  11. 
collations  of  them  with  MSS.,  11 — 
18.  difficulty  arising  from  the  various 
readings  cleared,  19.  express  words 
of  scripture  for  each  Article  not  ne- 
cessary, 97.  several  differences  of  the 
present  from  those  published  in  king 
Edward's  reign,  69,  115,  116,  341, 
467.  the  latitude  of  the  articles,  9, 
226,  338.  fundamental  Articles  ought 
not  to  be  too  strictly  determined, 
242.  the  moderation  of  the  Articles, 
10,  151,  152,  226,  398,  507. 
Assistance,  the  doctrine  of  inward  as- 
sistances proved  from  scripture,  155. 
how  they  are  conveyed  to  us,  156. 
the  effect  of  them,  ib. 
Athanasius,  his  account  of  the  books  of 
the  Old  Testament,  113.  and  those 
of  the  Apocrypha,  114.  was  not  au- 
thor of  the  Creed  which  goes  by 
his  name,  136.    the  condemnatory 
clauses  of  it  explained,  ib. 
Atheists,  their  objections  to  the  argu- 
ment, from  the  consent  of  mankind, 
for  the  being  of  God  answered,  20. 
their  arguments  for  the  eternity  of 
the  world  considered,  22.  that  for  its 
being  made  by  chance  answered,  23. 
their  objections  to  miracles  answered, 
25.  the  notion  that  the  world  is  a 
body  to   God,  the  foundation  of 
Atheism,  29. 


INDEX. 


553 


Attrition,  an  imperfect  contrition,  366. 
the  doctrine  of  the  church  of  Rome 
concerning  it,  ib.   See  Contrition. 
Augsburg  Confession  of  faith,  on  what 

occasion  it  was  prepared,  5. 
Augustin,  or  Austin,  his  doctrine  of 
original  sin,  147.  and  of  reprobation, 
ib.  hated  Pelagianism,  197.  wherein 
he  differed  from  the  Sublapsarians, 
198.  speaks  very  doubtfully  concern- 
ing the  state  of  the  soul  after  death, 
294.  a  famous  passage  about  his  mo- 
ther Monica  referred  to,  295.  his  ex- 
traordinary relations  of  miracles  not 
to  be  credited,  318.  his  declaration 
against   invocation   of  saints,  325. 
thought  that  all  who  were  baptized 
were  regenerated,  396.  his  rule  con- 
cerning figurative  expressions,  423. 
Auricular  Confession.   See  Confession. 
Authority  of  the  books  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, 95,  105.  that  of  the  New, 
101,  102.  that  of  the  Apocrypha  dis- 
proved, 113.  that  of  the  church  in 
religious  matters  not  absolute,  234. 
in  relation  to  ceremonies,  264.  dis- 
tinction between  that  which  is  found- 
ed on  infallibility  and  an  authority  of 
order,  268.  lawful  authority  in  the 
church,  what  it  is,  337.  is  subject  to 
the  law  of  the  land,  482.  the  highest 
act  of  their  authority,  483.  that  of  the 
pope,  498,  499.  of  the  king  in  ec- 
clesiastical matters,  502,  506.  See 
Pope,  King,  Church. 

B. 

Baitulia,  the  least  ensnaring  of  all  idols, 
303. 

Baptism,  what  it  is,  44.  the  danger  of 
delaying  it  till  death,  190.  what  gave 
rise  to  this  practice,  ib.  what  neces- 
sary to  make  it  true  and  valid,  242. 
that  by  laics  and  by  women  not  null, 
though  irregular,  244.  the  obligation 
baptism  brings  us  under,  245.  bap- 
tism no  new  thing  among  the  Jews  in 
our  Saviour's  time,  391.  its  institu- 
tion as  a  federal  act  was  by  Christ, 
392.  wherein  the  Christian  differs 
from  that  of  St.  John,  393.  what  meant 
by  being  born  of  water  and  of  the 
Spirit,  ib.  it  is  a  precept,  but  not  a 
m.'in  necessary  to  salvation,  394.  the 
enfV  and  purposes  of  it,  395.  the  bad 
coa-icouences  of  maintaining  the  ab- 


solute necessity  of  it,  396.  how  it 
becomes  effectual  to  salvation,  397. 
wherein  it  agrees  with  circumcision, 
399.  baptism  of  infants  most  agree- 
able to  the  institution  of  Christ,  400. 
and  to  the  practice  of  circumcision 
under  the  Old  Testament,  ib.  wby 
the  office  for  baptizing  infants  is  the 
same  with  that  for  persons  of  riper 
age,  401.  reasonableness  of  chang- 
ing the  form  to  sprinkling,  454. 

Basil,  St.  his  opinion  of  the  souls  of 
the  martyrs,  319. 

Beasts  are  not  mere  machines,  40.  may 
have  spirits  of  an  inferior  orde-,  ib. 

Begetting,  the  natural  meaning  of  it, 
51.  what  understood  by  it  when 
spoken  of  the  Son  of  God  is  beyond 
our  present  comprehension,  ib. 

Beginning,  what  meant  by  it  in  the  first 
of  St.  John's  Gospel,  52. 

Begotten  and  born  of  God,  the  mean- 
ing of  these  expressions,  189,  191. 

Berengarius,  his  character,  442.  opposed 
the  doctrine  of  the  corporal  presence, 
ib.  had  many  followers,  ib. 

Binding  and  loosing,  that  power  grant- 
ed equally  to  all  the  apostles,  261. 
what  the  Jewish  writers  meant  by  it, 
ib. 

Bishops,  the  declaration  of  their  faith 
was  at  first  in  very  general  terms,  2. 
which  they  sent  round  them,  ib.  what 
obliged  them  afterwards  to  make  ful- 
ler declarations,  3.  a  succession  of 
them  no  certain  note  of  a  true 
church,  241.  why  confirmation  was 
in  the  earliest  ages  reserved  for  the 
bishop  only,  352.  no  instructions  of 
celibacy  given  them  in  the  New  Tes- 
tament. 469.  many  of  them  in  the 
best  ages  were  married,  471.  of  their 
consecration,  494.  are  all  equal  by 
their  office  and  character,  498.  au- 
thority of  those  in  great  sees  only 
from  custom,  500.    See  Pope. 

Blood,  a  probable  conjecture  about  the 
natural  state  of  it,  143.  its  influence 
on  the  animal  spirits,  144 

Body,  of  the  state  of  our  Saviour's  body 
from  his  death  to  his  resurrection, 
80,  81.  whether  it  put  on  a  new  form 
in  his  ascension,  ib.  glorified  bodiea 
are  of  a  different  texture  from  those  of 
flesh  and  blood,  455.  See  Resur- 
rection. 


554 


INDEX. 


Boniface  VIII.  pope,  claimed  a  feuda- 
tory power  in  temporals  over  princes, 
254. 

Brain,  the  influence  of  its  disorder  upon 
the  mind,  40.  our  thoughts  are  go- 
verned by  impressions  made  on  it, 
154. 

Bread  in  the  sacrament  in  what  sense 
the  body  of  Christ,  404.  when  dip- 
ping it  in  the  wine  became  a  practice, 
456.  this  condemned  by  the  council 
of  Bracara,  ib. 

C. 

Calf,  golden,  what  intention  the  Israel- 
ites had  in  making  it,  304.  the  design 
of  those  calves  set  up  by  Jeroboam, 
ib.    See  Idolatry. 

Calvinists,  how  far  they  agree  with  St. 
Austin  about  predestination,  198.  the 
peculiar  advantages  and  disadvan- 
tages of  their  opinions  on  this  sub- 
ject, 222.    See  Supralapsarians. 

Canon.    See  Scriptures. 

Canons  of  the  church,  what  respect  due 
to  them  for  antiquity,  488.  the  new 
canon  law  different  from  the  old,  469. 
ancient  canons  little  regarded  by  the 
reformers,  490.  were  brought  into 
desuetude  by  the  church  of  Rome,  ib. 

Cassian,  his  doctrine  concerning  pre- 
destination, 197.  is  opposed  and  de- 
fended by  several,  ib.  his  collations 
were  in  great  esteem,  198. 

Catholic,  not  a  note  of  the  true  church, 
239. 

Celibacy  of  the  clergy,  no  rule  for  it  in 
the  gospel,  468.  not  in  the  power  of 
the  church  to  order  it,  469.  the  po- 
litical advantages  of  it,  470.  when 
and  by  whom  it  was  first  introduced, 
471.  the  practice  of  the  church  not 
uniform  in  it,  ib.  was  not  imposed  on 
all  the  clergy  till  the  end  of  the 
eleventh  century,  473.  the  good  and 
bad  consequences  of  it,  470,  473. 
vows  not  lawful  in  this  matter,  474. 
and  are  not  binding,  though  made, 
475.    See  Oath. 

Censures  of  the  church,  how  to  behave 
under  them,  481.  what  right  the 
laity  have  to  be  consulted  in  them, 
482.  are  agreeable  to  the  design  of 
Christianity,  483.  defects  in  them  no 
just  cause  of  separation,  484.  popery 
introduced  a  great  variety  of  rules 


concerning  them,  ib.  a  further  re* 
formation  in  these  still  wanted,  ib. 

Century,  the  great  ignorance  that  pre- 
vailed in  the  tenth  century,  441. 

Ceremonial  law,  was  not  designed  to  be 
perpetual,  122.  the  design  of  its  in- 
stitution, 128.  is  now  abolished,  as 
become  useless  and  impossible,  129. 

Ceremonies,  the  church  has  power  to 
appoint  them,  264.  the  practice  of 
the  Jewish  church  in  this  matter,  ib. 
changes  in  them  sometimes  necessary, 
265.  the  practice  of  the  apostles,  266. 
when  appointed,  ought  to  be  ob- 
served, if  lawful,  267,  485.  cautions 
to  be  observed  in  appointing  them, 
267.  unity  among  Christians,  a  great 
reason  for  observing  them,  485. 

Cerinthus  denied  the  divinity  of  Christ 
in  the  earliest  age  of  Christianity,  53. 

Chalice.    See  Cup. 

Chance,  the  absurdity  of  maintaining 
that  the  world  was  made  by  it,  24. 
an  argument  for  this  opinion  answer- 
ed, ib. 

Charity  and  brotherly  love,  their  great 
usefulness  in  the  Christian  religion, 
485.  charity  to  the  poor,  of  the  ex- 
tent of  it,  178.  what  renders  it  ac- 
ceptable to  God,  370.  is  more  par- 
ticularly recommended  by  the  gospel, 
514.  our  Saviour's  rule  concerning 
the  measure  of  it,  ib. 

Charles  the  Great,  a  council  in  his  time, 
and  books  published  in  his  name, 
against  image-worship,  310.  intro- 
duced the  Roman  Missal  into  the 
Gallican  church,  490.  published  many 
Capitulars  concerning  ecclesiastical 
matters,  504. 

Chcrubims  that  were  in  the  holiest  of 
all,  no  argument  for  image-worship, 
314. 

Children,  of  their  parents'  power  over 
them,  399.  in  what  sense  they  are 
said  to  be  holy,  ib. 

Chinese,  their  alleged  antiquity  with- 
out foundation,  23. 

Chrism,  used  by  the  church  of  Rome  in 
confirmation,  what  it  is,  353.  might 
only  be  consecrated  by  the  bishop, 
354.  was  applied  by  presbyters  in  the 
Greek  church,  ib.  great  disputes 
about  it,  355. 

Christ,  in  two  respects  the  Son  of  God, 
51.  in  what  sense  of  one  substance 
with  the  Father,  ib.  proofs  of  his  di- 


INDEX. 


555 


vinity,  52 — 62.  this  was  early  denied 
by  Ebion  and  Cerinthus,  53.  was  the 
Creator  of  all  things,  52.  has  all  the 
names,  operations,  and  attributes,  of 
God  given  him,  56.  is  proposed  in 
the  New  Testament  as  the  object  of 
divine  worship,  58.  this  not  charged 
as  idolatry  by  the  Jews  at  that  time, 
ib.  the  Jews  understood  this  part  of 
our  religion  in  a  manner  consistent 
with  their  former  ideas,  ib.  what 
those  were,  59.  the  Arian  and  So- 
cinian  hypothesis  concerning  him,  60. 
is  not  to  be  worshipped  as  an  angel 
or  prophet,  but  as  truly  God,  61. 
took  on  him  the  nature  of  man,  62. 
the  two  natures  united  in  one  person, 
ib.  the  design  of  using  the  term  Per- 
son, 64.  that  there  shall  be  an  end  to 
his  mediatorial  office,  ib.  but  not  to 
his  personal  glory,  ib.  of  the  certainty 
and  design  of  his  death,  65.  it  was 
not  merely  in  confirmation  of  his  doc- 
trine, and  a  pattern  of  suffering,  66. 
atoned  for  more  than  Adam's  sin,  67. 
in  what  sense  his  death  is  said  to  be  our 
sacrifice,  ib.  his  agony  explained,  ib. 
the  reconciliation  made  by  his  death 
not  absolute,  and  without  conditions, 
68.  of  his  descent  into  hell,  69.  when 
and  by  whom  this  article  was  intro- 
duced, ib.  several  different  opinions 
about  this,  70,  71.  what  seems  to  be 
the  true  meaning  of  it,  72.  proof  of 
his  resurrection  depends  on  the  au- 
thority of  the  New  Testament,  73. 
several  circumstances  concurring  to 
prove  it,  73 — 80.  his  ascension  not 
capable  of  so  full  a  proof,  80.  this 
depends  chiefly  on  the  testimony  of 
the  apostles  and  effusion  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  ib.  his  resurrection  was 
brought  about  by  a  miracle,  ib.  curi- 
osity about  the  manner  of  it  taxed, 
81.  how  it  may  be  said  he  was  three 
days  in  the  grave,  ib.  the  intention  of 
his  staying  forty  days  after  on  earth, 
ib.  of  the  manner  of  his  ascension,  ib. 
the  great  authority  with  which  he  is 
vested,  82.  of  his  glorious  appearance 
at  the  last  day,  ib.  whether  he  was 
the  mediator  of  the  old,  as  well  as  the 
new  dispensation,  124.  his  death  ap- 
plied to  those  who  are  incapable  of 
expressly  laying  hold  of  it,  128.  his 
death  the  ouly  cause  of  our  justifica- 


tion, 167.  Christ  alone  was  without 
sin,  184.  of  the  efficacy  and  extent  of 
his  death,  169,  208,  209.  is  our  only 
mediator  in  point  of  intercession  as 
well  as  redemption,  323.  why  he 
chose  to  suffer  at  the  time  of  the 
passover,  404.  he  is  the  only  Priest, 
and  his  death  the  only  sacrifice  under 
the  gospel,  461. 

Christianity  gives  much  purer  ideas  of 
God  than  the  Mosaic  dispensation, 
57.  the  foundation  of,  167.  does  not 
lessen  the  temporal  authority,  503. 
raises  the  laws  of  love  and  charity  to 
a  high  degree,  514.  does  not  con- 
demn all  oaths,  517. 

Christians  are  not  exempt  from  capital 
punishment  for  great  crimes,  508.  in 
what  case  may  engage  in  war,  509. 
or  go  to  law,  510.  are  not  obliged 
to  have  their  goods  in  common,  513. 
may  swear  on  important  occasions, 
517. 

Chronology,  the  diversity  of  it  no  suf- 
ficient objection  to  the  authority  of 
the  scriptures,  109. 

Chrysostom,  St.  mentions  nothing  of 
relics,  319.  denies  that  any  miracles 
were  wrought  in  his  time,  ib.  con- 
demns auricular  confession,  363. 

Church  ought  to  proportion  her  rules 
of  communion  and  censure  to  those 
of  the  gospel,  1 90.  of  its  authority  to 
establish  doctrines,  233.  what  a  true 
church  is,  243,  247,  248.  may  be 
visible,  though  not  infallible,  247.  of 
her  power  in  appointing  ceremonies, 
264,  265.  and  in  matters  of  faith, 
268.  can  make  no  new  terms  of  sal- 
vation, 269.  the  meaning  of  Christ's 
words,  'Tell  the  church,'  &c,  280. 
how  the  church  is  the  pillar  and 
ground  of  truth,  ib.  there  was  to  be 
an  authority  in  the  church,  334.  what 
it  is,  337.  the  order  settled  by  the 
apostles  was  for  succeeding  ages,  335. 
every  church  an  independent  body, 
490.  the  respect  due  from  one  church 
to  another,  ib.  wherein  her  authority 
in  opposition  to  the  civil  magistrate 
consists,  506. 

Church  of  Rome  owns  the  positive  doc- 
trines of  the  church  of  England,  5.  its 
tyranny  in  imposing  its  doctrines,  8. 
their  opinion  concerning  the  scrip- 
tures and  traditions  confuted,  90. 


556 


INDEX. 


leave  the  second  commandment  out 
of  their  Catechism,  133.  maintain  that 
original  sin  is  quite  taken  away  by 
baptism,  145.  the  consequence  of 
this,  146.  their  doctrine  concerning 
the  remission  of  sins,  164.  the  use  of 
the  sacraments,  ib.  and  the  sufficiency 
of  inherent  holiness  for  justification, 
166.  what  they  call  a  good  work,  172. 
what  they  teach  concerning  the  love  of 
God,  176.  their  doctrine  of  superero- 
gation confuted,  180.  their  distinction 
of  mortal  and  venial  sin,  187.  just  pre- 
judices against  its  infallibility,  234 — 
262.  their  notes  of  a  true  church, 
239.  these  do  not  agree  to  their 
church,  240.  have  erred  not  only  in 
their  living  and  ceremonies,  but  in  mat- 
ters of  faith  also,  249.  the  influence  of 
the  popes  on  the  canons,  ceremonies, 
and  government,  of  the  church,  250. 
is  guilty  of  a  circle,  239,  270.  the 
absurdity  of  this,  ib.  their  doctrine 
concerning  purgatory,  285.  See  Pur- 
gatory, concerning  pardons,  298.  of 
indulgences,  299.  of  image-worship, 
301.  of  worshipping  of  relics,  315.  of 
the  invocation  of  saints  and  angels, 
322.  of  worship  in  an  unknown  tongue, 
344.  of  their  five  additional  sacra- 
ments, 351.  of  the  intention  of  the 
priest  being  necessary  to  the  essence 
of  a  sacrament,  388.  of  transubstan- 
tiation,  415.  of  withholding  the  cup 
from  the  laity,  452.  of  the  sacrifice 
of  the  mass,  460.  of  the  celibacy  of 
the  clergy,  461 . 
Church  of  England  and  Rome,  wherein 
they  agree,  and  wherein  of  different 
opinions,  139.  answer  to  the  ques- 
tion, Where  was  your  church  before 
Henry  VIII.?  248.  See  Articles, 
Authority. 
Circumcision,  why  not  necessary  to  be 
continued,  123.  of  infants  under  the 
Old  Testament  an  argument  for  in- 
fant baptism  under  the  New,  400. 
Claud  of  Turin  wrote  with  vehemence 

against  image-worship,  310. 
Clergy,  the  import  of  their  subscription 
to  the  Articles,  9.  their  marriage 
made  an  argument  against  the  Refor- 
mation, 467.  this  not  contrary  to  the 
purity  of  divine  performances,  ib. 
those  in  England  were  married  in  the 
Saxon  times,  472.  are  subject  to  their 


princes  in  ecclesiastical  matters,  502. 
See  Celibacy,  Councils. 

Commandments,  or  moral  law,  the  na- 
ture of  it,  130.  the  two  first  against 
idolatry,  131.  the  morality  of  them, 
ib.  the  third  against  not  only  vain 
and  idle,  but  false  swearing,  132.  the 
morality  of  this,  ib.  the  fourth,  in 
what  sense  moral  and  reasonable,  ib. 
the  rigour  of  it  abated  by  our  Sa- 
viour, 133.  these  four  distinct  com- 
mandments, ib.  why  this  division  is 
preferred  to  that  of  the  church  of 
Rome,  ib.  the  order  of  the  second 
table,  ib.  the  fifth  and  tenth,  how 
they  are  the  fences  of  the  interme- 
diate four,  134.  in  what  sense  the 
last  is  moral,  ib.  of  the  obligation  of 
this  law  upon  Christians,  ib. 

Communion  of  the  body  and  blood  of 
Christ,  the  meaning  of  it  explained, 
404. 

Concomitance,  no  sufficient  argument 
for  communion  only  in  one  kind, 
454. 

Confession  of  sins,  the  scripture  ac- 
count of  it,  357.  auricular  confession 
not  necessary,  361.  no  authority  for  it 
in  scripture,  ib.  nor  from  the  practice 
of  the  primitive  Christians,  362.  the 
first  occasion  and  progress  of  it,  363. 
gave  great  scandal  at  Constantinople, 
ib.  how  far  the  power  of  the  church 
extends  in  this  matter,  365.  the  good 
and  bad  effects  of  it,  ib.  ought  to  be 
no  law  of  the  church,  because  not  a 
law  of  God,  366.  the  bad  effects  of  it 
in  the  church  of  Rome,  366,  484. 

Confession  of  adversaries,  not  a  note  of 
the  true  church,  240. 

Confirmation  a  very  ancient  practice, 
and  justifiable  as  used  in  the  church 
of  England,  352.  reasons  why  it  is  no 
sacrament,  353.  the  form  of  it  in  the 
church  of  Rome,  ib.  whether  the 
bishop  only  should  confirm,  354. 
great  disputes  about  this,  355. 

Consecration,  the  effect  of  it  in  the  eu- 
charist,  according  to  the  doctrine  of 
the  church  of  Rome,  416.  the  virtue 
of  it  depends  on  the  intention  of  the 
priest,  417.  by  whom  a  bell  was  or- 
dered to  be  rung  at  the  consecration, 
439.  it  was  an  opinion  that  the  Lord's 
Prayer  was  at  first  the  prayer  of  con- 
secration, 457. 


INDEX. 


557 


Consequsnces  of  opinions  ought  not 
to  be  charged  as  tenets,  423,  424. 

Constance,  council  of,  its  decree  for 
withholding  the  cup  from  the  laity, 
458.  the  absurdity  of  it,  and  cruelty 
used  to  establish  it,  ib. 

I^onstantia,  the  legend  concerning  her 
great  respect  for  Hilarion's  body, 
318. 

Constantinople,  council,  made  no  new 
additions  to  the  Creed,  3.  said  that 
the  Holy  Ghost  proceeded  from  the 
Father  only,  89.  condemned  image- 
worship,  309. 

Consubstantiation,  what  the  Lutherans 
mean  by  it,  444.  their  doctrine  con- 
futed, ib.  ought  not  to  dissolve  the 
anion  of  churches  where  adoration  is 
not  joined  with  it,  445. 

Contrition,  the  definition  of  it,  366. 
wherein  the  church  of  Rome  make  it 
differ  from  attrition,  ib.  their  doc- 
trine concerning  it  liable  to  great 
abuse,  367. 

Corporal  presence,  how  the  doctrine 
concerning  it  came  into  the  church, 
437.  the  progress  of  it,  437 — 444. 
See  Transubstantiation. 

Covenant,  whether  God  made  one  with 
Adam  for  his  posterity,  147.  the 
tenor  of  the  new  covenant.  190. 

Covetousness,  the  precept  against  it  not 
moral  in  the  strictest  sense,  133.  not 
a  crime  more  peculiar  to  the  married 
than  the  unmarried  clergy,  470. 

Councils,  cannot  be  called  without  the 
consent  of  princes,  272.  popes  were 
not  always  consulted,  273.  have  as- 
sumed the  power  of  censuring,  de- 
priving, and  making  popes,  274.  what 
makes  a  council  to  be  general,  275. 
the  numbers  necessary,  and  how  cited, 
ib.  not  of  divine  institution,  because 
no  rules  in  scripture  concerning 
them,  275.  several  arguments  against 
their  infallibility,  275  —  283.  they 
have  been  contrary  to  one  another, 
276.  disorders  and  intrigues  in 
councils,  ib.  no  general  councils 
pretended  in  the  first  three  cen- 
turies, 279.  no  prospect  of  another 
general  council,  ib.  of  the  decree  of 
the  council  of  Jerusalem,  281.  some 
general  councils  have  erred,  282. 
doctrines  are  not  to  be  believed  on 
their  authority,  283. 


Creation  imports  infinite  power,  35,  52. 
the  nearest  approach  to  a  true  idea  of 
it,  ib.  is  ascribed  to  Christ  in  the 
New  Testament,  56. 

Creeds  were  at  first  conceived  in  gene- 
ral terms,  2.  that  which  goes  by  the 
name  of  the  Apostles'  not  made  by 
them,  2,  137.  what  probably  was  the 
first,  2.  the  occasion  of  their  being 
enlarged,  3.  those  of  Nice  and  Con- 
stantinople, ib.  none  of  the  three 
Creeds  named  with  exactness,  135. 
that  of  Nice  is  the  Constantinopoli- 
tan,  ib.  that  of  Athanasius  not  made 
by  him,  136.  that  said  to  be  the 
Apostles'  of  no  great  antiquity,  138. 

Cross,  a  prayer  used  in  the  consecra- 
tion of  a  cross,  313. 

Crucifixion  of  Christ,  and  his  death, 
owned  by  all  Christians,  64.  denied 
by  the  Docetae  and  Mahomet,  ib. 

Cup,  or  chalice,  in  the  sacrament,  ought 
to  be  given  to  the  laity,  452.  this 
particularly  enjoined  in  the  words  of 
institution,  ib.  not  to  the  clergy  only, 
as  priests,  453.  this  the  practice  for 
above  a  thousand  years,  455.  the  in- 
sufficiency of  concomitance  and  other 
arguments  advanced  against  it,  454 — 
456. 

Cyprian  owned  not  the  infallibility  of 
pope  Stephen,  251.  made  the  effect 
of  a  sacrament  to  depend  on  the  good 
state  of  the  administrator,  386. 

D. 

Damnation,  to  eat  and  drink  their  own 
damnation  explained,  411.  damna- 
tion sometimes  means  temporary  pu- 
nishments, ib. 

Daniel,  his  prophecy  of  the  LXX. 
weeks  explained,  121. 

Death  might  have  been  the  natural  con- 
sequence of  Adam's  fall,  147.  this  not 
to  be  restrained  to  a  natural  death,  ib. 
how  this  might  be  transmitted  to  his 
posterity,  145.  prayers  for  the  dead, 
an  early  practice  in  the  church,  294. 
what  gave  rise  to  it,  ib.  Tertullian's 
opinion  about  it,  295.  the  absurdity 
of  masses  for  the  dead,  296.  the 
method  of  commemorating  eminent 
saints  in  the  primitive  times,  ib. 

Death-bed  repentance,  the  trusting  to 
it  a  fatal  error,  190,  368,  369. 

Decrees  of  God  have  been  the  subject 


558 


INDEX. 


of  many  disputes,  9,  140.  the  foun- 
dation of  the  doctrine  of  absolute  de- 
crees, 147.  this  seems  contrary  to  the 
nature  of  God.  148.  and  exposes  the 
Christian  religion,  149.  upon  what 
views  God  formed  his  decrees  con- 
cerning mankind,  194.  four  opinions 
concerning  them,  195,  196. 

Decretal  Epistles  of  the  first  popes,  with 
what  view  published,  252.  are  univer- 
sally held  spurious,  ib.  was  a  forgery 
of  the  eighth  century,  contrived  with 
little  art,  438. 

Delivery  unto  Satan,  an  effect  of  the 
extraordinary  power  of  the  apostles, 
478,  479. 

Dipping  in  baptism,  the  danger  of  it  in 
cold  climates,  a  good  reason  for 
sprinkling,  454.  the  custom  of  dip- 
ping the  bread  in  the  wine  in  the 
Lord's  supper,  when  introduced,  456. 
was  condemned  by  the  council  of 
Bracara,  ib. 

Discipline  in  the  church,  the  nature  and 
necessity  of  it,  389,  477.  that  of  the 
primitive  church  lay  heaviest  on  the 
clergy,  389.  moderation  ought  to  be 
observed  in  it,  477. 

Divorce  lawful  i.i  case  of  adultery,  377. 
our  Saviour's  rule  in  this  case.  ib. 
this  agreeable  to  the  opinion  of  the 
fathers,  ib.  the  contrary  was  not  es- 
tablished till  the  council  of  Trent, 
378. 

Docetse,  a  sect  that  denied  the  death  of 
Christ,  64. 

Doctrine,  the  difference  between  Arti- 
cles of  faith,  and  those  of  doctrine,  8. 
the  tyranny  of  imposing  doctrines,  ib. 
conformity  of  doctrines  with  former 
times,  not  a  note  of  a  true  church, 
240. 

Donatists,  their  notions  concerning  the 
sacraments,  386. 

Dulia  and  Hyperdulia,  degrees  of  wor- 
ship paid  to  images  in  the  church  of 
Rome,  313. 

Durandus  was  censured  by  the  church 
of  Rome  for  his  opinion  of  image- 
worship,  311. 

E. 

Earth  is  greatly  improved  by  man's  in- 
dustry. 36.  the  influence  of  the  wind 
upon  it,  ib.    See  World. 


Eating  and  drinking  their  own  damna- 
tion, the  meaning  of  the  phrase,  411. 
opinions  of  several  fathers  concerning 
eating  and  drinking  Christ's  body  and 
blood,  451. 

Ebion  denied  the  divinity  of  Christ  very 
early,  53. 

Edward  VI.,  differences  of  the  Articles 
in  his  reign  from  the  present,  115, 
116,  284,  341,  346,  402,  467,  494, 
497. 

Egyptians,  their  alleged  antiquity  with- 
out foundation,  23. 

Elders,  who  they  were  at  the  council  of 
Jerusalem,  281. 

Election,  of  election  and  predestination, 
193.    See  Predestination. 

Elevation  of  the  host  not  known  in  the 
first  ages,  428,  448.  what  gave  rise  to 
it,  449.  was  not  done  at  first,  in  order 
to  adoration,  ib.  who  first  mentions 
it  with  that  view,  ib. 

Eliberis,  council  of,  condemned  pictures 
on  the  walls  of  churches,  308.  for- 
bid the  lighting  candles  about  the 
tombs  of  martyrs  in  day-light,  319, 
328. 

Elizabeth,  queen,  gives  authority  to  re- 
quire subscriptions  to  the  Articles,  9. 
a  royal  de^Uration  for  taking  them  in 
the  literal  sense,  ib.  her  injunctions 
concerning  supremacy,  497. 

Elohim,  the  meaning  of  it  in  the  Old 
Testament,  43. 

Emperors,  their  authority  in  ecclesiasti- 
cal affairs,  503. 

Endowments  were  procured  by  impos- 
tors in  the  church  of  Rome,  297.  by 
what  means  the  profuseness  of  them 
was  restrained,  ib.  when  they  are  to 
be  held  sacred,  ib.  the  violation  of 
them,  when  founded  on  false  opinions, 
no  sacrilege,  298. 

Enthusiasts,  an  extravagant  sort  of  them 
at  the  Reformation,  123. 

Ephesus,  council,  their  decree  concern- 
ing the  Holy  Ghost,  86. 

Epicureans  set  all  things  at  liberty,  and 
denied  Providence,  196. 

Epiphanius,  his  zeal  against  pictures  m 
churches,  308.  is  severe  upon  the 
Collyridians  for  worshipping  the  bless- 
ed Virgin,  328. 

Epistles,  why  the  general  ones  were  not 
so  early  and  universally  received,  as 
the  rest  of  the  New  Testament,  103. 


INDEX. 


559 


Erudition,  a  book  published,  called  the 
Necessary  Erudition,  a  preliminary 
to  compiling  the  Articles,  6. 

Eternity,  in  a  succession  of  determinate 
durations  impossible,  22.  of  the  world 
disproved,  23.    See  World. 

Eucharist,  in  what  sense  it  may  be 
called  a  sacrifice,  459.  the  virtue  of 
it,  to  whom  limited,  460.  the  doctrine 
of  the  church  of  Rome  concerning  it, 
ib.  wherein  the  virtue  of  it  consists, 
462.  the  importance  of  the  contro- 
versy concerning  it,  465.  See  Lord's 
Supper. 

Eugenius,  pope,  does  not  mention  bi- 
shops as  belonging  to  the  sacrament 
of  orders,  374. 

Evil,  whether  God  is  the  author  of  it, 
38.  the  being  of  it  in  the  world,  how 
accounted  for  by  the  Remonstrants, 
213.  liberty  cannot  be  asserted  with- 
out it,  223. 

Evil  spirits,  what  sort  of  miracles  they 
can  perform,  78. 

Eunapius,  his  spiteful  representation  of 
the  primitive  martyrs,  320. 

Eutychian  heresy  was  condemned  by 
the  Athanasian  Creed,  136.  what  it 
was,  431.  was  confuted  by  several 
ancient  writers,  ib.  the  force  of  their 
argument  explained,  432. 

Excommunication,  the  nature  of  it,  and 
its  necessity  in  some  cases,  477 — 483. 
ought  not  to  be  done  rashly,  483. 

Extreme  unction  no  sacrament,  378.  a 
passage  in  St.  James,  which  seems  to 
favoui  it,  explained,  379.  the  design 
and  effects  of  the  anointing  by  the 
apostles  and  elders,  380.  the  matter 
and  form  of  it  used  in  the  church  of 
Rome,  381.  was  not  reckoned  a  sa- 
crament in  the  first  ages  of  Christi- 
anity, 383.  when  and  by  whom  de- 
creed to  be  one,  ib.  argument  for  it 
answered,  384. 

F. 

Fabri  Honoratus,  the  doctrines  of  the 
church  of  Rome  examined  in  this 
book,  chiefly  taken  from  him,  375. 
his  character,  ib. 

Faith,  the  scriptures  the  only  and  com- 
plete rule  of  it,  89.  no  articles  of  it 
to  be  allowed,  but  what  are  proved 
from  scripture,  96.  an  objection 
against  this  answered,  97.  what  is 


meant  by  it  in  the  New  Testament, 
162.  how  it  justifies,  167.  is  indis- 
pensably necessary  to  salvation,  168, 
394.  the  nature  of  justifying  faith, 
168. 

Fall  of  Adam,  of  its  consequences  to 
him,  and  his  posterity,  140,  149,  150. 
See  Sin. 

Fasting,  times  of  fasting,  appointing 
them  in  the  power  of  the  church,  265. 
when  joined  with  prayer,  its  efficacy, 
369.  in  what  cases  of  no  avail,  370. 
the  absurdity  of  pretending  to  expiate 
sins  by  it,  ib. 

Fate,  the  Stoics  put  all  things,  even  the 
gods  themselves,  under  it,  196.  this 
downright  atheism,  ib.  was  main- 
tained by  the  Essens,  ib.  is  a  pre- 
vailing opinion  among  the  Mahome- 
tans, ib. 

Figures  in  scripture,  how  to  be  ex- 
plained, 112.  were  frequently  made 
use  of  by  Christ,  409.  Augustine's 
rule  for  explaining  them,  423. 

Fire  of  purgatory,  the  proof  alleged  for 
it  examined,  293. 

Forgiving  injuries,  the  necessity  and 
extent  of  it,  190. 

Forms  were  settled  very  early  in  most 
churches,  2.  these  not  all  in  the  same 
words,  ib.    See  Creed. 

Francfurt,  council,  condemned  the  Ni- 
cene  council,  together  with  the  wor- 
ship of  images,  309. 

Free-will,  wherein  it  consists,  152.  Seo 
Liberty. 

Frumentius  preached  to  the  Indians  be- 
fore he  was  ordained,  340. 

Future  state  was  looked  for  under  the 
Old  Testament,  126.  but  is  brought 
to  a  much  clearer  light  by  the  gospel, 
127. 

G. 

Gehenna,  hell  known  by  that  name 
among  the  Jews,  72. 

Gelasius,  pope,  condemns  the  comma* 
nicating  in  one  kind,  only  as  sacri- 
lege, 456. 

General  Council.    See  Council. 

Gentiles,  their  prejudices  against  Chris- 
tianity, 76. 

German  and  Lupus  reform  Britain 
from  Pelagianism,  197.  a  legendary 
miracle  said  to  be  wrought  by  them, 
ib. 


560 


INDEX. 


Gnostics  pretended  to  traditions  from 
the  apostles,  96.  their  opinion  con- 
cerning the  soul,  196.  were  detested 
by  all  Christians  for  idolatry,  307. 

God,  his  existence  proved  from  the  uni- 
versal consent  of  mankind,  20.  ob- 
jections that  some  nations  do  not 
believe  a  Deity,  and  that  it  is  not 
the  same  belief  amongst  them  all, 
answered,  ib.  the  visible  world,  and 
history  of  nations,  prove  a  Deity,  21 
— 25.  whence  the  notion  of  a  plu- 
rality of  gods  might  take  its  rise,  21. 
the  argument  from  miracles  consi- 
dered, 25.  and  from  the  idea  of  God, 
ib.  this  not  the  most  conclusive,  26. 
must  be  eternal,  and  necessarily  ex- 
ists, ib.  his  existence  ought  not  to  be 
proved  from  scripture,  27.  his  unity 
proved  from  the  order  of  the  world, 
and  from  the  idea  of  infinite  perfec- 
tion, 27.  from  the  scriptures,  ib.  is 
without  body  or  parts,  28.  the  origin 
of  the  notion  of  a  good  and  bad  god, 
29.  the  world  not  a  body  to  God,  ib. 
the  outward  manifestations  and  bodily 
parts  ascribed  to  God  in  scripture, 
how  to  be  understood,  30.  no  succes- 
sive acts  in  God,  31,  33.  question 
Concerning  his  immanent  acts,  31.  is 
without  passions,  ib.  the  meaning  of 
scriptures,  which  ascribe  these  to  him, 
ib.  is  of  infinite  power,  32.  objections 
to  this  answered,  ib.  wherein  his 
wisdom  consists,  and  a  twofold  dis- 
tinction of  it,  ib.  true  ideas  of  his 
goodness  of  great  importance,  33. 
wherein  it  consists,  ib.  and  how  limit- 
ed, 34.  has  a  power  of  creating  and 
annihilating,  32,  35.  is  the  preserver 
of  all  things,  35.  this  a  consequence 
of  his  being  infinitely  perfect,  37.  ob- 
jection against  his  providence  answer- 
ed, 38.  whether  he  does  immediately 
produce  all  things,  ib.  or  is  the  author 
of  evil,  39.  all  agree  that  the  Father 
is  truly  God,  48.  just  notions  of  him 
the  fundamental  article  of  all  reli- 
gion, 48,  131.  the  best  manner  of 
framing  an  idea  of  him,  48.  is  the 
only  proper  object  of  adoration,  56. 
in  what  sense  called  the  God  of  Abra- 
ham, &c.  long  after  they  were  dead, 
126.  image  of  God  in  which  man  was 
created,  wherein  it  consisted,  143. 
distinction  between  the  methods  of  his 


goodness  and  the  strictness  of  his  jus- 
tice, 174.  the  doctrine  of  the  church  of 
Rome  concerning  our  love  of  God, 
177.  his  view  in  forming  his  decrees, 
194.  what  meant  by  his  hardening 
Pharaoh's  heart,  219.  the  impiety  of 
speaking  too  boldly  of  him,  223. 

Goods,  the  unreasonableness  of  a  com- 
munity of  them,  513. 

Good  Works.  See  Works. 

Gospel  condem  is  all  idolatry,  57.  the 
design  of  it,  76.  refines  upon  the  law 
of  Moses,  132. 

Government  was  settled  in  the  church 
by  the  apostles,  334.  the  necessity  of 
church  government,  335. 

Grace,  assisting  and  preventing  grace, 
asserted  and  proved  from  scripture, 
155 — 159.  a  probable  conjecture  con- 
cerning the  conveyance  of  actual 
grace,  156.  the  efficacy  and  extent  of 
it,  158,  206,  209,220. 

Greek  church,  wherein  they  differed 
from  the  Latins,  86. 

Gregory  I.,  pope,  condemns  worship, 
ping  of  images,  309.  the  I  Id  de- 
clares for  them,  ib.  the  IXth  first 
ordered  the  adoration  of  the  Host  as 
now  practised,  439.  Gregory  the 
Great,  his  violent  opposition  to  the 
title  of  Universal  Bishop,  501. 

H. 

Head  of  the  church,  in  what  sense 
Christ  is  the  only  head  of  the  church, 
507.  and  in  what  sense  the  king  is 
called  the  head,  ib. 

Hebrews,  why  the  authority  of  the  Epis- 
tle to  them  was  doubted,  102.  proofs 
of  its  authority,  103. 

Heliodorus,  a  bishop,  author  of  the  first 
romance,  472.  proposed  that  clergy- 
men should  live  from  their  wives,  ib. 

Hell,  three  different  senses  of  it,  10.  of 
Christ's  descent  into  hell,  69.  See 
Christ.  1  he  gates  of  hell  shall  not 
prevail  against  the  church,  the  mean- 
ing of  this,  2G0. 

Henry  VIII.  several  steps  towards  re- 
formation, and  the  foundation  of  the 
Articles  were  laid  in  his  time,  6. 

Heresies  occasioned  the  enlargement  of 
Creeds,  4. 

Heretics,  several  of  them  pretended  to 
traditions  from  the  apostles,  96.  when 


INDEX. 


5G1 


the  doctrine  of  extirpating  them  took 
place,  442. 

Hezekiah  commended  for  breaking  the 
brazen  serpent,  317. 

Hilarion,  a  fabulous  story  of  his  body 
and  tomb,  318. 

Hobbes  grafted  fate  and  absolute  ne- 
cessity on  the  Supralapsarian  hypo- 
thesis, 204. 

Holiness  of  life,  not  a  note  of  the 
church,  240.  a  twofold  sense  of  holi- 
ness in  scripture,  400. 

Holy  Ghost,  or  Holy  Spirit,  what  meant 
by  it  in  the  Old  and  New  Testament, 
84.  is  properly  a  distinct  person  in  the 
Trinity,  85.  curiosities  about  his  pro- 
cession to  be  avoided,  ib.  decrees  of 
several  churches  and  councils  about  it, 

86.  the  doctrine  of  the  church  of  Eng- 
land concerning  it,  ib.  is  truly  God, 

87.  his  testimony  not  a  sufficient  ar- 
gument to  prove  the  canon  of  the 
scriptures,  101.  of  the  sin  against  the 
Holy  Ghost,  188,  190.  '  It  seemed 
good  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  to  us,' 
the  meaning  of  this,  281.  of  the 
form,  '  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost,' 
in  ordination,  495. 

Homilies  of  the  Church  of  England, 
their  names,  491.  when  and  on  what 
account  they  were  composed,  ib.  the 
meaning  of  the  approbation  of  them, 
492.  ought  to  be  read  by  all  who 
subscribe  them,  ib.  the  meaning  of 
their  being  said  to  be  necessary  for 
these  timet,  ib. 

Honorius,  pope,  was  condemned  as  a 
Monothelite,  251,  252.  the  II  Id  first 
appointed  the  adoration  of  the  Host, 
439. 

Host,  adoration  of  it,  by  whom  first  in- 
troduced, 439.  is  plain  idolatry,  445. 
argument  for  it  answered,  446.  re- 
serving, carrying  it  about,  and  the 
elevation  of  it,  without  foundation  in 
scripture  or  primitive  practice,  447, 
448. 

Huss,  John,  met  with  great  cruelty  from 
the  church  of  Rome,  458. 

L 

Jarae9  I.,  king,  his  declaration  concern- 
ing the  subscription  of  the  Arti- 
cles, 9. 

Jansenius  published  a  3ystem  of  St. 


Austin's  doctrine,  201.  on  what  ac- 
count his  book  was  condemned  at 
Rome,  202. 

Iberians  were  converted  by  their  king 
before  he  was  baptized,  340. 

Idolatry,  the  necessity  of  guarding 
against  it  at  the  establishment  of 
Christianity,  4.  what  makes  it  a  great 
sin,  34,  131.  the  Jews  were  particu- 
larly jealous  of  every  thing  that 
savoured  of  it,  53.  the  design  both 
of  the  Jewish  and  Christian  religion 
to  banish  it,  57.  by  what  means  the 
seed  of  Abraham  were  preserved  from 
it,  93.  the  nature  and  immorality  of 
it,  131,  302.  general  rules  concern- 
ing it,  301.  several  kinds  of  it  among 
the  heathens,  302.  was  very  strictly 
prohibited  among  the  Jews,  303.  this 
owing  chiefly  to  the  Egyptian  idola- 
try, ib.  the  expostulations  of  the 
prophets  against  it,  ib.  how  practised 
by  the  Israelites,  304.  is  contrary  to 
the  nature  and  perfections  of  God, 
306.  St.  Paul  condemns  the  idolatry 
of  the  Greeks  and  Romans,  ib.  the 
refined  notions  of  the  Athenians  con- 
cerning it,  ib.  was  much  condemned 
by  the  writers  of  the  first  four  centu- 
ries, 307. 

Idols,  enchantment  in  sacrifices  offered 
to  them,  413.  Christians  not  to  par- 
take of  them,  414. 

Jebu  rewarded,  though  acting  with  a  bad 
design,  174. 

Jerome,  St.  once  admired,  but  after- 
wards opposed,  Origen's  doctrine, 
197.  maintained  that  no  Christian 
would  finally  perish,  292.  set  a  high 
value  on  relics,  316.  but  disclaims  the 
worshipping  of  them,  ib.  said  that  the 
souls  of  the  saints  might  be  in  several 
places  at  once,  320. 

Jerom  of  Prague  suffered  cruelly  by  the 
Roman  catholics,  458. 

Jesuits,  wherein  they  differed  from  the 
Semipelagians,  199.  what  gave  them 
great  merit  at  Rome,  200. 

Jews,  their  aversion  to  idolatry  and 
Christianity,  52.  did  not  charge  Chris- 
tianity with  idolatry,  58.  their  notions 
of  God,  59.  their  notion  of  the  state 
of  the  soul  after  death,  71,  291.  ex- 
pected the  Mcssias  to  be  a  conqueror, 
76.  95.  were  always  rebellious,  II K). 
wherein  the  Jewish  and  Christian  re- 

O 


562 


INDE  X. 


ligions  differed  from  those  of  the  hea- 
then, 108.  their  ohjections  against 
the  authority  of  the  New  Testament, 
122.  looked  for  more  than  transitory 
promises,  126.  believed  that  some 
sins  cannot  be  expiated  by  sacrifices, 
ib.  of  their  ceremonial,  Judiciary,  and 
moral  laws,  128,  129.  imagined  that 
the  souls  of  all  mankind  were  in 
Adam's  body,  149.  the  distinguishing 
point  of  the  Jewish  from  the  Christian 
religion,  211.  their  religion  had  a 
period  fixed  to  it,  248.  had  many  rites 
not  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament, 
265.  fell  into  great  errors,  though  the 
keepers  of  the  oracles  of  God,  270. 
believe  that  every  Jew  shall  have  a 
share  in  the  world  to  come,  291.  they 
prayed  only  to  God,  322.  of  the  office 
of  their  high  priest,  339.  had  their 
worship  in  a  known  tongue,  342.  their 
authority  over  their  children,  398. 
were  strictly  prohibited  the  eating  of 
blood,  405.  their  objections  to  Chris- 
tianity, 426 

Images,  the  worshipping  even  the  true 
God  by  them  expressly  forbidden,  304. 
in  churches  when  introduced,  308. 
great  debates  about  them,  309.  foun- 
dation of  image-worship  laid  by  the 
council  of  Nice,  ib.  is  carried  much 
further  by  the  modern  church  of 
Rome,  310.  those  of  the  Egyptians 
and  Chineses  less  scandalous,  311. 
the  decision  of  the  council  of  Trent 
in  this  matter,  313.  reason  for  en- 
larging on  this  subject,  ib.  the  argu- 
ment in  favour  of  them  drawn  from 
the  Cherubims  answered,  314.  the 
sum  of  the  arguments  against  them, 
ib.  the  corruptions  occasioned  by 
worshipping  them,  315. 

Immaterial  substance,  proof  of  its  being 
in  us,  39.  its  nature  and  operations,  ib. 
objections  against  it  answered,  40. 
there  may  be  other  intellectual  sub- 
stances which  have  no  bodies,  41. 
these  beings  were  created  by  God, 
and  are  not  rays  of  his  essence,  ib. 

Imposition  of  hands,  a  necessary  rite  in 
giving  orders,  372. 

Indulgences,  the  doctrine  and  practice 
of  the  church  of  Rome  concerning 
them,  298.  when  introduced  and  es- 
tablished, 299.  the  abuse  of  them  gave 


rise  to  the  Reformation,  ib.  the  pre- 
tences for  them  examined,  300.  no 
foundation  for  them  in  scripture  or  in 
the  first  ten  centuries,  ib.  the  natural 
ill  tendency  of  them,  301.  See  Par- 
dons. 

Industry  of  man,  of  great  advantage  to 
the  earth  and  air,  36. 

Infallibility,  proofs  of  it  ought  to  be  very- 
express,  234.  19  not  to  be  inferred 
from  the  necessity  of  it,  ib.  general 
considerations  against  it,  235.  miracles, 
though  necessary,  not  pretended  to 
support  it,  236.  the  Jewish  hid  a 
better  claim  to  it  than  the  Roman 
church,  ib.  reasons  why  it  cannot  be 
proved  from  scripture,  238.  a  circle 
not  to  be  admitted,  239.  notes  of  the 
church  no  proof  of  it,  ib.  argument 
against  the  infallibility  both  of  popes 
and  general  councils,  255.  proofs  from 
scripture  answered,  258.  the  impor- 
tance of  this  controversy,  262.  no 
determination  where  it  is  fixed,  277. 

Infants  are  by  the  law  of  nature  and  na- 
tions in  the  power  of  their  parents, 
399.  argument  from  circumcision  for 
infant  baptism,  ib.  this  agreeable  to 
the  institution  of  Christ,  400,  401. 

Infinite,  time  nor  number  cannot  be  in- 
finite, 22.  difference  betwixt  an  infi- 
nite succession  of  time,  and  composi- 
tion of  matter,  23. 

Injuries,  our  Saviour's  words  concerning 
them  explained,  509. 

Innocent  I.,  pope,  his  Epistle  advanced 
to  favour  the  chrism,  does  not  prove 
it,  382.  the  VII  Ith  granted  license  to 
celebrate  the  Lord's  supper  without 
wine  in  Norway,  454.  the  IVth  said 
that  all  might  have  the  cup  who  were 
cautious  that  none  of  it  was  spilt,  457. 

Insects,  the  argument  for  chance  from 
the  production  of  them  considered, 
24. 

Inspiration,  a  general  notion  of  it,  110. 
several  kinds  and  degrees  of  it,  ib. 
different  styles  in  those  degrees,  111. 
distinguished  from  enthusiasm  and 
imposture  by  miracles  and  prophecy, 
ib.  of  individual  words,  or  strict  order 
of  time,  not  necessary,  ib. 

John,  St.  the  passage  concerning  the 
Trinity  in  his  first  Epistle  doubtful, 
46.  the  beginning  of  his  Gospel  tx~ 


INDEX. 


563 


plained,  52.  this  confirmed  by  the 
state  of  the  world  at  that  time,  53. 

Jonas  of  Orleans  wrote  against  image- 
worship,  310. 

Josephus,  his  account  of  the  books  of 
the  Old  Testament,  113. 

Josias,  what  those  books  of  the  law 
were  which  were  discovered  in  his 
time,  108. 

Irenaeus,  his  care  to  prove  the  authority 
of  the  Gospel,  102. 

Judgment,  private,  ought  to  be  allowed 
in  religious  matters,  246. 

Julian  the  Apostate,  though  he  re- 
proaches the  Christians  for  baptism, 
does  not  charge  them  with  the  absur- 
dities of  transubstantiation,  427.  ob- 
jected that  the  Christians  had  no 
sacrifices,  463. 

Just,  or  justified,  two  senses  of  these 
words,  160. 

Justification,  several  mistaken  notions 
of  it,  123.  whence  they  proceeded,  ib. 
the  law  of  Moses  not  sufficient  to  jus- 
tify, 160.  the  condition  of  our  justifica- 
tion, 161, 164.  the  difference  between 
St.  Paul  and  St.  James  on  this  sub- 
ject explained,  162,  163.  inherent 
holiness  not  the  cause  of  justification, 
166.  what  we  ought  to  believe  con- 
cerning it,  and  the  proper  use  to  be 
made  of  this  doctrine,  169. 

K. 

Keys,  of  the  power  of  them  committed 
to  St.  Peter,  260. 

Kingdom  of  heaven,  what  meant  by  it 
in  the  gospel.  260. 

Kings,  their  authority,  founded  on 
scripture,  502.  and  practice  of  the 
primitive  church,  503.  this  does  not 
depend  on  their  religion,  506.  can- 
not make  void  the  laws  of  God,  ib. 

King  of  England  declared  head  of  the 
church,  497.  this  claimed  very  early 
by  them.  504. 

Kiss  of  Peace,  a  practice  of  the  aposto- 
lic times,  why  let  fall,  265. 

L. 

Laity,  were  of  great  use  to  the  church 
in  times  of  persecution,  482.  had  a 
right  to  be  consulted  in  the  decisions 
of  the  primitive  church,  ib.  how  far 


required  to  submit  to  the  clergy,  482, 
483. 

Languages,  the  gift  of  them  to  the 
apostles,  a  strong  proof  of  Chris- 
tianity, 75. 

Laodicea  council,  their  catalogue  of  the 
canonical  books,  114.  why  the  book 
of  the  Revelation  was  not  in  it,  ib. 
condemned  those  who  invocated  an- 
gels, 324. 

Latria,  a  degree  of  religious  worship, 
the  doctrine  and  practice  of  the 
church  of  Rome  concerning  it,  311, 
312,  313. 

Laud,  archbishop,  falsely  accused  with 
corrupting  the  doctrine  of  the  church, 
18,  19.  espoused  the  Arminian  tenets, 
204. 

Law,  not  binding  the  consciences  cf 
those  of  a  different  persuasion,  6,  7. 
in  what  sense  the  laws  of  the  Jews 
are  said  to  be  statutes  for  ever,  122. 
why  not  always  observed,  123.  errors 
that  flowed  from  mistaking  the  word 
Law  in  the  New  Testament,  ib.  the 
design  of  the  ceremonial  law,  128.  it 
is  now  abrogated,  129.  judiciary  laws 
of  the  Jews  belonged  only  to  them, 
ib.  what  is  meant  by  the  moral  law, 
130.  laws  of  the  church  in  matters 
indifferent  are  not  unalterable,  488. 

Lay  administrations  in  the  church  not 
lawful,  333—336.  lay  baptism,  how 
introduced,  396. 

Liberius,  pope,  condemned  Athanasius, 
and  subscribed  to  Semi-Arianism, 
251. 

Liberty,  several  opinions  about  it.  152, 
153.  wherein  it  consists,  153.  the 
notions  of  the  Stoics,  Epicureans, 
Philosophers,  and  Jews,  concerning 
it,  195,  196.  that  of  the  Fathers, 
196,  197.  what  coaction  is  consistent 
with  it,  210.  the  Remonstrants'  no- 
tion of  it,  214.  several  advantages 
and  temptations  that  attend  the  dif- 
ferent opinions,  222.  See  Predes- 
tination. 

Limbus  Infantum,  a  supposed  partition 

in  hell  for  children  that  die  without 

baptism,  147. 
Limbus    Patrum,  what,   71.  without 

foundation  in  scripture,  ib. 
Lombard,  Peter,  the  first  that  reckons 

seven  sacraments,  351. 
Lord's  supper,  the  change  made  in  the 

o  2 


564 


I  N  D  E  X. 


Article  concerning  it  in  queen  Eliza- 
beth's reign,  402,  403.  the  import- 
ance of  the  controversy  with  the 
church  of  Rome  concerning  it,  403, 
415.  the  words  of  the  institution  ex- 
plained, 403 — 408.  the  design  of  it, 
410.  who  are  unworthy  receivers  of 
it,  411.  the  danger  of  this,  411, 
450.  of  the  good  effects  of  worthy 
receiving,  412.  what  meant  by  the 
communion  of  the  body  and  blood 
of  Christ,  ib.  of  receiving  it  in  both 
kinds,  452. 
Lucifer,  the  common  notion  of  his  sin, 
55. 

Lucretius  owns  that  the  world  had  a 
beginning,  23.  his  argument  for 
chance  from  the  production  of  in- 
sects, answered,  24. 

Luther,  what  determined  him  to  em- 
brace St.  Austin's  opinions,  199. 
whether  he  asserted  free-will,  202. 

Lutherans  have  universally  gone  into 
the  Semipelagian  opinions,  202. 
their  doctrine  of  consubstantiation, 
444.  wherein  it  differs  from  transub- 
stantiation,  ib. 

Lie,  what  is  the  lowest,  and  what  the 
highest,  act  of  that  kind,  301. 

M. 

Maccabee9,  the  first  book  commended, 
291.  the  second  of  little  authority, 
ib.  the  argument  in  favour  of  purga- 
tory taken  from  this  book  confuted, 
292. 

Macedonians  denied  the  divinity  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  86.  this  heresy  con- 
demned by  the  Athanasian  Creed, 
135,  136. 

Mahomet  denied  the  death  of  Christ,  64. 

Mahometans,  one  sect  assert  liberty, 
but  the  generality  fate,  196.  maintain 
that  men  of  all  religions  are  equally 
acceptable  to  God,  228. 

Magistrate,  the  extent  of  his  authority 
in  sacred  things,  485. 

Man,  though  all  resemble  one  another, 
yet  each  have  their  peculiar  differ- 
ence, 24. 

Manichees  denied  the  authority  of  the 
Gospels,  102.  scarce  deserved  the 
name  of  Christians,  104.  their  absurd 
opinions,  ib.  concerning  the  Old  and 
New  Testament,  116.  of  original  sin, 


142.  did  not  use  wine  in  the  sacra- 
ment, 456. 

Marcionites,  their  opinions,  102,  196. 
are  opposed  by  Origen,  196. 

Marriage,  in  what  degrees,  and  why, 
unlawful,  130.  why  it  ought  to  be  for 
life,  ib.  the  meaning  of  that  passage, 
'  Such  as  marry  do  well,  but  such  as 
marry  not  do  better,'  179,  474.  is  no 
sacrament,  374.  in  what  sense  a  m\  s- 
tery,  ib.  the  bad  consequences  of  the 
Romish  doctrine  on  this  subject,  375. 
is  dissolved  by  adultery,  377.  the 
practice  of  the  church  in  this  matter, 
ib.  whether  a  Christian  may  marry 
an  infidel,  399.  that  of  the  clergy 
lawful,  467.  is  recommended  equally 
to  all  ranks  of  men,  468.  is  one  of 
the  rights  of  human  nature,  469.  se- 
veral of  the  aposiles  and  fathers  of 
the  primitive  church  were  married,  ib. 

Martyrs,  the  regard  due  to  their  bodies, 
315.  this  being  carried  too  far  de- 
generates into  superstition,  316. 

Mass,  the  absurdity  of  saying  masses  for 
the  dead,  296.  this  was  the  occasion 
of  great  endowments,  297.  as  prac- 
tised in  the  church  of  Rome  not 
known  in  the  primitive  ages,  464. 
what  was  understood  by  it  in  the  pri- 
mitive church,  ib.  solitary  masses  not 
known  to  them.  ib.  the  bad  effects  of 
them,  297,  465. 

Matter,  of  the  divisibility  of  it,  22.  a 
difference  between  the  succession  of 
time  and  the  divisibility  of  matter, 
23.  is  a  passive  principle,  25,  49.  is 
not  capable  of  thought,  39.  objec- 
tions to  this  answered,  40.  how  the 
mind  acts  on  it,  we  cannot  distinctly 
conceive,  ib.  had  its  first  motion 
from  the  Eternal  Mind,  49.  the  great 
influence  of  the  animal  spirits  on  it, 
78. 

St.  Matthew's  and  St.  Mark's  Gospel, 
Papias,  his  account  of  them,  102. 

Maurus  Rabanus  wrote  against  the  cor- 
poral presence,  440. 

Mean,  what  meant  by  it,  394. 

Melito,  bishop  of  Sardis,  his  account  of 
the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  113. 

Memories  of  the  martyrs,  what,  318, 
319. 

Merit  of  congruity,  what  meant  by  it, 
175.  there  is  no  such  merit,  ib.  See 
Works. 


INDEX. 


565 


Messias,  the  revelation  those  before  and 
under  the  law  had  of  one,  117.  Jews 
have  long  had,  and  still  have,  an  ex- 
pectation of  him,  ib.  proofs  of  the 
Messias  from  the  Old  Testament, 
117 — 121.  Daniel  very  express  in 
this  matter,  121.  the  proofs  summed 
up,  122.  the  objections  of  the  Jews 
answered,  ib. 

Metaphor,  no  good  foundation  for  ar- 
gument, 280,  288. 

Middle  knowledge,  what  meant  by  it, 
32,  33.  200. 

Millennium,  an  account  of  it,  290. 

Mind.    See  Soul. 

Ministers,  their  unworthiness  hinders 
not  the  effect  of  the  sacraments,  386. 
their  intention  not  necessary  to  the 
essence  of  a  sacrament,  387.  ought 
to  be  censured  for  iheir  faults,  389. 

Miracles  well  attested  a  proof  of  the 
being  of  a  God,  25.  a  distinct  idea 
of  them,  49.  the  nature  and  de- 
sign of  them,  77,  422.  how  to  know 
if  they  are  performed  by  good  or  evil 
spirits,  77,  78.  of  those  wrought  by 
Moses,  106.  the  spiteful  construction 
put  upon  those  of  our  Saviour  by  the 
Jews,  188.  are  necessary  to  prove  infal- 
libility, 234.  the  instruments  of  them 
not  to  be  superstitiously  used,  317. 
wore  not  to  be  attempted  without  an 
inward  impulse,  380.  are  an  appeal 
to  our  senses,  420.  those  that  are 
contrary  to  our  senses  not  to  be  be- 
lieved, ib.  the  absurdity  of  those  pre- 
tended in  the  church  of  Rome,  415, 
423. 

Mi^als,  those  of  the  Gallican  church 
different  from  the  Roman,  490. 

Molina  and  Fonseca  invented  the  mid- 
dle or  mean  science,  200.  what  meant 
by  it,  ib. 

Moral  evil,  how  reconciled  with  provi- 
dence, 38.  the  occasion  of  physical 
evil,  ib. 

Moral  Law.    See  Commandments. 

Morality,  the  sources  of  it,  130.  two 
orders  of  moral  precepts,  ib.  religion 
the  foundation  of  it,  131. 

Moses,  the  design  of  the  Mosaical  re- 
ligion, 57.  God's  design  in  ordering 
him  to  put  things  in  writing,  93,  94. 
his  miracles  a  proof  of  his  divine 
mission,  106.  the  design  and  autho- 
rity of  his  writings,  ib.  his  laws  not 


unalterable,  1 23.  of  the  covenant  he 
made  between  God  and  the  Israelites, 
124.  the  several  things  he  supposed 
known,  ib.  the  Jews  had  better  rea- 
son to  invoke  him,  than  Christians 
have  any  saint  under  the  gospel,  322. 
Mysteries  that  contradict  reason  are  not 
to  be  believed,  421. 


N. 

Natalitia,  the  day  of  a  saint's  death,  so 

called,  295. 
Nature,  though  we  cannot  fix  the  bounds 

of  it,  we  can  know  what  goes  beyond 

it,  77. 

Nazianzen,  his  complaints  of  councils, 
276. 

Necessary,  whether  God's  acts  are  so, 
30. 

Necessary  Erudition,  the  title  of  a  book, 
published  at  the  beginning  of  the  Re- 
formation, 6. 

Necessary  existence  must  belong  to 
God,  26. 

Necessity  justifies  the  breaking  through 
the  rules  of  worship,  339. 

Nectarius,  bishop  of  Constantinople, 
what  occasioned  him  to  forbid  con- 
fession, 363. 

Negative,  why  to  be  maintained  in 
points  of  faith,  and  not  in  matters  of 
fact,  or  theories  of  nature,  6. 

Nestorius,  his  doctrine  concerning  the 
person  of  Christ,  63,  64.  concerning 
the  Blessed  Virgin,  320.  his  heresies 
are  condemned  in  the  Athanasian 
Creed,  135,  136. 

Nice,  council,  composed  their  Creed 
out  of  many  former  ones,  3.  what 
they  determined  concerning  the  Tri- 
nity, 47.  asserted  the  worship  of 
images,  309.  was  rejected  in  Eng- 
land on  that  account,  310.  the  history 
and  acts  of  that  council  give  a  bad 
opinion  of  them,  ib.  the  nature  of 
that  worship  they  allowed  to  images, 
311. 

Nicene  Creed,  an  account  of  it,  135. 
Nicolaitans,  a  name  of  reproach  given 

to  the  married  clergy,  473. 
Notes,  the  pretended  ones  of  the  true 

church  examined,  239. 
Novatians  opposed  the  receiving  the 

lapsed  iuto  the  church,  189,  362. 


566 


INDEX. 


o. 

Oaths,  ill  and  rashly  made,  ought  not  to 
be  kept,  475.  what  an  oath  is,  515. 
a.  false  one,  what,  ib.  oaths  were  very 
early  used,  516.  are  lawful  among 
Christians,  517.  objections  against 
them  answered,  ib.  all  vain  and  rash 
swearing  condemned,  518.  when  and 
in  what  manner  they  ought  to  be 
taken,  ib. 

Oil  began  very  early  to  be  used  in  sa- 
cred rites,  353,  381.  what  probably 
introduced  it,  ib.  that  used  by  the 
apostles  was  attended  with  a  miracu- 
lous effect,  378,  379.  th«  form  of 
applying  it  in  the  church  of  Rome, 
381.  this  is  of  a  modern  date,  382. 
argument  from  the  fitness  of  it  an- 
swered. 384. 

Old  Testament.    See  Scriptures. 

Opinions,  a  rule  to  be  observed  in  repre- 
senting different  opinions,  151.  in 
what  case  opinion  is  no  excuse  for 
sin,  446. 

Opus  Operatum,  or  the  act  of  receiving 
the  sacraments  not  sufficient  to  con- 
vey grace,  347. 
Orders,  the  different  ranks  of  them  in 
the  church,  371.  no  sacrament,  ib. 
what  the  essentials  of  them  are,  372. 
validity  of  those  of  the  church  of 
England,  494.  See  Pastors. 
Ordination  by  laymen  valid,  340.  the 
form  of  it  in  the  Greek  church,  372. 
in  the  church  of  Rome,  373.  several 
regulations  about  them,  494.  the 
phrase,  '  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost," 
which  is  used  in  them,  explained  and 
vindicated,  495. 
Origen,  his  care  in  settling  the  canon 
of  the  New  Testament,  102.  his 
opinion  of  the  soul,  free-will,  and 
providence,  196.  his  doctrine  was 
much  followed,  ib. 
Original  sin,  various  opinions  about  it, 
140 — 142.  what  the  scriptures  teach 
concerning  it,  142.  how  it  may  be 
conveyed,  143, 144.  the  consequences 
of  it  more  than  a  natural  death,  144. 
the  effects  of  it  not  quite  taken  away 
by  baptism,  146. 
Overal,  bishop,  espoused  the  Armi- 
Bian  tenets,  204. 


P. 

Pagans  not  excused  from  idolatry,  be- 
cause they  worshipped  the  true  God 
under  their  idols,  446. 

Papias,  who  conversed  with  the  apos- 
tles, his  account  of  the  Gospels  o' 
St.  Matthew  and  St.  Mark,  102. 

Papists.    See  Church  of  Rome. 

Parable,  consequences  to  be  drawn  from 
the  scope  of  them,  and  not  from  par- 
ticular phrases,  288. 

Paradise,  what  notion  the  Jews  had  of 
it,  72. 

Pardon  of  sin,  the  conditions  of  it,  33. 
the  doctrine  of  the  church  of  Rome 
concerning  pardons,  299.  the  abuse 
and  bad  consequences  of  it,  182,298. 
this  gave  rise  to  the  Reformation, 

299.  the  pretence  of  their  being  only 
an  exemption  from  penance  examined, 

300.  is  without  foundation  in  scrip- 
ture or  antiquity,  ib. 

Parents,  their  authority  over  their  chil- 
dren by  the  Jewish  constitution,  398. 
this  agreeable  to  Christianity  and  the 
law  of  nature,  399.  their  obligation 
more  particularly  to  take  care  of 
their  souls,  400,  401. 

Paris  council  condemned  image-wor- 
ship, 310. 

Passion  defined,  31.  in  what  sense  as- 
cribed to  God,  ib.  its  influence,  153. 

Passover,  the  original  and  design  of  its 
institution,  403.  a  type  of  our  de- 
liverance by  the  Messias,  404. 

Pastors,  a  succession  of  them  ought  to 
be  in  the  church,  333.  this  to  con- 
tinue till  the  end  of  the  world,  334. 
and  did  not  belong  to  the  infancy  of 
Christianity  only,  335.  the  danger  of 
taking  this  office,  without  a  due  vo- 
cation, 335,  336.  who  are  lawfully 
called,  336.  lawful  authority,  what, 
337.  where  the  jurisdiction  is  fixed 
in  the  church  of  Rome,  339.  what 
may  be  done  in  cases  of  necessity,  ib. 
instances  of  lay  preachers,  ib. 

Patriarchal  authority  of  the  see  of 
Rome  is  dissolved  with  that  empire, 
502. 

Pelagius,  his  opinion  of  original  sin, 
140.  objections  against  it,  ib.  his 
opinion  of  liberty,  154,  197.  his  cha- 
racter, 197.  is  opposed  by  several 
learned  men,  ib.  had  many  followers 
in  Britain,  ib. 


INDEX. 


567 


Penance,  a  long  one  imposed  on  sinners 
in  the  primitive  times,  182.  whence 
the  word  is  derived,  355.  the  several 
acts  of  it,  ib.  no  characters  of  a  sa- 
crament in  it,  357.  the  doctrine  of 
the  church  of  Rome  concerning  it,  ib. 
no  sacrament,  because  of  a  modern 
date,  ib.  many  canons  about  it,  363. 
the  ancient  discipline  slackened,  ib. 
whether  penance  is  to  be  performed 
before  absolution,  363.  the  absurdity 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  church  of 
Rome  on  this  subject,  ib.  what  is 
the  true  penance  enjoined  by  the 
gospel,  369. 

Perfection,  no  councils  of  perfection  in 
the  New  Testament,  177.  a  passage 
in  the  nineteenth  of  St.  Matthew, 
which  seems  to  imply  this,  explained, 
178.  in  what  sense  we  are  called  to 
be  perfect  as  God  and  Christ,  185. 
the  scripture  represents  the  best  of 
men  as  imperfect,  ib.  this  is  no  en- 
couragement to  live  in  sin,  ib. 

Perseverance,  a  necessary  consequence 
of  absolute  decrees,  211. 

Person,  resulting  from  the  conjunction 
of  two  natures,  what,  62.  what  meant 
by  Christ's  having  one  person,  64. 
of  the  personality  of  the  Holy  Ghost, 
86. 

St.  Peter,  of  the  authority  committed  to 
him,  259.  had  no  superiority,  499. 
was  withstood  by  St.  Paul,  ib. 

Pharisees,  asserted  free-will  and  provi- 
dence, 196. 

Philosophers,  their  opinion  of  matter, 
29.  despised  revelation,  secret  assist- 
ances, and  miracles,  76.  their  account 
of  original  sin,  and  the  pre-existence 
of  souls,  142.  were  puzzled  about 
free-will  and  providence,  196.  were 
not  so  gross  idolaters  as  the  vulgar 
among  the  heathens.  302 

Philosophy  wa3  new  modelled  to  ex- 
plain transubstantiation,  424. 

Photinus,  his  opinion  of  Christ,  61. 

Pictures  in  churches  condemned  by  the 
council  of  Eliberis,  308.  soon  led  to 
idolatry,  309. 

Plato,  his  opinion  of  the  soul  after 
death,  291.  was  probably  the  source 
of  purgatory,  ib. 

Polycarp,  a  remarkable  passage  con- 
cerning his  body,  317. 


Popes,  when  they  took  the  full  power 
of  indulgences  to  themselves,  182. 
have  been  condemned  or  heresy, 
251,  252.  their  ambition,  forgeries, 
and  cruelties,  252.  of  their  pretended 
power  over  princes,  253.  arguments 
against  their  infallibility,  250,  254. 
alleged  proofs  of  it  answered,  259. 
several  absurdities  in  asserting  it,  ib. 
were  not  much  consulted  in  calling 
some  councils,  273.  of  the  pardons 
and  indulgences  granted  by  them,  298. 
have  been  the  most  wicked  succes- 
sion of  men  history  has  produced,  438. 
their  authority  was  pretended  to  long 
before  their  infallibility,  498.  their 
jurisdiction  founded  on  a  forgery, 
501.  the  extent  of  their  claim,  and 
by  whom  completed,  ib.  See  church 
of  Rome. 

Prayer,  what  outward  gestures  proper 
for  it,  57.  prayers  for  the  dead,  an 
early  practice  in  the  church,  294. 
what  gave  occasion  to  it,  ib.  Tertul- 
lian's  opinion  of  them,  295.  why  not 
practised  in  the  church  of  England, 
ib.  prayers  in  an  unknown  tongue. 
See  Worship,  the  great  efficacy  of 
prayer  with  right  dispositions,  370. 
the  absurdity  of  appointing  prayers 
as  a  task,  ib. 

Preaching  of  the  apostles,  the  nature  of 
it,  and  wherein  it  differed  from  that  of 
their  successors,  398. 

Precepts,  wherein  they  differ  from  the 
means  of  salvation,  394. 

Predestination,  the  controversy  about  it 
reduced  to  a  single  point,  193.  three 
main  questions  that  arise  out  of  it,  ib. 
various  opinions  about  it,  194.  his- 
tory of  the  controversy  concerning  it 
both  in  ancient  and  modern  times, 
195 — 204.  general  reflections  on  the 
subject,  221.  the  advantages  and  dis- 
advantages of  the  several  opinions, 
222.  points  in  which  all  are  agreed, 
224.  how  far  the  Article  has  deter- 
mined in  this  controversy,  225.  the 
design  of  the  cautions  added  to  it,  226. 
passages  in  the  Liturgy  concerning  it 
explained,  226,  227.  the  impartiality 
observed  in  treating  this  subject,  227. 

Prescience,  the  notions  of  the  Supralap- 
sarians  concerning  it,  205.  those  of 
the  Sublaparians,  212.  the  certainty 


568 


INDEX. 


of  it  is  not  causal,  but  eventual,  217. 
a  conditionate  prescience  agreeable  to 
scripture,  ib. 
Presence,  real,  the  meaning  of  it  as 
taught  by  the  church  of  England,  414. 
the  doctrine  of  the  church  of  Rome 
concerning  it,  415,  the  mystical  pre- 
sence is  acknowledged  by  them,  423. 
whence  the  controversy  about  the 
matter  of  the  presence  took  its  rise, 
439. 

Preventing  grace,  proof  of  it,  157.  of 
the  efficacy  and  extent  of  it,  158. 
See  Grace. 

Priest,  the  rules  concerning  the  nigh 
priest  of  the  Jews  dispensed  with  in 
cases  of  necessity,  339.  the  Jewish 
notion  of  a  priest,  461.  Christ  was 
both  a  Priest  and  Sacrifice,  ib. 

Primasius,  his  comparison  of  the  eucha- 
rist,  435. 

Private  judgment,  objections  against  it 
answered,  245, 246.  is  allowed  by  the 
church  of  Rome,  246. 
Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  we  can 
have  no  explicit  idea  of  it,  85.  yet 
ought  to  be  believed,  86. 
Promises,  whether  any  other  than  tem- 
porary under  the  old  dispensation,  124. 
those  that  were  national  only  tempo- 
rary, ib.   particular  persons  had  a 
prospect  of  a  future  state,  125.  proofs 
of  this,  125,  126. 
Prophecy,  not  a  mark  of  the  true  church, 
240.  of  those  relating  to  the  Messias, 
117—122. 
Prophetical  writings,  why  dark  and  ob- 
scure, 110,  111. 
Providence,  wherein  it  consists,  36,  37. 
how  the  difficulty  of  conceiving  it  may 
be  removed,  37.  objections  against  it 
considered,  38.  the  necessity  of  it,  ib. 
was  denied  by  the  Epicureans  and 
Sadducees,  196.  how  the  great  de- 
signs of  it  are  carried  on,  218. 
Punishments,  the  temporal  ones  of  good 
men,  no  argument  for  the  reserve  of 
others  in  another  state,  287.  the  law- 
fulness and  necessity  of  capital  punish- 
ments, 507.  the  measure  and  extent 
of  them,  508,  509. 
Purgatory,  the  doctrine  of  the  church  of 
Rome  concerning  it,  284.  no  founda- 
tion for  it  in  scripture,  286.  argu- 
ments for  it  considered,  287,  281. 


reasons  for  rejecting  it,  289.  a  middle 
state  not  warranted  from  scripture,  ib. 
different  opinions  about  the  state  after 
death,  290.  the  sources  of  this  doc- 
trine, 291.  argument  from  Maccabees 
examined,  ib.  a  passage  from  the  New 
Testament  alleged  in  favour  of  it, 
considered,  293.  not  known  for  the 
first  six  hundred  years,  294.  was  ne- 
ver received  by  the  Greek  church,  ib. 
is  a  remnant  of  paganism,  ib.  the  great 
abuses  of  this  doctrine,  297.  political 
reasons  are  not  sufficient  to  support 
it,  298. 

R. 

Radbert,  Paschase,  the  first  who  asserted 
and  explained  the  corporal  presence, 
440.  was  opposed  by  all  the  eminent 
men  of  his  time,  ib. 

Ratramne,  his  account  of  the  real  pre- 
sence, 44(1. 

Real  presence,  the  meaning  of  it  in  the 
doctrine  of  the  church  of  England, 
414.  the  absurdity  of  the  Romish 
doctrine  on  this  head,  415 — 424.  See 
Transubstantiation. 

Reconciliation  by  the  death  of  Christ  is 
not  absolute  and  without  conditions, 
68. 

Redemption,  the  Remonstrants'  notion 
of  its  extent,  218. 

Reformation,  why  many  wild  sects 
sprang  up  with  it,  4.  the  fundamental 
article  on  which  it  depends,  6.  the 
main  ground  upon  which  it  is  justified, 
100.  what  occasioned  the  first  begin- 
nings and  progress  of  it,  299. 

Reformed,  their  different  opinions  con- 
cerning free-will  and  predestination, 
202. 

Reformers,  reasons  for  their  descending 
into  so  many  particulars,  5.  put  Chris- 
tianity on  its  right  foundation,  167. 
those  in  England  were  Sublapsarians, 
202. 

Regeneration,  how  it  may  be  explained, 
156. 

Relics,  whence  a  superstitious  regard 
for  them  took  its  rise,  316.  the  con- 
sequence of  enshrining  of  them,  ib. 
were  appointed  to  be  venerated  by 
the  council  of  Trent,  ib.  have  no 
countenance  from  scripture,  317.  nor 
from  the  practice  of  the  first  Chris- 


INDEX. 


569 


tians,  ib.  no  use  made  of  them  in  the 
times  of  persecution,  when  most  ne- 
cessary, 318.  fables  and  forgeries  in- 
vented to  support  them,  318,  321.  the 
novelty  of  the  worship  of  them,  320. 
Religion,  just  notions  of  God  the  basis 
ofit,  34,  48,  131.  the  assistance  that 
revealed  religion  can  receive  from 
philosophy,  144.  the  design  of  natural 
and  revealed  religion,  154,  332.  the 
truths  of  religion  are  impressed  by  a 
divine  direction,  156.  Alcoran  asserts 
that  all  religions  are  equally  accept- 
able to  God,  228.  Hobbes  makes 
religion  and  law  to  be  the  same,  ib. 
the  hypothesis  of  those  who  would 
accommodate  their  religion  to  their 
secular  interest,  ib.  these  opinions 
condemned,  229 — 231.  all  religions 
are  not  alike,  232.  a  true  notion  of 
it,  369. 

Remission  of  sins,  the  notion  of  it  un- 
der the  old  dispensation,  126,  127. 
not  previous  to  justification,  163.  is 
an  act  of  God's  favour,  166,  167.  the 
nature  of  it  in  the  gospel,  286.  of 
the  power  of  it  committed  to  the 
apostles,  357,  358.  in  what  sense  it 
is  continued  by  their  successors,  261, 
262. 

Remonstrants,  their  opinions  concern- 
ing free-will  and  predestination,  195, 
213.  their  arguments,  213—221.  diffi- 
culties obviated  by  their  doctrine,  218. 
the  advantages  and  disadvantages  of 
it,  222,  223. 

Repentance,  not  the  valuable  considera- 
tion, but  the  condition  of  justification, 
168.  the  true  notion  of  it,  356,  368. 
the  danger  of  trusting  to  a  death-bed 
repentance,  ib. 

Reprobation,  the  Supralapsarians'  notion 
of  it,  212.  is  a  doctrine  hard  to  be 
digested,  224. 

Resurrection,  the  possibility  of  it,  42. 
of  the  nature  of  the  body  after  it,  ib. 
was  denied  by  the  Sadducees,  94. 
was  believed  under  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, 124 — 127.  completes  the  hap- 
piness of  a  future  state,  290. 

Resurrection  of  Christ.    See  Christ. 

Revelation,  what  it  is,  and  the  design  of 
it,  154,  332.  that  which  destroys  the 
evidence  of  our  senses  is  not  to  be 
believed,  420.    See  Scripture. 

Revelation  of  St.  John    its  authority 


proved,  104.  why  not  mentioned  in 
the  catalogue  of  the  council  of  Lao- 
dicea,  114. 

Righteousness,  the  doctrine  of  the 
church  of  Rome  concerning  it,  166, 
167.  that  of  the  reformed,  167. 

Rites.    See  Ceremonies. 

Rock  of  the  church,  what  meant  by  it, 
259,  260. 

Roman  catholic  See  Church  of  Rome. 
Ruffin  was  the  first  who  mentioned  the 

article  of  Christ's  descent  into  hell, 

69. 

S. 

Sabbath  is  not  moral  in  the  highest 
sense,  132.  the  reasonableness  of  it, 
ib.  of  the  change  of  it,  133.  works  of 
necessity  or  charity  may  be  done  on 
it,  179. 

Sacramental  actions,  the  nature  of  them 
considered,  453.  may  be  altered  as 
to  circumstances,  ib. 

Sacraments,  the  doctrine  of  the  church 
of  Rome  concerning  them,  164,  347. 
its  bad  consequences,  ib.  of  the  essen- 
tials of  them,  244.  are  to  be  mea- 
sured only  by  the  institution,  296. 
are  more  than  more  ritual  acts,  347, 
348.  do  not  justify  by  the  Opus  Opera- 
turn,  349.  a  sacrament  defined,  ib. 
matter  is  of  the  essence  of  it,  350. 
must  be  instituted  by  Christ,  ib.  Pro- 
testants acknowledge  only  two,  ib. 
Lombard  the  first  who  mentioned 
seven  of  them,  351.  reasons  for  re- 
jecting the  five  additional  sacraments, 
384.  sacraments  are  ordained  to  be 
used,  and  not  to  be  gazed  on  and 
carried  about,  ib.  their  effect  depends 
on  the  worthy  receiving,  and  not  on 
the  intention  of  him  that  dispenses 
them,  386. 

Sacraments  considered  as  acts  of  church- 
communion,  or  as  federal  acts,  450. 

Sacrifices,  expiatory  ones,  the  nature 
of  them,  65.  how  the  death  of  Christ 
may  be  said  to  be  our  sacrifice,  67. 
in  a  general  sense  all  religious  wor- 
ship may  be  so  called,  459.  but  one 
Priest  and  one  Sacrifice  in  the  Chris- 
tian religion,  461.  answer  of  the 
fathers  to  the  heathens,  who  charged 
them  with  having  no  sacrifices,  463. 

Sadducees  denied  the  resurrection  94. 


570 


INDEX. 


from  whom  sprung,  and  what  gave 
rise  to  their  opinions,  1'23.  our  Sa- 
viour's answer  to  their  puzzling  ques- 
tion, 125.  asserted  liberty  free  from 
all  restraints,  196. 

Saints  were  not  invocated  under  the  Old 
Testament,  322.  more  rational  founda- 
tion for  this  under  the  old  than  under 
the  new  dispensation,  ib.  Christ  the 
only  mediator  and  intercessor,  323. 
this  superstition  derived  from  the 
heathens,  ib  when  it  was  introduced, 
325.  its  progress,  ib.  the  absurdity 
of  it,  326.  scandalous  offices  of  this 
kind  in  the  church  of  Rome,  ib.  what 
they  found  this  practice  upon,  327. 
arguments  for  it  examined,  327 — 331. 

Salvation,  whether  eternal  salvation  was 
promised  under  the  Old  Testament, 
124.  is  to  be  obtained  only  by  the 
name  of  Christ,  228.  of  those  who 
never  heard  of  the  Christian  religion, 
230.  curiosity  in  this  not  to  be  in- 
dulged, 231.  how  far  the  Article  has 
determined  in  it,  232.  ditference  be- 
tween the  means  of  salvation,  and 
commanded  precepts,  336. 

Samosatenus,  his  opinion  of  Christ,  61. 

Sanctification,  what  it  is,  and  wherein 
it  differs  from  justification,  164.  is 
not  perfected  in  this  life,  189. 

Scandal,  the  true  notion  of  it,  487.  the 
fear  of  giving  scandal  no  warrant  to 
break  established  laws,  488. 

Schism  in  the  church,  the  making  it  a 
great  sin,  486. 

Schoolmen,  their  vain  attempt  to  ex- 
plain the  Trinity,  85.  their  many 
subtilties  in  the  doctrine  of  the  eu- 
charist,  418.  their  explanation  of  the 
real  presence,  443. 

Scot,  John,  his  character,  441.  wrote 
against  the  doctrine  of  the  corporal 
presence,  ib. 

Scotus,  Erigena,  wrote  against  St.  Aus- 
tin's doctrine  of  predestination,  198. 

Scriptures,  the  being  of  God  ought  not 
to  be  proved  from  them,  27.  his  unity 
frequently  asserted  in  them,  ib.  their 
style  suited  to  the  capacities  of  those 
for  whom  they  were  writ,  29,  30. 
their  meaning  to  be  taken  from  the 
scope  of  them,  39.  New  Testament, 
when  wrote,  74.  was  early  received, 
75.  the  names  and  number  of  the 
canonical  books,  88.  are  the  only 


complete  rule  of  faith,  90.  Old  Testa- 
ment was  always  appealed  to  by 
Christ  and  his  apostles,  94,  95,  105. 
the  care  taken  to  preserve  them,  95. 
just  consequences  from  them  are  to 
be  believed,  97.  contain  all  that  is 
necessary  to  salvation,  93.  are  no  sure 
guard  against  error,  99.  ought  not  to 
be  read  carelessly,  ib.  proofs  of  the 
canon  of  the  New  Testament,  101 — 
105.  their  authority  is  not  founded 
on  the  judgment  of  the  church,  104. 
that  of  the  Old,  105—112.  why  di- 
vided into  three  volumes,  111.  why 
they  were  called  canonical,  115. 

Sees,  whence  their  privileges  and  ex- 
emptions rose,  489.  the  vanity  of 
keeping  up  their  ancient  dignity,  ib. 

Semipelagians,  their  notion  of  assisting 
grace  and  free-will,  155,  197. 

Senses,  their  influence  on  the  mind,  315. 
the  importance  of  their  evidence,  420. 
they  determine  our  judgment  of 
miracles,  ib.  the  foundation  of  our 
belief  of  them,  421.  were  appealed 
to  by  the  fathers  as  infallible,  426. 

Septuagint  was  highly  esteemed  in  our 
Saviour's  time,  106.  when,  and  at 
whose  charge,  it  was  wrote,  107,  108. 
how  it  may  be  reconciled  to  the  He- 
brew, 109. 

Serenus,  bishop  of  Marseilles,  his  zeal 
against  image-worship,  309. 

Serpent,  brazen,  the  breaking  it  when  it 
came  to  be  superstitiously  used,  vin- 
dicated, 317. 

Severity  ought  not  to  be  affected,  191. 

Sin,  Adam's  sin  said  to  be  personal  by 
the  Pelagians  and  Socinians,  140. 
our  being  liable  to  death  and  the 
miseries  of  mortality  thought  by  some 
to  be  original  sin,  141.  experience 
and  scripture  teach  an  universal  cor- 
ruption, 142.  how  this  came  about, 
143.  God's  justice  vindicated  in  the 
imputation  of  Adam's  sin,  143.  whe- 
ther it  deserves  damnation,  144. 
church  of  Rome  believe  original  sin 
is  taken  away  by  baptism,  145.  St. 
Austin's  doctrine  concerning  it,  146, 
147.  the  manner  of  its  propagation 
not  easy  to  be  explained,  147.  reasons 
why  many  are  of  a  different  opinion, 
143.  how  they  explain  the  passages 
of  scripture,  and  the  Article  concern- 
ing it,  150.  what  meant  by  deadly 


INDEX. 


571 


and  venial  sin,  187.  the  sin  against 
the  Holy  Ghost  explained,  188.  none 
capable  of  this  sin  since  miracles 
have  ceased,  189.  of  the  pardon  of 
sin  after  baptism,  ib.  is  pardoned  ac- 
cording to  the  sincerity  of  our  repent- 
ance, 190.  what  meant  by  the  sin  unto 
death,  191.  difference  to  be  made" 
between  deliberate  sins  and  sins  of 
infirmity,  ib.  sins  once  pardoned  not 
liable  to  after  punishment,  286.  unless 
with  temporal  chastisements,  287.  of 
the  apostles'  power  of  remitting  sins, 
358.  whether  this  be  continued  in  the 
church,  ib. 

•Socinians,  their  notion  of  the  death  of 
Christ,  66.  of  Adam's  sin,  140.  ob- 
jections against  it,  ib.  their  doctrine 
concerning  predestination,  195.  their 
opinion  of  prescience  and  contingen- 
cies, ib.  how  far  they  agree  with  the 
Remonstrants  and  Calvinists,  221. 

Soldania,  a  most  degenerate  nation  said 
to  deny  the  being  of  a  God,  20. 

Son  of  God.    See  Christ. 

Soul  is  distinct  from  matter,  39.  what 
perceptions  we  have  of  its  nature  and 
operation,  ib.  of  the  souls  of  beasts, 
40.  the  soul  is  not  the  same  with  the 
animal  spirits,  ib.  how  it  acts  on 
matter,  inconceivable  to  us,  ib.  in 
some  places  of  scripture  stands  for  a 
dead  body,  70.  philosophers'  notion 
of  its  pre-existence,  142.  how  defiled 
by  Adam's  sin,  145.  conjectures  about 
its  state  after  death,  289.  various 
opinions  concerning  this,  289 — 295. 

Spirits,  animal,  their  nature  and  use,  40, 
154.  are  the  immediate  organs  of 
thought,  ib. 

Spirits,  invisible,  the  probability  of  their 
existence,  and  conjectures  about  their 
nature,  41.  are  not  emanations  or 
rays  of  the  Divine  Essence,  ib.  what 
meant  by  the  spirits  in  prison,  70,71. 
of  the  power  of  evil  spirits,  77.  See 
Soul. 

Stephen,  St.  worshipped  Christ  in  his 
last  moments,  58.  no  other  care  taken 
of  his  body,  but  to  bury  it,  317.  no 
mention  made  of  worshipping  him, 
324. 

Stephen,  pope,  his  infallibility  denied  by 

Cyprian  and  Firmilian,  251. 
Stephen,  bishop  of  Autun.  the  first  who 


introduced  the  word  transubstantia- 
tion,  443. 

Stoics,  made  all  sins  alike,  187.  put  all 
things  under  a  fate,  196. 

Sublapsarians,  their  doctrine  concerning 
predestination,  212.  avoid  answering 
the  Supralapsarians,  and  seem  in 
effect  not  to  differ  from  them,  ib. 

Subscription,  what  the  clergy  are  bound 
to  by  their  subscription  of  the  Arti- 
cles, 9.  does  import  an  assent  to 
them,  1 1 .  different  persons  may  sub- 
scribe to  them  in  different  senses,  ib. 

Suetonius,  his  account  of  Christ,  74. 

Supererogation.    See  Works. 

Superstition,  the  danger  of  its  being 
suffered  to  mix  with  religion,  316. 

Supralapsarians,  the  chief  basis  of  their 
doctrine  concerning  predestination, 
204.  their  arguments  from  the  ab- 
surdity of  the  contrary  opinion,  205. 

Supremacy  of  the  pope  disproved,  498 — 
502.  that  of  kings  or  queens  assert- 
ed, 502—506. 

Swearing.    See  Oath. 

Symbols,  federal,  the  nature  of  them, 
413. 

T. 

Temple,  how  the  glory  of  the  second 
exceeded  the  first,  119. 

Thought  different  from  matter  and 
motion,  39.  has  no  parts,  39,  40. 
whether  beasts  have  thought,  40.  is 
governed  by  impressions  made  on  the 
brain,  154.  is  influenced  by  the  ani- 
mal spirits,  156. 

Time  cannot  be  eternal,  22.  is  not  di- 
visible to  infinity,  as  matter  is,  23. 

Timothy  and  Titus,  rules  given  them 
concerning  church  government,  334. 

Tradition,  oral,  the  regard  due  to  it,  91, 
92.  the  doctrine  of  the  church  of 
Rome  concerning  it,  ib.  no  rule  in 
matters  of  faith,  ib.  the  scriptures  in- 
tended to  prevent  the  impostures  of 
it,  92.  no  certain  way  of  conveying 
the  articles  of  religion,  94.  was  ob- 
jected against  on  many  occasions  by 
our  Saviour,  ib.  the  occasion  of  great 
errors  and  ruin  of  the  Jews,  94,  95. 
the  apostles  laid  no  stress  on  them, 
95.  arguments  of  Irenaeus  and  Ter- 
tullian  against  them,  96.  objection 
from  the  darkness  of  scripture  an- 


572 


INDEX. 


swered,  97.  the  difference  between  a 
settled  canon  of  scripture  and  oral 
tradition,  104.  traditions  concerning 
image-worship  departed  from,  310. 

Transubstantiation,  a  paragraph  against 
it  in  the  Articles  in  Edward  the  Vlth's 
reign,  402.  why  it  was  afterwards  sup- 
pressed, 402,  403.  the  doctrine  of  the 
church  of  Rome  concerning  it,  415. 
the  consequences  of  it,  416.  the 
grounds  on  which  it  was  believed,  418. 
is  contrary  to  our  faculties  both  of  sense 
and  reason,  419.  it  was  not  received 
in  the  first  and  best  ages,  424.  seve- 
ral presumptive  proofs  of  this,  424 — 
429.  the  fathers  believed  the  elements 
continued  to  be  bread  and  wine  after 
consecration,  429 — 431.  by  whom  it 
was  formed  and  broached,  431.  seve- 
ral arguments  against  it,  433 — 451. 
how  this  doctrine  crept  into  the  church, 
437.  by  whom  the  term  was  first  in- 
troduced, 443. 

Tree  of  knowledge  of  good  and  evil, 
and  the  tree  of  life,  conjectures  about 
them,  141,  144. 

Trent  council,  the  disappointments  of  it, 
a  great  probability  there  will  never 
be  another,  279.  first  received  the 
Apocrypha  into  the  canon,  114.  their 
decree  concerning  good  works,  170. 
declined  to  give  a  clear  decision  about 
image- worship,  312.  reasons  of  this, 
313.  did  not  determine  positively 
about  relics,  316.  did  not  decree  the 
office  of  a  bishop  an  order,  or  a  sa- 
crament, 374.  was  the  first  that  de- 
creed the  indissolubleness  of  marriage, 
even  for  adultery,  378.  decreed  ex- 
treme unction  to  be  a  sacrament, 
383. 

Trinity  is  not  to  be  proved  by  reason, 
42.  tradition  of  it  very  ancient,  ib. 
not  to  be  proved  by  the  Old  Testa- 
ment without  the  New,  43.  what  meant 
by  one  substance,  and  what  by  three 
persons,  in  explaining  it,  ib.  the  diffi- 
culties in  it  no  sufficient  reason  for 
not  believing  it,  ib.  different  methods 
of  explaining  it,  ib.  several  proofs  of 
it,  44 — 46.  from  whence  the  errors 
ill  this  doctrine  took  their  rise,  48. 

Tully,  his  account  of  the  notion  the 
heathens  had  of  their  images,  305. 

Twisse,  carried  it  high  to  the  Supralap- 
sarian  hypothesis,  204. 


V. 

Valentinians  pretended  to  traditions  from 
the  apostle  ,  96. 

Vrious  readings  of  the  scriptures, 
whence  they  arose,  109.  are  inconsi- 
derable, and  affect  not  our  faith  or 
morals,  ib. 

Ubiquity  of  human  nature  impossible, 
444. 

Vigilantius  complains  of  the  worshipping 
of  relics,  316,  320.  and  of  saints  and 
angels,  328. 

Virgin,  blessed,  was  reprimanded  by  our 
Saviour,  185.  why  she  was  not  taken 
notice  of  in  the  first  age  of  supersti- 
tion, 319.  has  the  preference  to  God 
and  Christ  in  the  worship  of  tho 
church  of  Rome,  326. 

Virgins,  parable  of  ten  virgins  contra- 
dicts supererogation,  181. 

Visible  church,  what  it  is,  233. 

Understanding  is  as  free  as  the  will,  247. 

Union  of  the  church  among  themselves, 
and  with  their  head,  is  not  a  note  of 
the  true  church,  240. 

Unity  of  the  Godhead,  proofs  of  it,  27. 
is  a  chief  article  of  the  Christian  reli- 
gion, 28. 

Unity  among  Christians,  the  advantages 
of  it,  486.  the  great  sin  of  dissolving 
it,  ib. 

Vows  of  celibacy  unlawful,  475.  of  the 
obligation  of  them,  ib.    See  Oath. 

Usher,  archbishop,  his  explanation  of 
Daniel's  seventy  weeks,  121. 

W. 

War,  in  what  cases  lawful,  511.  and 

when  unlawful,  ib. 
Water  in  baptism,  what  it  is  an  emblem 
of,  391. 

Will,  whether  it  is  always  determined  by 
the  understanding,  153.  wherein  our 
liberty  consists,  ib.  the  opinions  of  the 
Pelagians  and  Semipelagians  con- 
cerning it,  154,  155.  See  Liberty. 

Winds,  their  great  influence  on  the  earth, 
36.  are  under  a  particular  direction  of 
Providence,  ib. 

Wisdom  of  God,  wherein  it  consists,  32. 

Women  are  not  allowed  to  teach,  334. 

Works,  what  is  meant  by  good  works, 
163.  they  are  indispensably  necessary 
to  salvation,  170.  the  doctrine  of  the 
church  of  Rome  concerning  them, 


INDEX. 


573 


172.  none  absolutely  perfect,  ib.  this 
the  opinion  of  the  best  men  in  all  ages, 
ib.  the  absurdity  of  asserting  the  merit 
of  good  works,  ib.  the  use  to  be  made 
of  the  doctrine  of  the  imperfection  of 
good  works,  173.  whether  any  good 
works  can  be  performed  without  divine 
assistance,  174.  works  of  supereroga- 
tion, the  foundation  of  that  doctrine 
destroyed,  180.  its  bad  consequences, 
183. 

World  is  not  eternal,  because  time  nor 
number  cannot  be  eternal  or  infinite, 
22.  the  novelty  of  history,  a  further 
proof  of  this,  23.  not  made  by  chance, 
24.  objection  from  the  production  of 


insects  answered,  ib.  is  not  a  body  to 
God,  29.  is  preserved  by  a  constant 
Providence,  36.  many  changes  made 
in  it  by  the  industry  of  man,  ib.  shall 
be  destroyed  by  fire,  82. 
Worship  of  God,  what  it  is,  341.  the 
design  of  the  various  acts  of  it,  ib.  the 
philosophers'  notion  that  the  varieties 
of  worship  were  acccotanle  to  God 
228.  that  it  should  not  be  in  an  un- 
known tongue  proved  from  reason, 
scripture,  and  the  practice  of  the  pri- 
mitive church,  341 — 344.  when  the 
present  practice  of  the  church  of 
Rome  was  introduced,  344.  argu- 
ments for  it  answered,  344,  345. 


574 


INDEX 


TEXTS  OF  SCRIPTURE, 

AND    OF   THE  APOCRYPHA, 

REFERRED  TO  IN  THE  WORK. 


Those  marked  thus  (•)  hare  been  added  in  this  edition. 


GENESIS. 


1      9fi  •  nnfa 

i.  4D,  note 

r"age 

A  9 

27 

1  A'i 

97  9Q 

111.  10. 

117 

22 

1  A\ 
J  *r  I 

*  1.  O. 

1  J.9  179 

Till.  £1* 

1  A') 

xii.  1.* 

93 

3." 

117 

xv.  6. 

160 

xxi.  23. 

516 

xxii.  18. 

117 

xx vi.  24. 

117 

28. 

516 

xxviii.  14. 

117 

xxxi.  19.*  30.* 

93 

53. 

516 

xlix.  10. 

117 

EXODU 

i.  21. 

172 

iii.  1. 

132 

6. 

125 

iv.  21. 

212 

vii.  22. 

219 

viii.  15,  19,  32. 

219 

x.  20. 

212 

xi.  10. 

212 

xii.  3—14. 

403 

xiv.  8. 

212 

xvii.  14.  • 

92 

xx.  4,*  5.*  note 

249 

4,  5.» 

302 

17, 

133 

xxiii.  20. 

59 

21* 

59 

xxiv.  4.* 

92 

12.* 

94 

xxv.  22.* 
xjux.  42* 


94 
94 


Pace 

xxxii.  1,  4,  5.  304 
10,  and  through 
the  whole  Old  Tes- 
tament 150 
32.  322 
xxxiv.  6.  213 


LEVITICUS. 


93 
516 
405 
389 


i.  3,  4. 
v.  1. 

vii.  26,  27. 
x.  3. 

xiii.  3  *  6,*  &c.note  359 

xiv.  11,*  note  359 

xvi.  *  note*  65 

xvii.  14.  405,*  note,  406 
six.  12.  132 
xxvi.  1.  303 


NUMBERS. 


xvi.  38. 
xxiv.  17. 


297 
117 


DEUTERONOMY. 


iv.  13,  15,  17,  23. 

v.  21. 

vi.  3.* 
4. 

4,*  note 
6—9* 

vii.  7,  8.* 

viii.  3* 

ix.  4 — 6.» 

x.  15,*  16.» 

xi.  18— 21  .• 

xii.  30. 

xvi.  22. 

xvii.  12,*  note 


303 
133 
97 
27 
27 
97 
207 
81 
207 
207 
97 
303 
303 
236 


Paue 

xviii.  15.  117 

xxvi.  16,  to  end  of 
Deut.  107 

xxvii.  8.*  92 
36,  to  the  end  107 

xxxi.  9*  19,*  22*24— 


26.! 

xxxi.  11—13.* 
xxxiv.  6. 

JOSHUA. 

vii. 

viii.  32,  35* 

ix.  15,  19.* 
xxiv.  2.  3.» 

26.* 


JUDGES. 


xvii.  2. 

1  SAMUEL. 

iii.  11. 

xiv.  24,  28,  44. 

xv.  30. 
17. 

xxii.  14. 

xxiii.  11,  12. 
9— 12* 

2  SAMUEL, 
xxi.  l.» 

1  KINGS. 


viii.  46. 
xii.  27—33. 
xvi.  31. 
xx.  29. 


92 
97 
316 


292 
97 

516 
93 
92 


516 


389 
516 
502 
502 
502 
217 
94 


516 


142 
304 
304 
174 


INDEX  OF  TEXTS. 


575 


Page 

2  KINGS. 


X.  30,  3  174 

28, 29  304 

xiii.  21.  317 

xvii.  28,  32,  41.  305 

xviii.  4.  317 
xxiii.  2,*  21  *  24  *  98 

1  CHRONICLES. 

xxiii.  6.  503 

xxxviii.  21.  503 

2  CHRONICLES. 

viii.  14,  15.  503 

x.  8,  to  the  end  503 

xvii.  8.  9.  503 

16—19.  503 
xxviii.  t'rum  36  to  the 

end  107 

xxx.  18,  19.  172 

xxxiv.  14.  107 

EZRA, 

iii.  12,*  note  120 

NEHEMI  AIT. 

viii.  1—8.*  98 
8  342 
18.*  98 

ix.  5.  342 

PSALMS. 

i.  15.  322 

xv.  4.  475 

xvi.  10.*  70 
11.  71 
10  *  81 
11.  125 

xvii.  14,  15.  125 
xxxiii.  11.  208 
xxxvi.  9.  210 
xlix.  7.  181 

14,  15  125 

1.  15.  322 

li.  1,  2,  16,  17.  126 

4.  217 

10,  11.  155 

17.  459 

lxv.  2.  331 

lxxiii.  24.  71 

lxxxiv.  11.  125 

lxxxvii.  6.  125 

xc.  17.  125 

xcvi.  13.  125 

xcviii.  5.  435 

xcix.  8.  287 

5,  9.  314 

cvi.  19,  20.  304 


Page 

ex.  3.  209 
cxvi.  405 
cxix.  18,  27,  32,  35.  155 
18,  35.  246 
exxx.  3,  4.  172 
cxli.  2.  331,  459 


PROVERBS. 


ii.  6.* 

155 

iii.  6,  34.* 

155 

xvi.  4. 

212 

xxiv.  16. 

142 

xxx.  8. 

179,  514 

ECCLESIASTES. 

vii.  29. 

142 

ix.  11. 

241 

xi.  9. 

125 

xii.  14. 

125 

ISAIAH. 

i.  18. 

126 

v.  4. 

208, 220 

vi.  1.*  3,*  9* 

10.*  63 

vii.  14. 

118 

viii.  1.* 

92 

20.* 

98 

xi.  1,  2,  10. 

118 

xii.  3. 

409 

xxv.  8. 

125 

xxvi.  19. 

125 

xxix.  13.* 

178 

xxx.  8. 

92 

xxxiv.  16.* 

98 

xxxv.  5,  6. 

117 

xl.  26,  28* 

52 

18—27 

303 

xlii.  1—4. 

117 

8. 

331 

xliv.  6,  8. 

28 

6,*  note 

28 

9—21. 

303 

24.* 

52 

xlv.  5.* 

52 

xlviii.  12,*  13. 

*  52 

li.  12,*  13.* 

52 

liii. 

127,  118 

10.* 

67 

liv.  13.* 

246 

lvii.  2. 

71 

lxi. 

118 

1. 

71 

lxv.  1. 

158 

5.* 

477 

JEREMIAH. 

i.  9,  10*  note 

359 

iv.  2. 

517 

x.  1—17. 

303 

1—16.* 

52 

Page 


xvii.  9.  142 
xxiii.  5.  119 
xxxi.  29,  30.  148 

31—34.  119 

33,  34.  155 

33,  34.  209 

xxxi.  34.  286 

33,  34.*  246 

xxxvi.  2,  23—32*  92 

EZEKIEL. 

xviii.  20.  148 
24.  220 
32.  214 

xxxiii.  11.  220,214 

xxxvi.  25,  &c.  119 

26,  27.  155 

26,  27.  210 

DANIEL. 

vii.  9.*  82 
10.*  82 

ix.  127 

24—27.  121 

xii.  2.*  83 
2.  125 

HOSEA. 

vi.  6.  265 

viii.  4,  5.  304 
xiv.  2.  331 

xiii.  9.  220 

JOEL, 

ii.  28,  &c.  119 

MICAH. 

v.  2.  119 

HABAKKUK. 

i.  13.  213 

ii.  2.*  93 
18—20.  303 

HAGGAI. 

ii.  9.  59 
3,*  note  120 
6—9.  119 

ZECHARIAH. 

ix.  9.  120 

MALACHI. 

iii.  1—3.  120 

iv.  5,  6.  121 


576 


INDEX  OF  TEXTS. 


Page 

1  MACCABEES. 

i.  56.  108 

2  MACCABEES, 
xii.  40.  291 


MATTHEW. 


ii.  4 — 6.* 

98 

4. 

81 

iu.  2. 

oca  on l 
ZOU,  J9  1 

0. 

357 

7. 

150 

15. 

392 

iv.  4.* 

8 1 

10. 

28,  53 

10.* 

57 

17. 

260 

v.  12,  15 

140 

17,  18. 

134 

17,*  note 

406 

it). 

2,0  1 

on 

•ii. 

377 

OQ 

oo. 

1  oo 
Y61 

o4 — o/. 

01  / 

oy,  4u. 

^AQ 

40. 

150, 185 

_1{    on  no 

OQ7 

viii.  14,*  note 

468 

lx.  6. 

00 

x.  Id. 

217 

41,  42. 

171 

xi.  21. 

217 

21—23. 

208 

25,  26. 

207 

27. 

56 

xii.  7. 

265 

24.  31. 

188 

25,  26. 

78 

32. 

286 

xiii.  11*  19,* 

24*— 

48.* 

260 

xiv.  9. 

475 

XV. 

433 

3,  6,  9. 

94 

5. 

475 

7—9.* 

178 

xvi.  15. 

281 

16,  18,  19. 

259 

16,*  18,*  19*  note  259 

18. 

248 

xviii.  17,*  note 

236 

17. 

280,  483 

19. 

45 

35. 

190 

xix.  9. 

377 

10,  11,  12. 

469 

13,14. 

401 

16,17,20,21.  178 

xx.  16. 

211 

20,  24. 

185 

21,24,  26. 

499 

28. 

66 

xxi.  21. 

380 

xiii.  21. 

266 

Page 

•• 

xxu  29. 

125 

31,  32. 

125 

36 — 40. 

177 

xxiii.  23. 

265 

37. 

219 

xxv.  9. 

181 

31.* 

82 

31.* — 46. 

83 

46.* 

83 

xxvi.  26. 

404 

26,  27. 

351 

37,  39* 

184 

41.* 

146 

OO,  O1*. 

O  1 0 

xxvui.  19. 

Q.^A 
1J,  OOV 

1  o  oa 
iy, 

oy<6 

on 

oyz 

MARK. 

ii.  27. 

133 

vi  13. 

379 

viii.  38. 

229 

ix.  33  *  35. 

499 

x.  11. 

377 

xi.  17. 

182,  297 

xiv.  22. 

404 

xvi.  15. 

209,  281 

16. 

349,  394 

LUKE. 

• 

i.  3,  4. 

93 

4. 

96 

6. 

185 

20. 

185 

ii.  49. 

185 

iii.  14. 

51 1 

iv.  16" — 21  .* 

98 

..21      1  A       .V3  H 

vii.  ly — li.9 

98 

ix.  26. 

82 

xi.  13. 

84,  155 

52. 

261 

xii.  33. 

179 

xiii.  3,*  note 

360 

xvi.  18. 

377 

25.  * 

289 

xvii.  4. 

190 

10. 

177 

xxi.  4. 

514 

xxii.  19. 

404 

24 — 27.* 

499 

32. 

262 

xxiii.  40. 

150 

43. 

289 

43,  46. 

72 

xxiv.  25—27.* 

98 

25—27.* 

105 

44. 

105 

47.     168,  288,  393 

52. 

57 

JOHN. 

i.  1.  2,  3. 

52 

13. 

158 

14. 

63 

i.  25. 

Page 

391 

29. 

66, 404 

36,*  note 

162 

ii.  4. 

185 

25. 

56 

iii.  3,  5. 

147,  349 

3,  5,  6. 

84,  393 

6. 

143 

6,  9. 

185 

8. 

157 

18. 

160,  168 

19. 

231 

25. 

56 

iv.  22*  note 

446 

23,  24. 

341 

34. 

184 

v.  25,  26. 

56 

39.  * 

94 

40. 

1 44,  220 

vi.  44.* 

158 

32,  33. 

407 

56,  63. 

408 

39,  40. 

56 

47,  48,  51. 

407 

53,  54,  55. 

408 

viii.  10, 11. 

150 

xi.  51. 

339 

xii.  41.* 

63 

xiii.  1. 

2 1 1 

34,  35.* 

485 

xiv.  1. 

323 

2.* 

82 

2. 

155 

13. 

56,  380 

16,  26. 

85 

16,  26.* 

87 

26. 

87 

xv.  5,  16. 

158 

12,  17.* 

485 

26. 

56,  87 

xvi.  8—13. 

85 

13.* 

87 

13. 

280 

xvii.  3. 

28 

6.* 

209 

9,  10. 

209 

11,  12.* 

211 

11,  21 — 23. 

486 

12. 

21y 

xviii.  8,  9-* 

211 

22,  23. 

339 

xx.  21. 

333 

22. 

453 

23. 

358 

<J1. 

93 

31. 

96,  144 

xxi.  15—17. 

262 

ACTS. 

i.  11. 

80 

ii.  23* 

67 

27,  31. » 

70 

31. 

71 

38. 

168 

39. 

399 

INDEX  OF  TEXTS. 


577 


Page 

Pa  ere 

Page 

m.  12, 16. 

80 

HI.  ,<£4,  Zo. 

1  Oft 

Vm  O, 

ion 

iv,  12. 

230 

00 

7 

A(\A 

24,  25.* 

52 

OA 
Zo, 

1  0- 

1 1 
1 1* 

0^7  477 

36,  37. 

513 

iv.  2. 

loo 

VI*  u,  / . 

oiy 

v.  3,  4. 

CIO 

O  1  o 

O,  ZZ* 

i  fin 
ion 

1 1 

Ala 

1  RA 
lot 

3,  9. 

358 

2  i 
v,  1. 

,600 

lO 

29. 

200 

Dm 

100 

on 

1 7ft 

I/O 

34. 

87 

i  zt  to  ine  ena 

o  / 

Vila    'J,     1  V. 

^ft  1 

vi.  4. 

474 

1  O  1  ^ 

1  Zy  ID. 

1  Aft 

Q 

y. 

ARQ 

**oy 

vii.  41. 

304 

1  o 

J  Z, 

148 

1  A 

14* 

51. 

211,219 

18. 

219 

9^ 

ZO* 

9  A  9 

59,  60. 

58 

vi. 

395 

*}ft 

OO. 

1  70 
1  i  J 

viii.  12,  14, 17. 

352 

3—5. 

3S2 

Aft 

9R9 

23. 

358 

17. 

2 

vui.  5,6. 

OA 

26,  to  the  end  399 

23. 

144 

ix.  5,*  note 

AfiQ. 

X. 

511 

23* 

187 

o. 

A  fid 
**oy 

25.  26  .* 

53 

vii.  7. 

134 

1  a 

lu. 

1  Art 

28.* 

400 

11,  12,13.  14,  16, 

1 Q  OQ 

iy — zo> 

OR  R 

zoo 

34.  35. 

230 

17,  18,21.  23,24, 

Oil   01  00 

Zlt  zz. 

OZO 

38.* 

184 

25. 

175 

x.*  note 

AA"\ 
H  -*  L 

44,  47,  48. 

394 

viii.  6. 

144 

n 

Am 

t>y  i 

ii.  2,  3. 

499 

7,  8. 

143 

1  R. 
10. 

O'lO,  111/ 

2 — 18.* 

257 

13. 

146 

"\R  17 
10,  1  / . 

<Jo  1 

xiii.  48. 

212,  219 

18. 

289 

l  a  * 

10. 

4.1  9 

xiv.  14,  15.* 

53 

26. 

85 

1  A 

10. 

15.* 

57 

26.* 

87 

18,  20. 

413 

22. 

289 

29,  30. 

211 

xi.  1. 

185 

23. 

335 

34.  • 

82 

16. 

266 

XV.* 

128 

ix.  11. 

207 

23. 

404 

6.* 

268 

11,  13. 

211 

23,  27. 

351 

9. 

282 

17,  18. 

211 

27,  29. 

411 

7.  14,  19. 

499 

18. 

219 

29. 

150 

7,*  noie 

260 

19. 

208 

xii.  4,  8,  9,  11,  13.  85 

19.» 

257 

20. 

211 

12—26  * 

486 

28 

274,  281 

21. 

210 

13. 

395 

29.*  note 

40'6 

22. 

212 

28. 

334 

39. 

185 

x.  9,  10. 

229 

xiii.  i;  2,  3. 

370 

xvi.  14. 

158 

14, 

223,  230 

2. 

380 

31—33. 

398 

xi.  20. 

158 

4,*  note 

249 

xvii.  2.  3.* 

98 

29.* 

211 

4,*  note 

468 

11. 

95 

xii.  1. 

459 

xiv.*  note 

468 

16,  24,  29. 

305 

6,  7,  8. 

334 

14, 15,16, 17,26.  343 

29. 

57 

xiii.  1. 

272,  503 

40. 

264 

xviii.  28* 

98 

2. 

150 

xv.  24»— 28.* 

64 

xix.  2 — 5. 

393 

5. 

487 

27. 

82 

xx.  28. 

56 

6. 

503 

28. 

82 

28.* 

63 

14. 

393 

21,  22. 

142 

34. 

180 

xiv.  10,  11,  12.* 

83 

22* 

127 

xxiv.  16. 

486 

13. 

487,  488 

33.* 

478 

xxviii.  23.* 

98 

19. 

264 

40. 

82 

23. 

150,  487 

41. 

290 

ROMANS. 

xvi.  20, 24. 

45 

49. 

141 

50. 

82 

passim 

142 

1  CORINTHIANS. 

xvi.  22. 

478 

i.  7. 

45 

23. 

45 

9. 

517 

i.  3. 

45 

20—32. 

306 

17. 

397 

2  CORINTHIANS. 

18,  24,  26. 

247 

26,  27,  29. 

158 

25. 

327 

ii.  4. 

77 

i.  2. 

45 

26,  28. 

212 

10. 

85 

21,22. 

353 

ii.  12. 

163 

10,  11« 

87 

23. 

517 

12,  14,  15. 

230 

iii.  7. 

219 

ii.  1.  2,  3. 

478 

in.  2. 

105,270 

10-15. 

293 

7. 

190 

4. 

509 

10—15,*  note 

293 

iii.  17,  18  * 

87 

22,  29,  30. 

211 

iv.  7. 

158,2:9 

iv.  4. 

71 

24. 

■  161 

v.  -2,  5,  7. 

•478 

•  r. 

171,289 

2  p 


578 


INDEX  OF  TEXTS. 


Paee 

r.  1, 2. 

290 

6,  8. 

290 

10.* 

83 

17. 

142,  209 

21. 

66 

21,*  note 

166 

vi.  16, 156. 

281 

vii.  1. 

173,  177 

3. 

150 

j.  5. 

403 

8. 

479 

14. 

499 

xii.  8,  9. 

58 

9. 

156 

13. 

45,  180 

xiii.  14. 

45,  413 

GALATIANS. 

L  1  ,•  12,*  17.* 

257 

3. 

45 

8,*  note 

263 

8.  9* 

478 

20. 

517 

ii.  4. 

264 

7,  8,  11. 

499 

11—14. 

185,  257* 

16. 

162 

21. 

209 

ni.  10. 

187 

:v.  4* 

392 

4* 

406 

9. 

264 

v.  1. 

264 

3. 

398 

6. 

168 

12. 

390.  478 

17. 

143,  146 

vi.18. 

45 

1. 

191,  477 

Page 


PHILIPPIANS. 


EPHESIANS. 


i.  2. 

3—6.  9—11.* 
7. 

13,  14* 
13,  14.* 
17—19. 
18. 

ii.  1—9.* 
2. 

2,  3.  12. 

15.  16,  20,  21 

10. 

20. 

22.* 

iii.  9. 
17. 

iv.  4,  5,  6. 
9. 

11—13.  16. 
22,  24. 
30. 

v.  32. 
vt,  20. 


45 
207 

66 

82 
156 
210 
247 
207 

71 
157 
376 
209 
260 
156 
413 
156,  247 

28 

69 
334 
143 
85,  21 1 
374 

45 


i.  2. 
23. 

ii.  1. 
6.  7,8,9,  10,  11 
6. 
10. 
12. 

12,  13. 
13. 

iii.  10. 

13,  14. 

iv.  18. 
23. 


46 
290 
413 
54 
63 
58 

173,  181 
219 
158,  209 
413 
172 
459 
45 


COLOSSIANS. 


i.  2. 

14,  20—22. 

16* 

16. 

16, 17. 

19* 

24. 

ii.  8*  18* 
9.* 

9,  10. 
12. 

18,8—10. 
18* 

iii.  I. 
9.10. 
17. 


4 

66 
52 
63 
56 
82 
181 
291 
82 
324 
392.  395 
178,  323 
53 
392 
393 
173 


1  THESSALONIANS. 


i.  1. 
9. 

ii.  16. 

iv.  17.* 

v.  28. 


45 
57 
150 
83 
45 


2  THESSALONIANS. 


i.  2. 

ii.  11. 

iii.  6. 14,  15. 
14. 

18. 


45 
247 
192 
357,  478 
45 


1  TIMOTHY. 


Pa -re 

vi  3. 

2 

3.  4,  5. 

389 

20. 

334,  35C 

2  TIMOTHY. 

i.  2. 

45 

9.* 

212 

13. 

2,  333 

1  o. 

295 

ii  2. 

333 

1  r 

io. 

334 

478 

10 
J  r*. 

170 

481 

iii    1  ^  * 
1.1.  JO. 

106 

15—17. 

95 

iv.  2. 

191 

2,  5. 

334 

8. 

290 

TITUS 

i.  4. 

45 

5,9,  13. 

334 

9. 

268 

13. 

191 

ii.  13. 

56 

14. 

168 

iii.  5. 

349.  395 

10. 

268,  334 

PHILEMON. 

3. 

45 

25. 


45 


HEBREWS. 


i.  3. 
4,  5. 
6. 

6.7,8,10,12 
13. 

ii.  5. 
16. 

iii.  1. 

iv.  16. 

v.  4. 
10. 

vi. 

2. 

4—6. 


2. 

45 

6. 

20. 

478 

13.  14,  15,  16. 

1—3. 

333 

vii.  23,24. 

5. 

323 

26. 

. 

334 

27. 

2.  4,  5,  12*  note 

468 

viii  12. 

2.  4,  5,  12. 

469 

m.  3  5,7. 

15.              280, 334 

11,12,  13,  14. 

.  1.3,*  note 

468 

12.* 

3. 

469 

20. 

6. 

2 

22* 

.1,3.  17,  19,22. 

334 

22,  28. 

1.  19,  20. 

389 

26. 

20. 

357 

28. 

63 
61 
58 

,13,14.  61 
213 
288 
62 
62 
156 
334 
461 
221 
35  2 
181 
191 
517 
461 
184 
461 
286 
314 
66 
461 
405 
127 
461 
66 
66 


INDEX  OF  TEXTS. 


579 


Page 

Page 

x.* 

129 

1.  19. 

66,  184 

2. 

461 

ii.  13, 14. 

603 

10. 12, 14,  19,  29.*  66 

22.* 

184 

11.  12. 

461 

24. 

66 

14,*  note 

461 

iii. 

348 

25. 

266 

iii.  18. 

66 

28. 

126 

19. 

70 

OO. 

22.) 

21. 

242,  351,  396 

xi  10. 

290 

iv.  17. 

150,  411 

xiii.  4. 

469 

v.  2,  3. 

335 

4,*  note 

468 

5. 
7. 

211,  281 
324 

2  PETER. 

7,  17. 

12. 

15. 

17. 

20. 

335 
66 
459 
481 
66 

i.  15,  16.* 
15. 

17. 
19. 

ii.  1. 

iii.  9. 

93 
96 
258 
128 
219 
213 

JAMES. 

10,  12.* 

82 

L  5. 

156 

17,  18. 

211 

ii.  1. 

56 

1  JOHN. 

10.  11. 

187 

24. 

163 

i.  9. 

355 

lii.  2. 

172,  180 

ii.  2. 

66,  219 

11,*  note 

469 

20,  27. 

353 

v.  12. 

517 

iii.  6,  9,  18. 

189 

14,  15. 

379 

9. 

156 

15,  16. 

191 

11  *  23* 

486 

15,*  note 

381 

16. 

56 

16. 

355,361 

iv.  21.* 

v.  7. 

486 
46 

1  PETER. 

16. 

191 

\  15. 
15,  16. 

185 
150 

18. 
20. 

189 
66 

4.* 

23. 


1  JOHN. 


JUDE. 


Pago 

45 

290 


212 
478 


REVELATIONS. 

i.  4,  5.  46 

7*  82 
8,  •)  1—18,*  note  28 

i.  8.  56 
11  19.*  93 
ll!  12,  13,17,  18.*  28 

ii.  &  iii.  220 

iii.  5.  212 
7.  261 

v.  8,  to  the  end  of 

chap.  58 

13.  64 

x.  5,  6.  517 

xiii.  8.  67,*  212 

xiv.  13.  290 

xix.  10.  53/323 
10.*  57 
16.  56 

xx.  12.  212 

xxi.  5.*  93 
14.  260 
27.  212 

xiii.  8,  9.*  53 

9.  323 
12,  13. 16* note  2d 

12,*  note  104 


9>9 


580 


INDEX  OF  THE  MATTER 


INDEX 

OF  THE 

MATTER  CONTAINED  IN  THE  EDITOR'S  NOTES. 


ABSOLUTION,  canon  of  Trent  pro- 
nouncing absolution  to  be  a  judicial 
and  not  a  declaratory  act,  358.  the 
doctrine  of  the  church  of  England  on 
the  same  in  her  Liturgy  explained 
and  vindicated,  358,  359.  in  the  pa- 
pal church  supplies  the  place  of  con- 
trition, 360. 

Apocryphal,  derivation,  89. 

Arius,  character  of,  enters  the  field  of 
controversy  ;  opinions,  condemnation, 
excommunication,  death,  60. 

Arminius,  account  of,  202.  bis  five 
points,  203.  opinions  condemned  in 
synod  of  Don,  203. 

Attrition,  what,  considered  with  absolu- 
tion equal  to  contrition,  36i). 

Augsburg,  Confession  of,  presentation  to 
the  emperor,  5.  effect  upon  the  Diet, 
ib.,  s>w  also  519—532. 

B. 

Buchannan,  Dr.  Claudius,  relates  in- 
stances of  the  doctrine  of  a  Trinity, 
&c.  &c,  among  the  Hindoos,  42. 

C. 

Cassian,  founder  of  Semipelagianism, 
his  doctrine  attacked  by  the  followers 
of  Augustin,  leading  principles  of  his 
disciples,  152. 

Catechism  of  council  of  Trent  teaches 
worship  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  326. 
maintains  that  purgatory  is  a  fire, 
286.  teaches  the  doctrine  of  super- 
erogation, 171. 

Cerinthus,  opinions  of,  avoided  by  St. 
John,  54. 

Chalcedon,  council  of,  decree  concerning 

the  nature  of  Christ,  136. 
Chnst.  titles  of  the  Godhead  given  tfl. 

2a 


Church,  various  senses  of  the  word,  233. 
Notes  of  the  Church,  by  Bcllarmine, 
confuted,  239.  whether  Rome  be  a  true 
church,  242,  243.  whether  visibility  be 
necessary  to  its  being,  248.  where  be- 
fore Luther,  248—250.  '  Hear  the 
Church,1  &c,  280. 

Communion,  half-,  decree  of  council  cf 
Constance  concerning,  457,  458.  con- 
firmed by  council  of  Trent,  458. 

Confession,  church  of  England  on  the 
same,  356.  decrees  of  councils  of  La- 
teran  and  Trent,  ib. 

Contrition,  necessary,  according  to  the 
church  of  Rome,  when  the  priestly  ab- 
solution cannot  be  had,  360. 

Council  of 

Antioch,  condemned  Paid  of  Samo- 
seta,  47, 

Carthage,  condemned  Pelagius,  139. 
Second  at  ditto,  ditto,  140. 
Chalcedon,    condemned  Eutyches, 
136. 

Constantinople,  condemned  the  he- 
resy of  Macedonius,  135. 

Constance,  called  to  heal  the  papal 
schism,  273. 

Constance,  decree  on  half-commu- 
nion, 457,  458. 

Diospolis,  acquits  Pelagius,  140. 

Dort,  synod  of,  condemned  Arminius, 
20:1. 

Ephesus,  condemned  Nestorius,  64. 
decreed  against  enlarging  creeds, 
263. 

Another  at  Ephesus,  called  Convon- 
tus  Latronum,  took  part  with  Eu- 
tyches, 136. 

Florence,  decree  concerning  purga- 
tory, 285. 

Jerusalem,  acquitted  Pelagius,  140. 

Laodicea,  decree  against  invocation 
of  angels,  324. 


iN  THE  EDITOR'S  NOTES. 


581 


Lateran,  2d  council,  decree  against 
marriage  of  the  clergy,  468. 

Ditto,  against  prayers  in  an  unknown 
tongue,  344. 

Milevum,  condemned  Pelagius,  140. 

Nice,  1st  council,  condemned  Arius, 
60. 

Nice,  2d  council,  decree  concerning 
image  worship,  31 1,  312. 

Trent,  makes  a  new  canon  of  scrip- 
ture, 88,  89.  teaches  that  sacra- 
ments confer  grace,  164. 

—  canons  respecting  merit  of  good 

works,  171. 

—  concerning  relics  and  images,  312, 

313. 

—  appeals  to  council  of  Nice  on  same, 

313. 

—  decree  and  canons  respecting  ex- 

treme unction,  378,  379. 

—  decree  on  half-communion,  458. 

—  doctrine   and   canon  respecting 

adoration  of  the  cucharist,  417. 

—  decree  making  absolution  a  judi- 

cial act,  358. 

—  decree  making  attrition  with  ab- 

solution equal  to  contrition,  360. 

—  decrees  the  Vulgate  the  authentic 

edition  of  the  Bible,  257. 

—  decrees  concerning  purgatory,  285, 

286. 

—  indulgences,  299. 

—  saint  worship,  322. 

—  doctrine  of  intention,  388. 

—  decree  in  favour  of  worship  in  an 

unknown  tongue,  344. 

—  decree  establishing  five  new  sa- 

craments, 351. 

—  decree  concerning  auricular  con- 

fession, 356. 

—  makes  w»ds  the  matter  of  the  sa- 

crament of  penance,  358. 

D. 

Deuteronomy  vi.  4,  much  stress  laid  on, 

by  the  Jews,  27,  28. 
Dort,  synod  of,  condemned  Arminius, 

203. 

E. 

Ebionites,  origin,  opinions  of,  53.  54. 

Eucharist,  adoration  of,  decreed  by  coun- 
cil of  Trent,  417.  novelty  and  danger 
of,  417,418.  vain  pretence  of  adoring 
conditionally,  445.  446. 

-  founder  of  a  heresy,  the  cause 


of  a  council  being  summoned  at  Con- 
stantinople ;  there  delivers  his  doc- 
trine; degraded;  condemned  at  Chal- 
cidon,  136. 
Extreme  unction,  doctrine  and  canons 
of  council  of  Trent  concerning,  and 
time  of  administering,  378,  379.  not 
mentioned  in  James  v.  14  ;  381. 

G. 

Godhead,  unity  of,  the  Lord  our  God 
one  Jehovah — much  stress  laid  on  by 
the  Jews,  27,  28. 

Gregory  XVI.  (present  pontiff)  teaches 
invocation  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  326. 

H. 

Homily,  Saxon,  rejects  the  doctrine  of 
the  corporal  presence,  441,  442.  of 
Church  of  England  on  Justification, 
161,  162. 

I. 

Images,  canon  of  Trent,  312.  decreed 
to  be  worshipped  by  second  council  of 
Nice,  311,  312.  of  heathen  original, 
308. 

Indulgences,  account  of  their  origin, 
298.  gave  occasion  to  the  procedure 
of  Luther,  ib.  decree  of  Trent  on 
them,  299. 

Infallibility,  as  founded  on  the  supposed 
necessity  for  it,  confuted,  234,  235. 
considered  in  reference  to  the  Jewish 
church,  236,  237.  confuted,  256.  and 
considered  in  connection  with  Sixtus 
Vth  and  Clement  VHIth's  editions  of 
Vulgate,  257,  258.  the  precise  seat  of 
it  unknown  and  not  agreed  on  among 
themselves,  256.  the  power  of  the 
keys,  examined  by  Whitby,  260,  261. 
'  Thou  art  Peter,*  considered  by 
Jewell,  259.  '  Hear  the  Church,1  6tc, 
examined,  280. 

Intention,  doctrine  of,  388. 

Invocation  of  saints  and  angels,  cate- 
chism of  Trent,  326.  letters  of  pre- 
sent pontiff  (Gregory  XVI.),  326. 
decree  of  council  of  Laodicea  against 
same,  324. 

J. 

Jansenius,  of  Ypres,  his  work  1  Augus- 
tinus,'  account  of,  Mosheim's  state- 
ment of  it,  effect  of  it  on  the  contro- 
versy cor  corning  grace,  condemnation 


582 


INDEX  OF  THE  MATTER 


of  five  propositions  in  it  by  Innocent 
the  Xth,  controversy  arising  there- 
from respecting  papal  infallibility  as 
to  matters  of  fact,  200,  201. 
Justification,  through  faith,  Hooker's 
judgments  thereon,  161.  and  distinc- 
tion between  England  and  Rome  as 
to  the  same,  165,  166.  homily  of  church 
of  England,  161, 162.  by  gifts  received 
from  God,  161. 

K. 

Keys,  power  of,  considered,  260.  Ter- 
tullian  on,  261.  '  Thou  art  Peter,* 
&c,  primitive  interpretation,  Jewell, 
259.  '  Hear  the  church,'  &c.  ex- 
plained, 280. 

M. 

Macedonius,  founder  of  a  heretical  sect, 
elected  bishop  of  Constantinople  by 
the  Arians,  removed,  again  took  pos- 
session of  the  see,  persecutes  the 
orthodox,  his  opinions,  condemned  at 
Constantinople,  135. 

Marriage,  lawful  in  ecclesiastics,  forbid- 
den by  second  council  of  Lateran,  con- 
demned by  Gregory  VII.,  pleaded  for 
in  England  and  Germany,  a  sacra- 
ment in  the  papal  church,  therefore 
confers  grace  on  the  laity,  and  yet 
brings  pollution  and  damnation  on 
the  clergy,  468,  469. 

Mass,  sacrifice  of,  contrary  to  Hebrews 
x.  14;  461,  462. 

N. 

Nestorius,  character  of,  appointed  to  the 
see  of  Constantinople,  persecutes  the 
Arians,  espouses  the  cause  of  Anas- 
tasius,  cited  to  the  council  of  Ephesus, 
broaches  his  heresy,  afterwards  pre- 
varicates, deposed,  banished,  death, 
63,  64. 

O. 

Orders,  opinions  of  Mason,  Taylor, 
Milbourn,  referred  to  thereon,  333. 

P. 

Pelagianism,  vide  Pelagius. 

Pelagius,  character,  his  heresy,  propa- 
gates it  first  privately,  condemned  at 
council  of  Carthage,  goes  into  the 
East,  supported  by  the  bishop  of  Je- 


rusalem, assumes  more  boldness,  ac- 
cused before  a  council  at  Jerusalem, 
afterwards  acquitted  by  the  council  of 
Diospolis,  appeals  successfully  to  the 
bishop  of  Rome,  opposed  by  the  Afri- 
can church,  condemned  by  the  same 
bishop  of  Rome  who  had  acquitted 
him,  afterwards  publicly  condemned 
at  Ephesus  and  other  places,  the 
heresy  crushed  in  the  bud  by  the  in- 
fluence of  Augustin,  139,  140. 

Prayers,  in  an  unknown  tongue,  contra- 
dictory decrees  of  councils  of  Lateran 
and  Trent,  344. 

Priesthood  of  Christ,  passes  not  to  an- 
other, therefore  no  new  order  of 
priests  to  offer  sacrifice,  462. 

Purgatory,  decreed  at  Florence  and 
Trent,  canon  of  Trent,  285.  a  fire, 
according  to  Catechism  of  Trent, 
286.  1  Cor.  iii.  10,  examined,  293. 
of  heathen  original,  Meagher's  opi- 
nion thereon,  182.  Bishop  Taylor 
thereon, ib. 

R. 

Relics,  canon  of  Trent  respecting,  312. 
Eusebius  misquoted  thereon  by  Dr. 
Milner,  318.  other  fathers  similarly 
corrupted  according  to  Dr.  James, 
319. 

Revelation,  book  of,  citation  by  Cle- 
mens of  Rome,  104. 

Rome,  her  fearful  corruptions  according 
to  Baronius  and  others,  253.  has 
added  new  articles  to  the  creed  of 
the  church,  263.  her  question  as  to 
'  Where  was  protestantism  before  Lu- 
ther?' answered  and  retorted,  248 — 
250.  a  true  church  in  one  sense, 
though  not  in  another,  242,  243. 

Rurfinus,  character,  contests  with  Je- 
rome, first  published  the  Apostles' 
creed,  69. 

S. 

Sacraments,  seven  in  church  of  Rome, 
canon  of  Trent  respecting  them,  351. 
creed  of  pope  Pius,  on  same,  Appen- 
dix, are  justificatory,  according  to 
Trent,  164.  confer  grace  ex  opere 
operato,  according  to  Trent,  468.  this 
asserted  by  Leo  X.,  469. 

Samosatenus,  Paulus,  his  character,  opi- 


IN  THE  EDITOR'S  NOTES. 


583 


nions,  condemnation,  and  expulsion, 
47. 

Scape-goat,  ceremony  not  a  distinct 
one,  parts  of  the  same  sacrifice,  mean- 
ing, 65. 

Schism,  scandalous,  in  the  popedom, 
suppressed  by  council  of  Constance, 
273,  274.  vide  Separation. 

Scripture,  canon  of,  published  at  the 
council  of  Trent,  88,  89.  confirmed 
by  the  creed  of  pope  Pius  IV.  89. 
church  of  Rome  differs  in  this  canon 
from  itself  in  former  ages,  90.  cur- 
rent of  antiquity  against  their  canon, 
true  state  of  this  question,  90,  91. 
not  the  judge  of  controversies,  but 
the  rule  whereby  to  judge  them,  91, 
92.  the  only  rule  by  which  to  deter- 
mine the  notes  of  the  church,  92.  a 
sufficient  rule  for  all  who  believe  them 
to  be  the  word  of  God,  92. 

Separation,  from  papal  church,  true 
grounds  of — what  constitutes  schism 
— papal  church  guilty  of  schism — 
therefore  the  cause  of  the  separation, 
100, 101. 

Scmipelagianism,  vide  Cassian. 

Sccinianism.  vide  Socinus. 

Socinus,  Laelius  and  Faustus,  founders 
ol  the  sect  of  Socinians,  their  charac- 
ters, title  of  Socinian  used  sometimes 
in  an  unlimited  sense,  sum  of  their 
theology,  60,  61. 

Spalato,  archbishop  of,  visits  England, 
renounces  popery,  embraces  it  again, 
inp;  isonmcnt  and  death,  Preface  iz,x. 


Supererogation,  doctrine  of,  taught  in 
Catechism  of  council  of  Trent,  171. 

T. 

Temple,  second,  how  more  glorious  than 

the  first,  120. 
Transubstantiation,    makes   Christ  a 

transgressor  of  the  Levitical  law,  406. 

rejected  in  the  Saxon  Homily,  441, 

442. 

Trent,  council  of,  defined  and  deter- 
mined new  articles  of  faith,  not  pre- 
viously defined  or  determined,  284,285. 
Still ingfleet's  views  and  arguments 
thereon,  ib.  canon  on  seven  sacra- 
ments, 351.  on  absolution,  358.  on 
confession,  356.  on  indulgences,  299. 
on  works,  171.  on  efficacy  of  sacra- 
ments, ex  opere  operato,  164.  on  pur- 
gatory, 285,  286.  on  relics,  312.  on 
images,  ib.  on  Latin  prayers,  344. 

Trinity,  traces  of  the  doctrine  amongst 
the  Hindoos,  42. 

U. 

Unction,  vide  Extreme. 

W. 

Works,  inefficient  for  justification,  judg. 
ment  of  the  church  in  her  Homily, 
161.  judgment  of  Hooker,  165.  canon 
of  Trent  on  the  same — catechism  of 
Trent  asserts  that  they  can  satisfy  both 
for  a  man's  own  sins  and  those  of 
others,  171. 


584 


NAMES  AND  WORKS 


AUTHORS  REFERRED  TO,   OR  QUOTED, 


THE  EDITOR'S  NOTES. 


Name  and  Designation. 


Allport,  Rev.  Josiah,  Minister 
of  St.  James,  Birmingham, 
Bagster, 

Barrow,  Isaac,  D.  D.,  Master 
of  Trinity  College,  Cam- 
bridge, 

Bachannan,  Claudius,  D.D. 
Vice  Provost  of  the  College 
of  Fort  William,  Bengal, 

Chillirigwonh,  William,  A.M. 

Clarke,  Adam,  LL.D., 
Clemens,  bishop  of  Rome, 
Cosin,  John,  D.D.  Bishop  of 

Durham, 
Cossart,  vide  Labbc. 
Davenant,  John,  D.D.,  bishop 

of  Sarura, 
Evagrius  Scholasticus,  of  An- 

tioch, 

Eusebius,   Pamphilus,  bishop 

of  Caesarea, 
Gioson,  Edmund,  bishop  of 

London, 
Gregory  XVI.  pope, 
Homilies   of  the   church  of 

England. 
Hooker,  Richard, 
Home,  Thos.  Hartwell,  B.D. 


Hume,  David, 

James,  Thomas,  keeper  of  the 
Bodleian  Library, 


Centuries  in  which 
they  flourished. 


17th 


18th  and  19th 


17th 


19th 

1st 

17th 


17th 
6th 
4th 

17th  and  18th 


16th 
16th 


18th 
16th  and  17th 


Works  quoted. 


Translation  of  Davenant  on 

the  Colossians. 

Comprehensive  Bible. 

Treatise  of  the  Pope's  Supre- 
macy, and  a  Discourse  con- 
cerning the  Unity  of  the 
Church. 

Christian  Researches  in  Asia. 


Religion  of  Protestants,  a  safe 

way  to  Salvation. 
Sermons. 

Epistle  to  the  Corinthians. 
A  Scholastical  History  of  the 
Canon  of  Scripture. 

Letter  to  Bishop  Hall. 

Ecclesiastical  History. 

Ecclesiastical  History. 

Preservative  against  Popery 

Encyclical  Letter. 


Sermon  on  Justification. 

Introduction  to  the  Critical 
Study  and  Knowledge  of 
the  Holy  Scriptures. 

History  of  England. 

Bellum  Papale,  and  Treatise 
of  the  Corruption  of  Scrip- 
ture, Councils,  oud  Fathers, 
&c.  &c,  for  Maintenance  of 
Popery. 


5R5 


Name  and  designation. 


Jewell,  John,  D.D.,  bishop  of 
Sarum, 

Labbe  and  Cossart, 

Lynde,  Sir  H., 

Maclaine,  Archibald,  D.  D., 

Magee,  William,  D.  D.,  arch- 
bishop of  Dublin, 

Mason,  Francis,  B.  D.,  Fellow 
of  Merton  College,  Oxford, 

Milner,  John,  D.  D.,  bishop  of 

the  Roman  church, 
Milbourn,  Rev.  Luke, 

Meagher,  Andrew,  Doctor  of 
the  Sorbonne, 

Mosheim,  Laurence,  D.  D., 
Chancellor  of  the  Univer- 
sity of  Gottingen, 

Morney,  Philip,  Lord  du 
Plessis, 

Page,  James  R.,  A.  M., 

Pearson,  John,  D.D.  bishop 
of  Chester, 

Sixtus  V.,  pope, 

Socrates  Scholasticus,  of  Con- 
stantinople, 

Stillingfleet,  Edward,  D.  D., 
bishop  of  Worcester, 

Taylor,  Jeremy,  D.  D.,  bishop 
of  Down  and  Connor, 

Wake,  William,  D.  D.,  arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury, 


Whitby,  Daniel,  D.  D.,  Pre- 
beadary  of  Sarum, 


Centuries  in  which 
they  flourished. 


16th 

17th 
17th 
18  th 
19th 


16th 

19th 
17th 
18th 
18th 

16th  and  17th 

17th 
16th 
4th 
17th 

17th 
17th  and  18th 

16th  and  17th 


Works  quoted. 


A  Replie  unto  M.  Hardinge's 

Answeare. 

Edition  of  the  Councils. 

Via  Tuta  and  Via  Devia. 

Translation  of  Mosheim. 

Discourses  on  the  Scripture 
Doctrine  of  Atonement  and 
Sacrifice. 

Of  the  Consecration  of  the 
Bishops  in  the  Church  of 
England. 

The  End  of  Religious  Contro- 
versy. 

A  Legacy  to  the  Church  of 

England. 
The  Popish  Mass. 

Ecclesiastical  History. 


Mystery  of  Iniquity,  the  His- 
tory of  the  Papacy. 
Letters  to  a  Romish  Priest. 
Exposition  of  the  Creed. 

Preface  to  edition  of  the  Vul- 
gate. 

Ecclesiastical  History. 

A  Rational  Account  of  the 
Grounds  of  Protestant  Reli- 
gion. 

Polemical  Discourses. 

Exposition  of  the  Doctrine  of 
the  Church  of  England,  in 
Reply  to  Bossuet,  bishop  of 
Meaux. 

Paraphrase  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment, and  Romish  Doctrines 
not  from  the  Beginning. 


